June 16th
1000 MORE's weekly nonpartisan roundup of the most important happenings in federal government, written in a way that doesn't require a law degree to understand, with tools to take action
June 16, 2023
This week on the Hill:
Failed House Censure Vote
Impact of House Republican Infighting
Promoting Goodwill in the Middle East
Relief for Farms Hit By Hurricanes
Increasing Access to Maritime Academies
Nominees Moving Through the Senate
Failed House Censure Vote
This week, the House voted on a resolution from freshman Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, (R-FL) to censure Rep. Adam Schiff, (D-CA) for using his power as committee chairman in the previous Congresses to “intentionally mislead the American people” by investigating former president Donald Trump. The resolution failed because 20 Republicans in swing districts like Reps. Young Kim, (R-CA) and David Valadao, (R-CA) joined 205 Democrats to vote it down. Questions remain about whether the process is being used as a political tool to attack members in disagreement with the party in power.
To censure a member of Congress means to pass a resolution to formally condemn them. Censure is not as strong as expulsion, which would remove the member completely, but it can correspond with kicking them off of committees to negate their impact as further punishment. Since the founding of the nation, the House of Representatives has only censured members 24 times, most often in the 19th century. The last time a member was censured was in 2021, when Rep. Paul Gosar, (R-AZ) posted a doctored anime video of himself killing Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, (D-NY) and President Biden.
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Impact of House Republican Infighting
After having last week's votes canceled due to a standoff between House Republican leadership and far-right members of the Freedom Caucus, the House returned to work in D.C. this week. And that's just in time, as the chamber has to get moving on passing the fiscal year 2024 budget.
The government runs out of money at the end of September. Congress has to write and pass all 12 annual budget bills by that deadline, or else the government could shut down. Additionally, Congress will not be in D.C. during the two-week Fourth of July break as well as the annual district work period that happens for the entire month of August, so there are a limited number of days to pass bills between now and the end of September.
Votes started again on Tuesday after Speaker Kevin McCarthy, (R-CA) gave in to the House Freedom Caucus' demands to cut the budget by more than $100B, setting 2024 spending at 2022 spending levels. This decision sets Congress on a collision course no matter which way you cut it: House vs. Senate or Democrats vs. Republicans. Doing a deal on the budget is further complicated by the facts that the chambers have different views on budget caps and that hard-right House members seem to want to slash funding on anything they can get their hands on, most recently citing the Justice Department and the FBI's new headquarters. If the chambers can't agree on spending by the September 30th deadline and a government shutdown kicks in, it could harm everything from Medicare and Medicaid to veterans benefits.
Plus Congress must renew the ever contentious Farm Bill, authorization of the Federal Aviation Administration, tainted by a fight over expanding flights into Reagan National Airport, and the controversial Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act this year. Passing bills on these items will require working across the aisle, which as we saw most recently during debt ceiling negotiations, takes time.
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Promoting Goodwill in the Middle East
Led by figures like Jared Kushner, the Trump administration negotiated the Abraham Accords between Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan, and Morocco. These agreements normalize and improve diplomatic relations between the nations. Now, a bipartisan group of members has been working to incentivize the State Department to promote relationships between Israel and other Muslim-majority countries.
Put together by Reps. Jared Moskowitz, (D-FL) and Mike Lawler, (R-NY), the Special Envoy for the Abraham Accords Act would create a new position within the Department of State - Special Envoy for the Abraham Accords - to grow these agreements. The bill passed the House this week. It goes to the Senate next.
Relief for Farms Hit By Hurricanes
A bipartisan group of members has been working to get farmers much needed relief to help cover crop destruction caused by hurricanes Ian and Nicole. The Block Grant Assistance Act would allow the Department of Agriculture to provide grants to states that would distribute these funds to businesses that suffered losses due to extreme weather in 2022.
This week, the bill passed the House. It goes to the Senate next, where Sens. Marco Rubio, (R-FL) and Rick Scott, (R-FL) are actively working to pass it.
Increasing Access to Maritime Academies
Last month, the Senate passed the CADETS Act along bipartisan lines. This week, members on both sides of the aisle in the House came together to pass it. The bill goes to the president for his signature next. As law, the bill will remove the age cap to receive financial support to attend one of the six maritime academies in the United States, so that anyone who can serve in the Navy Reserve post-graduation is eligible.
Nominees Moving Through the Senate
The Senate is approving Biden's political and judicial nominees at such a pace this week they are, dare I say it, making it look easy. Approved appointees include:
Elizabeth Allen of New York to be Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy
Hernan D. Vera of California to be U.S. District Judge for the Central District of California
Jared Bernstein of Virginia to be Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers
P. Casey Pitts of California to be U.S. District Judge for the Northern District of California, who will be the first openly gay judge on this court
Dale E. Ho of New York to be U.S. District Judge for the Southern District of New York
Nusrat Jahan Choudhury of New York to be U.S. District Judge for the Eastern District of New York, who will be the first Muslim woman and first Bangladeshi-American to serve as a federal judge
Next week, Senators are scheduled to vote on the following nominees:
Julie Rikelman of Massachusetts to be U.S. Circuit Judge for the First Circuit
Natasha C. Merle of New York to be U.S. District Judge for the Eastern District of New York
In contrast, the approval for acting Labor Secretary Julie Su's nomination for the job has stalled. Sens. Joe Manchin (D-WV), Jon Tester (D-MT) and Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ) remain uncommitted. As Republicans stand together against Su's confirmation, these three votes are necessary to approve her candidacy.
What Congress Passed This Week
Nothing.
