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 Democrats Continue to Push for a Budget Deal The President and Democrats in the House and Senate continue to pressure Republicans for a budget deal to replace the sequester’s strict spending limits. Most House Democrats voted against the two sequester-level appropriations bills that were recently considered on the House floor, President Obama has … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity House and Senate Nearing Budget Conference Agreement House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) included possible consideration of the budget conference report on this week’s House schedule, and Senate Budget Committee Chairman Michael Enzi (R-WY) said he is optimistic the House and Senate budget conferees can come to an agreement this week, noting he … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity House and Senate Budget Conference The House and Senate budget conference committee will hold a public conference meeting on Monday, as they attempt to negotiate a joint agreement on a fiscal 2016 budget resolution that can pass both houses of Congress. Most of the Committee’s upcoming negotiations will take place in private, and … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity House and Senate Budget Conference The House and Senate Budget Committees are working towards a budget resolution that will pass both the House and the Senate. The Budget Committee Chairmen, Representative Tom Price (R-GA) and Senator Mike Enzi (R-WY), returned early from the two-week recess to discuss the budget resolutions, as they try … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity House and Senate Budget Resolutions Heading to the Floor for Debate The House and Senate Budget Committees have reported their respective budget resolutions out of committee, and the House and Senate will bring those resolutions to the floor this week. Both committees have seen defense hawks and fiscal conservatives at odds over the … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity House and Senate Committees to Mark Up Budget Resolutions; How Will Congress Deal with the Sequester? The House and Senate Budget Committees will hold markup hearings this week on their respective Budget Resolutions. The House Committee will mark up its resolution on Wednesday, while the Senate Committee will hold markup hearings on both … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Congress Avoids DHS Shut-Down, Passes Short-Term Funding Measure Funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will again be the top priority on the congressional agenda this week after both a “clean” full-year continuing resolution (CR) and a three-week CR failed to advance in the House, forcing Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity DHS Funding Deadline Nears Department of Homeland Security (DHS) funding expires on Friday, February 27, leaving only days for Congress to act to fund DHS. The Senate has not been able to overcome a Democratic filibuster of the House DHS funding legislation (H.R. 240), which includes policy riders blocking the President’s executive actions … Continue Reading
