Legislative Update
House. The House has another light legislative schedule this week. House Democratic Caucus Chair Hakeem Jeffries informed his Democratic colleagues last week that the Caucus Issues Conference will be postponed from its original dates of Feb. 9-11 due to the ongoing pandemic. Jeffries hopes that the conference can be rescheduled for early March.
Senate. The Senate was scheduled to be in recess this week but instead will be out of session next week. On Wednesday, the Senate is expected to hold a cloture vote on legislation dealing with voting rights and election reform. The cloture vote, which needs 60 votes to end debate, will fail. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has indicated he will then take steps to set up a vote to change the filibuster rules. While the rules could be changed by a simple majority vote, Schumer does not have the support of all 50 Democrats to eliminate the filibuster, and he has not said exactly what rules change he will propose.
Committee Action of Note:
With negotiators working to hammer out a debt ceiling deal that addresses discretionary spending levels, the House Appropriations Committee is moving forward with action this week on four FY 2024 spending bills.
Read MoreDebt limit talks continue to be the priority for President Biden and Congressional leaders, but timing and the outcome itself remain murky.
Read MoreEnacting debt ceiling legislation this month will be hard to accomplish given the substantive differences between the two parties as well as the presidential and congressional schedules.
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