After failing to reach agreement last week on a continuing resolution to keep the government funded beyond the end of the current fiscal year, Congress is now racing the clock to strike a deal to keep the government open beyond midnight on Friday, September 30. With five days to go before a government shutdown, the parties are not that far apart, but those differences have proven difficult to resolve over the past month. The sole item on the congressional “must-do” list for the September work period remains unresolved and seems to hinge on Democrats’ demands for a provision that will provide emergency assistance for communities with drinking water contamination issues, like Flint, Michigan. On the other hand, because Democrats may see it in their political interest to force a government shutdown and let Republicans take the blame, the target may move as the week progresses.
After three weeks of negotiations to produce a bipartisan continuing resolution (CR) to keep the government running beyond the end of this month and into December, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell last week took action by offering legislation to fund the government, largely at current levels, through December 9. The bill is generally consistent with Democratic demands for a “clean” CR without policy riders. The Majority Leader’s bill includes bipartisan provisions that have long been part of CR discussions, such as the $1.1 billion in funding for Zika virus eradication efforts, $37 million for opioid abuse assistance, and $500 million in emergency assistance for communities affected by flooding and other natural disasters. Democrats expressed immediate opposition to the Republican bill, claiming that several issues were unresolved. In particular, Leader McConnell’s bill does not include emergency funding for communities facing drinking water contamination issues, such as the lead pollution in the drinking water in Flint, Michigan, a provision Senate Democrats have actively pursued since the summer. Leader McConnell’s bill also includes one policy rider, language to prevent the Securities and Exchange Commission from implementing a rule to require corporations to disclose their political spending; Democrats oppose that provision.
A government shutdown remains unlikely, but in the face of Democratic opposition and an implicit threatened veto of the bill by the Administration even if it were to pass, Leader McConnell’s bill does not yet appear to have the 60 votes of support necessary to advance on Tuesday, when a procedural vote on the bill is scheduled to occur. Beyond the Democratic opposition, Republican senators are not united behind the bill. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) told reporters he would vote ‘no’ because the bill does not contain a rider, supported by Democrats, to fix the quorum provisions of the Export-Import Bank so that it may approve loans even in the absence of a board quorum. Other Republicans, led by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), have been pushing to include in the CR a provision to prevent the transfer of internet governance from the Commerce Department’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration to the ICANN, an international nonprofit organization. That provision is not included in Leader McConnell’s bill.
With the election just six weeks away, there is little appetite among Republicans to play a game of high-stakes chicken with a government shutdown, but it is not clear if Democrats share that view, given the accepted view that prior government shutdowns have been politically costly for Republicans. Press reports indicate that negotiations continued over the weekend to try to garner an agreement, but it is unclear how leadership will move forward if the procedural vote on Tuesday fails to achieve the 60-vote threshold. One possibility remains a short-term CR into the first week of October if the parties are close to a deal by the end of the week but lack the time to get it fully enacted by midnight on Friday.
While the House waits for the Senate to approve and send over a CR, members will take action on a number of other legislative items. The House is scheduled to return on Monday, when 16 bills will be considered under suspension of the rules. These measures include the Cyber Preparedness Act of 2016 (H.R. 5459), legislation to bolster resources and information related to cyber threats and cyber attacks, and 4 bills reported out of the Veterans Affairs Committee.
On Tuesday, members will consider an additional 3 bills under suspension of the rules before taking up H.R. 5303, the House version of the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA), subject to a rule. Since the Senate passed its version of WRDA earlier this month, House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Bill Shuster (R-PA) has been working to move the House bill, which was easily approved by a committee voice vote in May, to a vote on the House floor before the chamber adjourns for the elections. The bipartisan support for the bill is waning after Republican leadership made changes to the bill in order to comply with budget rules. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Ranking Member Peter DeFazio (D-OR) has withdrawn his support after a provision to make the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund mandatory spending was stripped out of the committee-approved draft. The change was intended to allow all fees taken in by that Trust Fund to be spent on harbor and port maintenance. Currently only a portion of the trust fund money is dedicated to dredging and the remainder is allocated elsewhere in the federal appropriations process. The new version of the bill has drawn criticism from Democrats due to the last-minute change. Further, unlike the Senate-passed bill, the House WRDA lacks a provision to provide assistance to communities like Flint, Michigan facing drinking-water contamination, prompting more Democratic complaints; House Republican leaders have expressed their intent to address that issue through a conference committee.
