This report provides a snapshot of the US Executive Branch priorities via daily schedules and the prior day’s press releases. POTUS’ Schedule* *The US President (POTUS) and Vice President’s (VPOTUS) daily schedules are subject to change. Saturday & Sunday, July 18-19, 2020 THE PRESIDENT has no public events scheduled. VPOTUS’ Schedule* Saturday & Sunday, July … Continue Reading
Executive Branch Activity Trump Releases FY 2018 Budget Blueprint Last week, President Donald Trump released his FY 2018 “skinny budget,” intended to serve as the blueprint for his full budget request expected in May. As anticipated, the $1.1 trillion budget request adheres to the topline discretionary spending cap of $1.1 trillion mandated by the Budget … Continue Reading
Executive Branch Activity EPA, DOE, Interior, and Water 2018 Budgets Cut in President Trump’s Request to Congress EPA: President Donald Trump’s FY 2018 budget request, which was released last week, included a significant 31.4 percent decrease for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), from the current funding level of $8.2 billion to $5.7 billion. This represents the … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Resolution Repealing BLM’s Planning 2.0 Rule Sent to the President Last week, the Senate passed H. J. Res 44, using the Congressional Review Act (CRA), to rescind the Bureau of Land Management’s Resource Management Planning rule, known as the BLM Planning 2.0 Rule, by a vote of 51-48. The House passed the resolution … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Senate May Move on Nominees In addition to taking up the methane flaring measure under the Congressional Review Act (CRA), the Senate could potentially vote on the nomination of Oklahoma Attorney General, Scott Pruitt, to serve as EPA Administrator. With the Senate calendar being quite full, the Senate might note vote this week on the nominations … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Nomination Proceedings The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee has scheduled votes for Tuesday, January 31 beginning at 9:30am on the nominations of Rep.Ryan Zinke (R-MT) for Secretary of the Department of the Interior and Governor Rick Perry for Secretary of the Department of Energy. Also at that meeting, subcommittee assignments and jurisdictional … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Cabinet Secretary Selections and Confirmation Hearings (Energy, Interior and EPA) President-Elect Trump has selected former Republican Texas Governor Rick Perry as his nominee to lead the Department of Energy; current Representative Ryan Zinke (R-MT) for Secretary of the Department of Interior; and Oklahoma Attorney General, Scott Pruitt, to be Administrator of the Environmental Protection … Continue Reading
Legislative Action Comprehensive Energy Bill As we have previously reported, while the House has voted to go to conference on comprehensive energy legislation and has already appointed its conferees, the Senate has yet to do the same. Work continues in the Senate to clear potential obstacles to agreeing to a conference with the House and … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Comprehensive Energy Legislation We anticipate that the Senate will turn to S. 2012, the comprehensive energy bill that Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Ranking Member Maria Cantwell (D-WA) authored. Based on remarks by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell(R-KY) we anticipate an open amendment process. In the past, energy … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity House “Comprehensive” Energy Bill and Crude Oil Export Legislation The leadership of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce is expected to put forth a new version of its comprehensive energy bill this week on Tuesday, and will likely hold a full committee markup of the legislation on Thursday. In addition, the Committee … Continue Reading
Regulatory Activity Clean Water Proposed Rule The Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) has announced a proposed rule that would allow “changes to pollutant analysis methods that are used by industries and municipalities to analyze the chemical, physical, and biological components of wastewater and other environmental samples that are required by regulations under the Clean Water Act.” … Continue Reading
Executive Branch Activity EPA To Hold Listenting Sessions on Carbon Emissions From Power Plants The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is planning on holding 11 public listening sessions across the United States to gather public input on reducing carbon pollution from existing power plants. EPA maintains that “power plants are the nation’s largest stationary source … Continue Reading