October 6th

This week in MORE POWER:

Changing of the Guard
House has no Speaker, Again
Shutdown Watch: Round 2
Bipartisan Moves on Cybersecurity
Administration Headlines
Budget Bill Play by Play

Changing of the Guard

While the federal government narrowly avoided a government shutdown last week, Congress only has 41 days to get a budget bill done before the government runs out of money because they only passed a short term resolution until they can come to a long term agreement.

And the negotiators are changing: Sen. Dianne Feinstein, (D-CA) died last week, and Vice President Harris swore in Sen. Laphonza Butler to replace her on October 3rd, the same day that Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy, (R-CA) was booted from his role, grinding votes to a halt. This is the first time in U.S. history that a Speaker has been ousted from their role. While we typically only cover policy, this week we have to break down the politics that are standing in the way of passing bills.

House has no Speaker, Again

For the first time in American history, the House fired its Speaker. Eight Republicans joined 208 Democrats to vote McCarthy out of his job 216-210. The eight who crossed their party’s line are Reps. Andy Biggs, (R-AZ), Ken Buck, (R-CO), Tim Burchett, (R-TN), Eli Crane, (R-AZ), Matt Gaetz, (R-FL), Bob Good, (R-VA), Nancy Mace, (R-SC), and Matt Rosendale, (R-MT).

Speaker Pro Tempore Patrick McHenry, (R-NC) is temporarily filling in as speaker, and he seems not to want to run for the permanent job. Top candidates for the new Speaker include House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, (R-LA) and House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan, (R-OH). The internal election among Republicans is scheduled for Wednesday, with a full House vote to follow.

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Shutdown Watch: Round 2

Last weekend, President Biden signed the continuing resolution to fund the government for 45 days. Congress must negotiate a final 2024 budget by November 17 to avoid a shutdown.

The House has passed five of 12 budget bills. The last section of this email tracks the progress of each one. The Senate will have to pass their versions of these bills next. Then the two chambers can meet in conference committee to negotiate final bills which both chambers will have to pass before President Biden can sign them into law. Minibus and omnibus bills that combine multiple budget bills into bigger bills are still options, but the House is unlikely to pass them due to hard-right member opposition.

The House adjourned due to the vote to remove McCarthy from his role as Speaker of the House. Until the House elects a new speaker, we expect that they won’t vote on legislation. Have a view on this that you would like to share?

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Bipartisan Moves on Cybersecurity

This week, the House passed a bill from Reps. Nancy Mace, (R-SC) and Katie Porter, (R-CA), the Modernizing the Acquisition of Cybersecurity Experts Act. Should the Senate pass it and Biden sign the bill into law, it would loosen government regulations to enable people without four-year college degrees to qualify for government cybersecurity jobs when they have the technical skills to perform them.

You can Read About the Bill and Take Action Here

Administration Headlines

This week, the Biden administration announced $9B in student debt forgiveness for 125,000 borrowers, many of whom are getting the relief under the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program for public service workers like firefighters and mental health professionals.

Biden also publicized his 39th round of federal judicial nominees, bringing the total of announced federal judicial nominees to 191. This week’s round included: