Legislative Activity House Republicans Work Towards an Agreement on Spending Republicans may be nearing a deal that will make passage of a budget much easier in the House. Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) recently told House Republicans the best way to advance conservative policy priorities during the upcoming appropriations process is to approve a budget, and … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity President to Release Budget Tuesday, to Republican Opposition On Tuesday, February 9, the White House will release President Barack Obama’s fiscal year (FY) budget request, his final one. The President’s budget will be dead on arrival in Congress but can be an important messaging document, particularly heading into a presidential election year. The … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Congress Kicks Off Budget Process This week, the Congressional fiscal year (FY) 2017 budget process begins in earnest, as the House and Senate Budget Committees hold budget hearings and various committees mark up their “Views and Estimates.” While President Barack Obama will not release his budget until February 9, Congress is not waiting … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity President to Release Budget on February 9, Starting FY 2017 Appropriations Process The White House recently announced they will release the President’s budget request for FY 2017 on February 9. This will be the final budget request of his presidency, and is expected to adhere to the discretionary spending levels put in place … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Omnibus Negotiations Continue, Funding Runs Out This Friday Despite having a budget deal, negotiations over policy riders in the forthcoming $1.1 trillion omnibus bill continue this week. Last week, Congressional Republicans proposed an omnibus bill that included several contentious policy riders, which the Democrats were quick to reject and make a counter-offer. The … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Omnibus Negotiations Continue As Deadline Approaches The House and Senate continue to negotiate an omnibus spending bill, though time is running out as the current continuing resolution (CR) only funds the Federal government through December 11. Complicating the negotiations are disagreements over several policy riders that Republicans would like to include in the … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Senate and House to Focus on Appropriations Bills Under New Caps Following the recent two-year budget and debt ceiling agreement, The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015, the House and Senate are now working under new discretionary caps, increased by $50 billion for FY 2016 and equally divided between defense and non-defense programs. The … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Two-Year Budget Agreement Approved Late last week, the House and Senate sent to the President a two-year bipartisan budget/debt ceiling agreement, The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 (House vote 266-167; Senate vote 64-35). In addition to suspending the debt limit through March 15, 2017, the proposal raises sequestration-level discretionary budget caps by $80 … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Debt Ceiling Looms Over House Speaker Elections According to the Treasury Department, the debt ceiling will be reached on November 3, leaving the House only five more legislative days to increase it. Complicating the issue, the floor vote for a new House Speaker is scheduled for Thursday, October 29, with Rep. Paul Ryan … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Budget Negotiations Continue Amidst Busy Congressional Calendar Budget negotiations between staff for Republican leadership, the White House, and Democrats are ongoing, but there have been few signs of progress. Democrats have recently announced they will not accept changes to entitlements as part of a budget deal to increase government spending, increasing the likelihood … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Budget Negotiations Begin Recently, House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) began discussions with President Barack Obama on a budget deal. The three of them participated in a conference call to lay the foundation for negotiations, and while Majority Leader McConnell reportedly pushed to keep Democratic Leadership in … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity House Likely to Move CR Soon, But Complications Remain With only eight legislative days scheduled in the House before government funding runs out on September 30, Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) is under a short timeline to push a Continuing Resolution (CR) through the House. Speaker Boehner could bring a CR to the floor … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Appropriations Process All But Over, CR Likely The appropriations process is almost certainly over and when Congress returns from the August recess there will be just ten legislative days before federal funding runs out, hardly enough time to negotiate a budget deal or an omnibus spending bill. As anticipated, Congress will likely pass … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Congress Shuffles Closer to a Budget Deal, as Appropriations Process Stops The appropriations process is all but over, after a Confederate flag flap during floor debate of the House Interior-Environment bill brought the process to a standstill. While the appropriations committees in both the House and Senate may mark-up their final appropriations bills … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Appropriations Process on the Floor Comes to a Standstill, in Both Houses After an unplanned public fight over a confederate flag amendment in the Interior-Environment Appropriations Bill the House appropriations process has stalled, effectively bringing appropriations efforts on the floor for both Houses of Congress to a standstill just three weeks before the … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Senate Appropriations Process Stalled for Foreseeable Future Both the House and Senate are on schedule to finish voting all 12 appropriations bills out of committee, which if successful would be the first time in six years. However, the process is likely to remain stalled in the Senate, as Senate Democrats are expected to … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Senate Appropriations Process Stalls as Democrats Look to Force a Budget Deal The Senate appropriations process has stalled, and it is unclear how Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) will proceed this week. Last Thursday, Senate Democrats followed through with their announced strategy to stop appropriations bills from reaching the Senate floor by … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Senate Democrats Continue to Push for a Budget Deal In the coming weeks, Senate Democrats will implement a strategy intended to force Republicans into a budget deal. Senate Democratic leadership does not want to rely on President Obama’s vetoes of appropriations bills to force Republicans into negotiations, and will likely prevent any appropriations … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Transportation-Housing and Defense Appropriations Bills on the House Floor The House will continue consideration of the Transportation-Housing (T-HUD) Appropriations Bill this week. The House was expected to vote on the $55.3 billion measure last Thursday, but leadership said a large number of amendments required pushing the vote to this week. Rail safety was … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Appropriations Bills Head to House Floor The House will debate the Commerce-Justice-Science (CJS) and the Transportation and Housing (T-HUD) FY 2016 Appropriations Bills on the floor this week. Both bills adhere to the sequester’s spending limits, even though President Obama has threatened to veto any appropriations bills that do not adjust the caps. … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Senate Joins House in Appropriations Effort Senate Appropriators begin work on their FY 2016 spending bills this week, with subcommittee markups scheduled Tuesday for the Military Construction-Veterans Affairs and Energy-Water appropriations bills. Committee Chairman Thad Cochran (R-MS) has not publicly revealed how he apportions the mandated topline discretionary funding level of $1.07 trillion … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Appropriations Season About to Begin Congress returns from a two-week recess this week, with work on twelve appropriations bills set to begin very soon. Last week, House Appropriations Chairman Harold Rogers (R-KY) announced vice chairmen for each of the panel’s subcommittees. Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-NJ), chair of the Defense Subcommittee, will also serve … Continue Reading
Executive Branch Activity Wind Energy Expectations The White House has released its updated study by the Department of Energy on the future of U.S. wind energy titled, “The Wind Vision Report.” The report contains a revised expectation from 2008 with wind powering 10 percent of electricity in 2020, 20 percent in 2030, and 35 percent in … Continue Reading
Executive Activity Fiscal Year 2016 Budget for EPA On Monday, February 2, President Obama will announce his Fiscal Year 2016 Budget request to Congress to fund the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). We expect a significant focus in the proposed budget on climate change and reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. There is some concern that these … Continue Reading
