PSW Weekly Round-Up - 4/15

Legislative Update

House. The House had planned to vote this week on a handful of bills dealing with home appliances, but those measures have been moved to the back burner following Iran’s weekend attack on Israel. Now the House is scheduled to vote on several Iran- and Israel-related measures, but it remains unclear how Speaker Mike Johnson plans to address the bigger question of U.S. aid to Israel and Ukraine. House Republicans will meet this evening to discuss various options. Both the House and Senate are scheduled to be out of session next week for the Passover recess.

Senate. Last week, Senate Republicans asked House Republicans to delay delivering impeachment articles against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. Speaker Johnson agreed and said that instead of presenting the impeachment articles on April 10, they would be delivered to the Senate on Tuesday, April 16. Once the impeachment articles are presented, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has said that Senators will be sworn in as jurors the next day and that the Senate will “address the issue as expeditiously as possible.” While Schumer has not said what procedural steps he will take, he could move as soon as Wednesday to dismiss or table the charges, which would require a simple majority vote for approval.

Also on this week’s schedule are two matters that need to be addressed before April 19. One is the FISA issue. The Senate plans to vote on legislation that the House approved last week that would reauthorize for two years the electronic surveillance authorities under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). (The House has to take another procedural vote before the measure can be sent to the Senate.) The other measure is a bill by Senator Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) that would block implementation in this fiscal year of EPA’s recent vehicle emissions rule. As part of negotiations on the second FY 2024 appropriations package, Schumer promised Crapo a standalone vote on his proposal by April 19. Sixty votes will be needed for approval.

House Committees. House Republicans last week chose Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.) as the new chair of the Appropriations Committee, replacing Rep. Kay Granger (R-Tex.), who announced on March 22 that she would be stepping aside. Because House Republican Conference Rules provide that a full committee chair cannot serve as a subcommittee chair, Cole had to give up the gavel as chair of the Transportation-HUD Subcommittee. That set in motion a number of changes.

Rep. Steven Womack (R-Ark.) is the new chair of the Transportation-HUD Subcommittee; Rep. David Joyce (R-Ohio) has now taken Womack’s place as chair of the Financial Services and General Government Subcommittee; Rep. Mark Amodei (R-Nev.) has replaced Joyce as chair of the Homeland Security Subcommittee; and Rep. David Valadao (R-Calif.) has succeeded Amodei as chair of the Legislative Branch Subcommittee. Cole has also given up the gavel at the Rules Committee, and Speaker Johnson has named Rep. Michael Burgess (R-Tex.) as the new chair.

Committee Action of Note

Tuesday, April 16

• Senate Appropriations Committee FY25 Budget Hearings:
  • Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies: Request for the Department of Health and Human Services
  • Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies: Request for the U.S. Department of Agriculture
  • Subcommittee on Defense: Request for the Navy and Marine Corps
• Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Hearing to examine the President’s FY 2025 budget request for the U.S. Department of Energy
• Senate Finance Committee Hearing: “The President’s Fiscal Year 2025 IRS Budget and the IRS 2024 Filing Season”
• Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology, and the Law Hearing: “Time Change: Oversight of AI: Election Deepfakes”
• House Appropriations Committee FY25 Budget Hearings:
  • Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies: Request for the U.S. Forest Services
  • Subcommittee on Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies: Request for the Department of Veterans Affairs
  • Subcommittee on Homeland Security: Request for the Federal Emergency Management Agency with FEMA Director Deanne Criswell
  • Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies: Request for the Department of Justice
  • Subcommittee on Homeland Security: Request for the Transportation Security Administration
• House Small Business Subcommittee on Economic Growth, Tax, and Capital Access: “Exploring SBA Programs: Reviewing the SBIC and SBIR Programs' Impact on Small Businesses”
• House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health Hearing: “Examining Health Sector Cybersecurity in the Wake of the Change Healthcare Attack”
• House Financial Services Subcommittee on National Security, Illicit Finance, and International Financial Institutions Hearing: “Held for Ransom: How Ransomware Endangers Our Financial System”
• House Ways and Means Committee Hearing: “The Biden Administration’s 2024 Trade Policy Agenda” with U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai
• House Education and the Workforce Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions Hearing: “ERISA’s 50^th Anniversary: The Path to Higher Quality, Lower Cost Health Care”
• House Natural Resources Committee Markup of various measures, including:
  • H.R. 5015 – Seedlings for Sustainable Habitat Restoration Act of 2023;
  • H.R. 6482 – Enhancing Geothermal Production on Federal Lands Act;
  • H.R. 7370 – Geothermal Energy Opportunity (GEO) Act;
  • H.R. 7408 – America’s Wildlife Habitat Conservation Act; and
  • H.R. 7409 – Harnessing Energy at Thermal Sources Act
• House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations Hearing: “Examining How Improper Payments Cost Taxpayers Billions and Weaken Medicare and Medicaid”
• House Financial Services Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Monetary Policy Hearing: “Agency Audit: Reviewing CFPB Financial Reporting and Transparency”
• House Armed Services Subcommittee on Readiness Hearing: “FY 2025 Budget Request for the Department of Defense Energy, Installations, and Environment Programs”
• House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Social Security Hearing: “Windfall Elimination Provision and Government Pension Offset”
• House Armed Services Subcommittee on Tactical Air and Land Forces Hearing: “FY 2025 Budget Request of the Department of Defense for Fixed-Wing Tactical and Training Aircraft Programs”

Wednesday, April 17

• Senate Appropriations Committee FY25 Budget Hearings:
  • Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies: Request for the U.S. Department of Justice with U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland
• Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee Hearing: “FAA Organization Designation Authorization (ODA) Expert Panel Report”
• Senate Finance Committee Hearing: “The President’s 2024 Trade Policy Agenda”
• Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Subcommittee on Primary Health and Retirement Security Hearing: “Feeding a Healthier America: Current Efforts and Potential Opportunities for Food is Medicine”
• House Appropriations Committee FY25 Budget Hearings:
  • Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies: Request for the Army Corps of Engineers and the Bureau of Reclamation
  • Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies: Request for the Department of the Interior with Deb Haaland, Secretary, Department of the Interior
  • Subcommittee on Defense: Request for the Department of Defense with Lloyd Austin, Secretary, Department of Defense
  • Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies: Request for the Department of Labor with Julie Su, Acting Secretary, Department of Labor
  • Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies: Request for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration
  • Subcommittee on Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies: Request for Air Force and Space Force Military Construction and Family Housing
  • Subcommittee on Homeland Security: Request for Immigration and Customs Enforcement
• House Oversight and Accountability Committee Hearing: “Defending America from the Chinese Communist Party’s Political Warfare, Part I”
• House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Innovation, Data, and Commerce Hearing: “Legislative Solutions to Protect Kids Online and Ensure Americans’ Data Privacy Rights”
• House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health Hearing: “FY 2025 Department of Health and Human Services Budget”
• House Armed Services Subcommittee on Seapower and Projection Forces Hearing: “Department of the Navy FY 2025 Budget Request for Seapower and Projection Forces”

Thursday, April 18

• Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee Hearing: “Oversight of Federal Housing Regulators” with Adrianne Todman, Acting Secretary, Department of Housing and Urban Development
• House Appropriations Committee FY25 Budget Hearings:
  • Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies: Request for the Food and Drug Administration
• House Oversight and Accountability Subcommittee on Economic Growth, Energy Policy, and Regulatory Affairs Hearing: “Oversight of the Biden Administration’s Pause on LNG Exports”
• House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources Hearing: “Assessing Solutions to Secure America’s Offshore Energy Future”

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