ON THE SENATE FLOOR: The Senate plans to wrap up consideration of its first package of FY 2020 appropriations bills, a package that includes spending for Agriculture-FDA, Commerce-Justice-Science, Interior-Environment, and Transportation-HUD.
Also this week, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer plans to use the Congressional Review Act (CRA) to force a floor vote on his third resolution to overturn regulations issued by the Trump Administration. This week’s resolution would repeal a regulation dealing with health insurance plans and, like the previous two CRA resolutions, will fail to get the 51 votes needed for passage. The other two votes were on resolutions to reverse the Administration’s Affordable Clean Energy rule and to overturn regulations preventing workarounds to the limitation on the state and local tax deduction.
IN THE HOUSE: The biggest item on the House schedule this week will be a resolution to formalize procedures for the impeachment inquiry. The vote on Thursday will, according to a letter that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi sent Democrats yesterday, “eliminate any doubt as to whether the Trump Administration may withhold documents, prevent witness testimony, disregard duly authorized subpoenas, or continue obstructing the House.”
In other action, the House plans to take up various bills under suspension of the rules, requiring two-thirds majorities for passage. The suspension bills include legislation by Transportation Committee Chairman Peter DeFazio (D-OR) providing that money spent from the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund for maintenance, dredging, and other harbor improvements would not count toward the budget caps. Another suspension bill provides that e-cigarettes and other nicotine vaping products would be subject to the same legal requirements as cigarettes. At the end of the week, the House will recess until November 12.
DRUG PRICES: One bill that was expected to be on the House schedule this week is Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s drug pricing bill. However, consideration has been delayed until next month as Democrats wait for a final score from the Congressional Budget Office and try to iron out intraparty differences. The House Ways and Means Committee, which was the last of three panels considering the bill, approved its version late Tuesday, October 22, after a lengthy markup session in which many amendments were considered but only one was adopted. The one change renamed the bill the Elijah E. Cummings Lower Drug Costs Now Act in honor of the late Maryland Congressman.
DEFICIT CIRCA 2019: The Treasury Department announced Friday that the federal deficit for FY 2019 was $984 billion, a 26% increase over 2018’s $779 billion deficit and a 48% increase from the $666 billion mark in 2017.
NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT: Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Jim Inhofe (R-OK) said he will introduce this week a “skinny” version of the National Defense Authorization Act in case negotiators are unable to come to an agreement on a comprehensive measure. The slimmed-down version is designed to avoid an end-of-the-year scramble to authorize special payments and bonuses for service members, construction projects, and military acquisition program oversight that would otherwise expire December 31. Some of the biggest disagreements in the negotiations are reported to be overspending for the border wall, barring new detainees at Guantanamo Bay, protecting transgender troops, and limiting the president’s war powers.
COMMITTEE ACTION OF NOTE:
October 29
- Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee hearing: "Aviation Safety and the Future of Boeing’s 737 MAX."
- House Financial Services Committee markup of the Cybersecurity and Financial System Resilience Act, the Terrorism Risk Insurance Program Reauthorization Act, the Prudential Regulator Oversight Act, and reauthorization of the Export-Import Bank.
- House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Transportation and Maritime Security hearing: "One Year Later: Implementation of the TSA Modernization Act."
- House Veterans’ Affairs Committee markup of G.I. and Veterans Education, Families of Fallen Service members, VA Overpayment, and Other Legislation.
October 30
- House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure hearing: "The Boeing 737 Max: Examining the Design, Development, and Marketing of the Aircraft."
- House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health hearing: "Safeguarding Pharmaceutical Supply Chains in a Global Economy."
- House Agriculture Subcommittee on Biotechnology, Horticulture, and Research hearing: "Reviewing the State of Organic Agriculture - Producer Perspectives."
- House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Energy hearing: "Building a 100 Percent Clean Economy: Solutions for the U.S. Power Sector."
- House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis hearing: Solving the Climate Crisis: Opportunities in Agriculture.
POLITICS:
Open Democratic Seats. With the passing of Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD) and the imminent resignation of Rep. Katie Hill (D-CA), Democrats will have two fewer voting members in their delegation. For Cummings’ seat, a primary will be held February 4, followed by a general election on April 28. The winner of that race will hold the seat until the next Congress convenes in January 2020. April 28 will also be the primary date for candidates running for a full two-year term.
Democrats are expected to hold Cummings’ seat, but the outcome in the race to replace Hill is more uncertain. Her seat is in a traditionally Republican-leaning district but Hill unseated Republican Rep. Steve Knight in 2018 by nine points and proved to be a prolific fundraiser. The Cook Political Report rates the special election as a Lean Democratic race. Hill is set to resign by the end of the week, and a special election likely won’t come until the spring.
Republican Retirements. Republican Rep. Greg Walden of Oregon announced today that he will retire at the end of the 116th Congress. Walden, who is the ranking member on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, is the fourth top committee Republican to retire, joining the ranking members of the Agriculture, Defense, and Natural Resources committees. He is also the 19th House Republican to announce his retirement.