It is also likely this week that both chambers will vote to seek to override President Obama’s veto of legislation that would allow the families of 9/11 victims to sue the government of Saudi Arabia and other countries over alleged ties to the terrorists who carried out the attacks. If the veto is overridden, it would be the first such loss by the President since he took office. Leaders in both chambers have suggested that the votes exist to override the veto, but bipartisan foreign policy and defense experts are urging the veto be sustained, so the outcome of the vote remains uncertain.
Activities by congressional committees slim down considerably this week in anticipation of the scheduled recess, but several high profile hearings are scheduled.
FBI Director James Comey will be appearing at two separate hearing on Capitol Hill this week. The first is a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing on Tuesday morning regarding homeland security threats to the United States 15 years after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Committee members will hear testimony from Director Comey, as well as from Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson and Nicholas Kasmussen, Director of the National Counter Terrorism Center.
Director Comey is also scheduled to provide testimony to the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday morning during an FBI oversight hearing. Members will likely focus on a broad range of issues facing the bureau, including intelligence and counterterrorism efforts related to recent terrorist attacks in New York and New Jersey. In a statement announcing the oversight hearing, Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) indicated he also intends to question Director Comey on the Justice Department’s decision to not prosecute former Secretary of State Hilary Clinton for mishandling classified information through private email servers. Director Comey previously defended the FBI’s investigation and findings before a very contentious hearing in the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee in July; that committee is currently continuing its review of the FBI’s investigative file on Secretary Clinton’s private email.
Relatedly, the Oversight and Government Reform Committee is holding a Tuesday hearing on the immunity granted by the Justice Department to several individuals involved in former Secretary Clinton’s use of private email servers. Last Friday, Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) revealed to the press that Cheryl Mills, Clinton’s Chief of Staff at the State Department, received immunity from the Justice Department in exchange for cooperation in the FBI’s investigation. Mills is a new addition to the list of State Department staffers who were granted full or partial immunity in exchange for cooperation. The other staffers granted immunity were Heather Samuelson, an aide to former Secretary Clinton at the State Department, and John Bentel, who was director of the State Department’s Office of Information Resources Management. Two other individuals, including former IT advisor Bryan Pagliano, were previously identified as receiving immunity deals.
Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf will be in the hot seat again this week, facing tough questioning from the House Financial Services Committee over allegations bank employees opened more than two million accounts for existing customers without their approval in order to reach company sales goals. The Financial Services Committee has opened an official investigation into the matter after Wells Fargo agreed to pay a $185 million fine levied by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and to compensate customers affected by the fraudulent activity. Stumpf offered an apology during his testimony before the Senate Banking Committee last Tuesday, where he received blistering criticisms from members on both sides of the dais for the unethical conduct and lack of accountability under Stumpf’s leadership until regulators got involved. The Financial Services Committee hearing is scheduled for Thursday morning.
Federal Reserve Chairman Janet Yellen is also scheduled to appear before the Financial Services Committee this week to provide testimony on the Fed’s role in financial regulation. The Dodd-Frank Act included a provision that created a new position at the Fed, the Vice Chair for Supervision, whose occupant is supposed to take a lead role in guiding the Fed’s actions and plans for bank regulation and supervision. The provision required that the position be filled by a person appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate, and that that officer testify twice a year before the Financial Services Committee and the Senate Banking Committee. President Obama has yet to nominate an individual for the position, five years after signing Dodd-Frank into law, and House lawmakers have requested that Chairman Yellen testify in lieu of the non-existent Vice Chair on the Fed’s regulatory activities.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is the subject of two Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee events on Tuesday. In the morning, the full committee will hold an oversight hearing, with FTC Chairwoman Edith Ramirez and Commissioners Maureen Ohlhausen and Terrell McSweeney scheduled to provide testimony. (The FTC consists of five commissioners, but two seats are vacant.) The Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety, Insurance, and Data Security will hold an afternoon hearing on “outside perspectives” on these FTC issues. Experts and academics are scheduled to appear on the witness panel, including former FTC Commissioner Joshua Wright.
The Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration and the National Interest will host a Wednesday oversight hearing on the Administration’s FY2017 Refugee Resettlement Program, rescheduled from last week. In a closed briefing earlier this month, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry told House and Senate Judiciary Committee lawmakers that the Administration plans to increase the number of refugees into the country to 110,000 in FY2017, 10,000 more than previously called for, and an increase from the cap of 85,000 in FY2016. Last week President Obama affirmed this increase at the United Nations Leaders’ Summit on Refugees.
The House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Trade meets on Tuesday to discuss effective enforcement of U.S. trade laws. The hearing will focus on U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s enforcement of U.S. trade laws, facilitating and streamlining the flow of legitimate trade, and the implementation of the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015.
The Oversight Subcommittee of the Ways and Means Committee will hold a Wednesday hearing on the federal investigation and prosecution of health care fraud and improper payments, particularly within the Medicare program.
The full details for these events and other congressional hearings scheduled this week are included below:
Tuesday, September 27, 2016
House Committees
Examining Expanded Access to Investigational Therapies
House Energy and Commerce – Subcommittee on Health
Subcommittee Hearing
10 a.m., 2322 Rayburn HOB
Examining Legislative Proposals to Address Consumer Access to Mainstream Banking Services
House Financial Services – Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit
Subcommittee Hearing
10 a.m., 2128 Rayburn HOB
New Orleans: How the Crescent City Became a Sanctuary City
House Judiciary – Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice
Subcommittee Hearing
10 a.m., 2237 Rayburn HOB
Department of Justice and Witness Immunity
House Oversight and Government Reform
Full Committee Hearing
11 a.m., 2154 Rayburn HOB
Are We Losing the Space Race to China?
House Science, Space and Technology – Subcommittee on Space
Subcommittee Hearing
10 a.m., 2318 Rayburn HOB
Opportunity Rising: the FAA’s New Regulatory Framework for Commercial Drone Operations
House Small Business – Subcommittee on Investigations, Oversight and Regulations
Subcommittee Hearing
11 a.m., 2360 Rayburn HOB
Investigating How VA Improperly Paid Millions to Incarcerated Veterans
House Veterans’ Affairs – Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs
Subcommittee Hearing
10 a.m., 334 Cannon HOB
Effective Enforcement of U.S. Trade Laws
House Ways and Means – Subcommittee on Trade
Subcommittee Hearing
10 a.m., 1100 Longworth HOB
National Security Space: 21st Century Challenges, 20th Century Organization
House Armed Services – Subcommittee on Strategic Forces
Subcommittee Hearing
3:30 p.m., 2118 Rayburn HOB
The U.S.-Republic of Korea-Japan Trilateral Relationship: Promoting Mutual Interests in Asia
House Foreign Affairs – Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific
Subcommittee Hearing
2 p.m., 2172 Rayburn HOB
H.R.3693, the “Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Terrorist Sanctions Act of 2015”
House Foreign Affairs – Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation, and Trade
Subcommittee Markup
2 p.m., 2200 Rayburn HOB
Libya’s Terrorist Descent: Causes and Solutions
House Foreign Affairs – Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation, and Trade
Subcommittee Hearing
2:15 p.m., 2172 Rayburn HOB
The Financial Stability Board’s Implications for U.S. Growth and Competitiveness
House Financial Services – Subcommittee on Monetary Policy and Trade
Subcommittee Hearing
2 p.m., 2128 Rayburn HOB
Senate Committees
Federal Trade Commission Oversight
Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation
Full Committee Hearing
10 a.m., 253 Russell SOB
Fifteen Years After 9/11: Threats to the Homeland
Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
Full Committee Hearing
10 a.m., 342 Dirksen SOB
Federal Trade Commission Outside Perspectives
Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation – Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety, Insurance and Data Security
Subcommittee Hearing
1:30 p.m., 253 Russell SOB
Pending Nominations
Senate Foreign Relations
Full Committee Markup
2:30 p.m., S-216
Wednesday, September 28, 2016
House Committees
Semi-Annual Testimony on the Federal Reserve’s Supervision and Regulation of the Financial System
House Financial Services
Full Committee Hearing
10 a.m., 2128 Rayburn HOB
FBI Oversight
House Judiciary
Full Committee Hearing
9 a.m., 2237 Rayburn HOB
Department of Veterans Affairs Leases: Is the VA Over-Paying for Leased Medical Facilities?
