JT TAYLOR | CAPITAL BRIEF

03/12/24 07:32AM EDT

JT TAYLOR | CAPITAL BRIEF - capitalbrief

ON THE SENATE FLOOR: The Senate will continue to consider nominations.

IN THE HOUSE: The House will have a short work week, with no votes expected after 3 p.m. Wednesday to allow Republicans to attend their annual retreat in West Virginia.  Drawing the most attention on this week’s schedule is the ‘‘Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act,’’ which targets TikTok. The measure would require ByteDance, the Chinese firm that owns TikTok, to divest itself of the video-sharing app within about five months of enactment or face removal from app stores and web-hosting services in the U.S. The legislation was approved on March 7 on a 50-0 vote in the Energy and Commerce Committee and will be considered by the full House on Wednesday under suspension of the rules, requiring a two-thirds majority for approval. 

FY 2024 Appropriations: Last week, the House (339-85) and Senate (75-22) gave final approval to a package of six appropriations measures for FY 2024, so the focus now is on the remaining six – Defense, Homeland Security, Labor-HHS, Financial Services and General Government, State and Foreign Operations, and Legislative Branch. Current funding for these six expires next Friday, March 22, the last day Congress is scheduled to be in session before beginning a two-week recess. 

To meet the upcoming deadline, negotiators would need to strike a deal by the end of this week and release text by Sunday. This would follow the timeline for the first package, which gave House lawmakers 72 hours to read through the proposal before a vote, under suspension, on Wednesday.  As with the first package, Senators would then have to strike an agreement to accelerate the procedural timetable in order to pass the bill on Friday the 22nd. 

Cloture votes in the Senate, requiring 60 votes to limit debate, have become commonplace over the last decade. Thus far in this Congress, there have been 155 cloture votes, with cloture invoked 149 times. In the two previous Congresses, the Senate took 289 and 298 cloture votes, invoking cloture 270 times in each Congress. In contrast, prior to the 113th Congress in 2013-2014, there were no years showing triple digits for cloture being invoked.  (The highest was 63 in the 111th Congress from 2009 through 2010.)   

FY 2025 Budget:  With the release yesteday of President Biden’s budget proposal for FY 2025, members of his Cabinet will now be traveling to Capitol Hill to answer lawmakers’ questions. The first two hearings will take place this week, with OMB Director Shalanda Young testifying on Tuesday at the Senate Budget Committee, while HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra is scheduled to be at the Senate Finance Committee on Thursday. The budget is a blueprint and stands no chance of becoming law - especially this one.

COMMITTEE ACTION:  

Tuesday, March 12

  • Senate Armed Services Committee Hearing to receive testimony on global security challenges and U.S. strategy
  • Senate Environment and Public Works Committee markup of various measures, including S.3791, to reauthorize the America’s Conservation Enhancement Act
  • Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing: ‘The Right Side of History: Protecting Voting Rights in America”
  • Senate Finance Committee Hearing: “American Made: Growing U.S. Manufacturing Through the Tax Code”
  • Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee Hearing: “Examining Proposals to Address Housing Affordability, Availability, and Other Community Needs”
  • Senate Budget Committee Hearing: “The President’s Fiscal Year 2025 Budget Proposal,” with Shalanda Young, Director, Office of Management and Budget
  • Joint Economic Committee Hearing: “The Fiscal Situation of the United States”
  • Senate Rules and Administration Committee Hearing: “Administration of Upcoming Elections”
  • House Judiciary Committee Hearing: “The Report of Special Counsel Robert K. Hur”
  • House Financial Services Subcommittee on National Security, Illicit Finance, and International Financial Institutions Hearing: “Mission Critical: Restoring National Security as the Focus of Defense Production Act Reauthorization”
  • House Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management Hearing: “Disaster Readiness: Examining the Propriety of the Expanded Use of FEMA Resources”
  • House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Transportation and Maritime Security Hearing: “Organizational Oversight: Examining TSA’s Post-Modernization Efforts”
  • House Oversight and Accountability Subcommittee on Economic Growth, Energy Policy, and Regulatory Affairs Hearing: “The Power Struggle: Examining the Reliability and Security of America’s Electrical Grid”
  • House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health markup of 19 measures, including H.R. 5526, Seniors’ Access to Critical Medications Act of 2023.
  • House Armed Services Committee Hearing: “U.S. Military Posture and National Security Challenges in North and South America”
  • House Natural Resources Committee markup of various measures, including:
    • H.R. 4389, “Migratory Birds of the Americas Conservation Enhancements Act of 2023”
    • H.R. 5443, “Accelerating Appraisals and Conservation Efforts (AACE) Act”
  • House Ways and Means Committee Hearing: “Enhancing Access to Care at Home in Rural and Underserved Communities”
  • House Oversight and Accountability Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Information Technology, and Government Innovation Hearing: “Addressing Real Harm Done by Deepfakes”
  • House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Communications and Technology markup of various measures, including:
    • H.R. 2864, the Countering CCP Drones Act
    • H.R. 820, the Foreign Adversary Communications Transparency Act
    • H.R. 1513, the Future Uses of Technology Upholding Reliable and Enhancing Networks (FUTURE) Networks Act
    • H.R. 7589, Removing Our Unsecure Technologies to Ensure Reliability and Security (ROUTERS) Act
  • House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Europe Hearing: “Going Nuclear on Rosatom: Ending Global Dependence on Putin’s Nuclear Energy Sector” 

Wednesday, March 13

  • House Financial Services Subcommittee on Digital Assets, Financial Technology, and Inclusion Hearing: “Bureaucratic Overreach or Consumer Protection? Examining the CFPB’s Latest Action to Restrict Competition in Payments”
  • House Armed Services Subcommittee on Cyber, Information Technologies, and Innovation Hearing: “Too Critical to Fail: Getting Software Right in an Age of Rapid Innovation” 

Thursday, March 14

  • Senate Finance Committee Hearing: “The President’s Fiscal Year 2025 Health and Human Services Budget,” with Xavier Becerra, Secretary, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
  • Senate Foreign Relations Committee Hearing: “U.S. Strategy in the Pacific Islands Region”
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