November 8
This week in MORE POWER:
Budget Deadline
Confirmations Incoming
Altering Social Security
Tracking Ballots
Blocking Adversaries
The election is over and while Republicans will control the White House, Senate and likely the House next session, the current split Congress has several more weeks to pass legislation under the Biden administration. Here’s a look at what’s on their schedule when they return next week.
Budget Deadline
Every year, Congress must pass a series of budget bills, which allocates funding for all federal programs and agencies. Whatever the budget bill allocates will be the federal budget for the next fiscal year. The 2024 fiscal year was set to end on Sept. 30, but Congress was not able to agree on the budget bills in time. Therefore, it passed a continuing resolution (CR), which extended the 2024 budget until Dec. 20 – just over a month away. Congress will either have to pass a full budget or CR by then, or risk a government shutdown. House Republicans are waiting for Trump's direction on how to handle it. Trump has two options: push for a full-year funding deal during the lame-duck session to avoid a funding fight next year, or opt for a short-term resolution to influence FY2025 spending. Democrats will have a say as they still control the Senate and the presidency, so they will fight to secure some priorities in the FY2025 spending bills during the lame-duck session. Budget bills that Congress must pass include:
Confirmations Incoming
The first thing the Senate plans to do when it comes back into session is vote on confirmations. The Constitution gives the Senate a unique responsibility with its confirmation role, which involves reviewing and approving certain presidential appointments, like federal judges, Cabinet members, and ambassadors. To “confirm” nominees, the Senate must vote to officially approve them.
Specifically, the Senate may confirm April Perry for the position of district judge for the northern district of Illinois, Jonathan Hawley for district judge for the central district of Illinois, David Huitema for director of the Office of Government Ethics, and Cathy Fung for judge of the U.S. Tax Court.
Altering Social Security
The House is scheduled to vote on the bipartisan Social Security Fairness Act. This bill would ensure that those who receive government or public pensions avoid reductions in their Social Security benefits. Specifically, it would remove the Government Pension Offset (GPO), which currently lowers Social Security spousal or survivor benefits for those with their own government pensions. Additionally, it would eliminate the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP), which reduces Social Security benefits for people with pensions from jobs that didn’t withhold Social Security taxes, such as certain state or local government roles. The Congressional Research Center estimates that GPO and WEP restrictions affected 2.8 million American public service workers and/or their spouses in 2023.
Tracking Ballots
The House is scheduled to vote on the Vote by Mail Tracking Act, which aims to improve the handling and tracking of mail-in ballots. To do so, this bill would require any mail-in ballot for a federal election must be sent in an envelope that includes a Postal Service barcode, which allows each ballot to be tracked individually; each envelope to meet design standards set by the U.S. Postal Service (USPS); and that each envelope be marked with whatever logo or symbol USPS establishes for official election mail. If the bill is made law, election officials, as well as USPS, will be responsible for implementing these changes; voters will not have to take any additional steps. Though the bill has broad bipartisan support, opponents say that it will give the federal government more administrative power over elections, rather than state governments, which currently fully administer elections. Supporters say that the bill will increase transparency surrounding the mail-in voting process, as well as better accountability for ballots.
Blocking Adversaries
The House is scheduled to vote on the Federal Acquisition Security Council (FASC) Improvement Act next week; this bill intends to make sure that the federal government only uses safe and secure technology and products. The bill, if made law, would allow the FASC to keep certain foreign-owned companies – especially those from countries that could be adversaries – from supplying products or services to the U.S. government if those products may pose a threat to national security.
To make the FASC more effective, the bill would give it more power, move it under the President’s office, and create a new team in the National Cyber Director’s office to help the FASC with legal and policy work.
What Congress Passed
On recess.
On recess.
Nothing.
What POTUS Signed Into Law
Nothing.
