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Legislative Update

House and Senate. With plans to adjourn by Dec. 20, lawmakers have several key measures that need attention before then but very little on their schedule for this week. The Senate will continue to consider nominations, while the House will take up 52 bills under suspension of the rules, 21 of which are naming post offices. The House is also planning to vote on a bill that would create a process to require additional reviews of federal regulations’ effects on small businesses and a measure that would promote high school curricula on the dangers of communism.

Government funding under the current continuing resolution will lapse Dec. 20, but no decision has been made as to the course forward. Given that the House and Senate have not yet agreed on a top-line spending number, there is increasing speculation that lawmakers will pass another short-term CR into the first quarter of 2025. That CR could also be the vehicle for a disaster assistance bill. Also on the lame-duck agenda are the annual National Defense Authorization Act and an extension of farm and nutrition programs.

House Panel Leadership. On Tuesday, the Republican Steering Committee will meet to consider whether Transportation Committee Chairman Sam Graves (R-Mo.) should be given a waiver from GOP term limits to continue to hold the panel’s gavel in the next Congress. Next week, the Steering Committee will hear from candidates in the contested races for committee chairs, including those for Financial Services, Energy and Commerce, Education and the Workforce, and Foreign Affairs. After each round of presentations, Steering Committee members are expected to vote for their recommendations to lead each committee.

New Panel. House Oversight and Accountability Committee Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) plans to create a new subcommittee, the Subcommittee on Delivering on Government Efficiency. The DOGE panel, which will be chaired by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), will support the work of Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy at the Department of Government Efficiency, an advisory panel that President-elect Trump has tasked with identifying government waste.

Musk and Ramaswamy will be on Capitol Hill Thursday for meetings with all Republican lawmakers “to discuss major reform ideas to achieve regulatory rescissions, administrative reductions, and cost savings,” according to Speaker Mike Johnson. The duo will also meet with the newly formed Senate DOGE Caucus, helmed by Senator Joni Ernst (R-Iowa).

House Races. Only one House race remains too close to call – CA-13, where incumbent Republican Rep. John Duarte is trailing Democratic challenger Adam Gray by some 200 votes. County election officials must finalize the final results by Thursday, and the race must be certified by Dec. 13. If Gray prevails, Republicans will have won 220 seats to the Democrats’ 215, but with the resignation of Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), the 119th Congress would start with a party division of 219Rs/215Ds.

Rep. Mike Waltz (R-Fla.) has announced he will resign Jan. 20 to become National Security Adviser, putting the count at 218Rs/215Ds. If Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) is confirmed by the Senate as Ambassador to the United Nations and then resigns her seat, the Speaker would be working with a slim majority of 217Rs to 215Ds until the vacancies are filled.

Special Elections. The special elections in Florida to replace Reps. Gaetz and Waltz will take place April 1, preceded by party primaries on Jan. 28. In New York, Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) is required to set a date for the special election within 90 days of Rep. Stefanik’s departure. There will be no party primaries as party leaders will select the nominees.

Committee Action of Note

Wednesday, December 4

  • House Financial Services Committee Hearing: “Innovation Revolution: How Technology is Shaping the Future of Finance”
  • House Oversight and Accountability Subcommittee on Economic Growth, Energy Policy, and Regulatory Affairs Hearing: “Exposing the Truth on LNG: How the Administration Played Politics with America’s Energy Future”
  • House Oversight and Accountability Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic Markup of its report on “After Action Review of the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Lessons Learned and a Path Forward”
  • Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations Hearing: “New Revelations About Airline Fees”

Thursday, December 5

  • Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Hearing: “What is the FDA Doing to Reduce the Diabetes and Obesity Epidemics in America and Take on the Greed of the Food and Beverage Industry?”
  • House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party Hearing: “Rebuilding the Arsenal of Democracy: The Imperative to Strengthen America’s Defense Industrial Base and Workforce”
  • House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Protection Hearing: “Design vs. Default: Analyzing Shifts in Cybersecurity”

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