House Transportation and Infrastructure – Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings and Emergency Management
Subcommittee Hearing
10:30 a.m., 2253 Rayburn HOB
Health Care Fraud Investigations
House Ways and Means – Subcommittee on Oversight
Subcommittee Hearing
10 a.m., 1100 Longworth HOB
Department of Defense Laboratories: Innovation through Science and Engineering in Support of Military Operations
House Armed Services – Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities
Subcommittee Hearing
2 p.m., 2212 Rayburn HOB
The Impact of US-EU Dialogues on U.S. Insurance Markets
House Financial Services – Subcommittee on Housing and Insurance
Subcommittee Hearing
2 p.m., 2128 Rayburn HOB
Cybersecurity: Ensuring the Integrity of the Ballot Box
House Oversight and Government Reform – Subcommittee on Information Technology
Subcommittee Hearing
2 p.m., 2154 Rayburn HOB
Senate Committees
The Persistent Threat of North Korea and Developing an Effective U.S. Response
Senate Foreign Relations – Subcommittee on East Asia, the Pacific, and International Cybersecurity Policy
Subcommittee Hearing
10 a.m., 419 Dirksen SOB
Oversight of the Administration’s FY2017 Refugee Resettlement Program
Senate Judiciary – Subcommittee on Immigration and the National Interest
Subcommittee Hearing
10 a.m., 226 Dirksen SOB
Joint Committees
The ‘New Normal?’ An Assessment of the Economic Recovery
Joint Economic
Full Committee Hearing
2:30 p.m., 216 Hart SOB
Thursday, September 29, 2016
House Committees
Holding Wall Street Accountable: Investigating Wells Fargo’s Opening of Unauthorized Customer Accounts
House Financial Services
Full Committee Hearing
10 a.m., 2128 Rayburn HOB
Advancing U.S. Interests in Latin America and the Caribbean
House Foreign Affairs
Full Committee Hearing
10 a.m., 2172 Rayburn HOB
Ongoing Oversight: Monitoring the Activities of the Justice Department’s Civil, Tax and Environment and Natural Resources Divisions and the U.S. Trustee Program
House Judiciary – Subcommittee on Regulatory Reform, Commercial and Antitrust Law
Subcommittee Hearing
10 a.m., 2237 Rayburn HOB
Document Production Status Update, Part II
House Oversight and Government Reform
Full Committee Hearing
10 a.m., 2154 Rayburn HOB
Academic Research Regulatory Relief: A Review of New Recommendations
House Science, Space and Technology – Subcommittee on Research and Technology
Subcommittee Hearing
10 a.m., 2318 Rayburn HOB
2020 Census: Outcomes of the 2016 Site Test
House Oversight and Government Reform – Subcommittee on Government Operations
Subcommittee Hearing
2 p.m., 2247 Rayburn HOB
Senate Committees
Regional Impact of the Syria Conflict: Syria, Turkey and Iraq
Senate Foreign Relations
Full Committee Hearing
10 a.m., 419 Dirksen SOB
Millennial Perspective on Federal Employment
Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs – Subcommittee on Regulatory Affairs and Federal Management
Subcommittee Hearing
10 a.m., 342 Dirksen SOB