PSW Weekly Round-Up - 1/18

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:

• Wednesday, January 19:
  • House Science, Space, and Technology Committee Markup: H.R. 4521, the “Bioeconomy Research and Development Act of 2021,” H.R. 847,the “Promoting Digital Privacy Technologies Act,” H.R. 4270, the “Abandoned Well Remediation Research and Development Act,” H.R. 4819, the “National Nuclear University Research Infrastructure Reinvestment Act of 2021,” H.R. 6291, the “Microelectronics Research for Energy Innovation Act” or “Micro Act.”
  • House Rules Subcommittee on Legislative and Budget Process Hearing: Using Budget Principles to Prepare for Future Pandemics and Other Disasters.
  • House Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust, Commercial, and Administrative Law Hearing: Reviving Competition, Part 5: Addressing the Effects of Economic Concentration on America’s Food Supply.
  • House Financial Services Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations Hearing: Ensuring Equitable Delivery of Disaster Benefits to Vulnerable Communities and Peoples: An Examination of GAO's Findings of the CDBG-DR Program.
  • House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Energy Hearing: Securing our Energy Infrastructure: Legislation to Enhance Pipeline Reliability.
  • House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Europe, Energy, the Environment, and Cyber Hearing: Transatlantic Cooperation on Critical Supply Chain Security.

• Thursday, January 20:
  • House Agriculture Committee: To Review the State of the Rural Economy with Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.
  • House Judiciary Subcommittee on Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties Hearing: Voter Suppression and Continuing Threats to Democracy.
  • House Financial Services Subcommittee on Housing, Community Development, and Insurance Hearing: Housing America: Addressing Challenges in Serving People Experiencing Homelessness.
  • House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations Hearing: Cleaning Up Cryptocurrency: The Energy Impacts of Blockchains.
  • House Select Committee on Economic Disparity and Fairness in Growth Hearing: Race, Ethnicity and the Economy: How Improving Economic Opportunity Benefits All.
  • House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources Hearing: What More Gulf of Mexico Oil and Gas Leasing Means for Achieving U.S. Climate Targets.
  • House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Infrastructure Protection, and Innovation Hearing: Securing Democracy: Protecting Against Threats to Election Infrastructure and Voter Confidence.
  • House Oversight and Reform Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis Hearing: A View from the States: Governors Respond to the Omicron Variant.