Good afternoon from Capitol Hill,
The House and Senate are both in a race against the clock this week to pass a government spending bill before funding expires on Friday. The Senate, which normally works at the sleepy pace of 2.5 days a week, has an ambitious schedule: on Monday and Tuesday, they will vote to finalize the House-passed National Defense Authorization Act. Then they’ll move to H.R. 82, the Social Security Fairness Act, confirm more of Biden’s judicial picks, and this is all before they get to the government funding deadline on Friday.
Congress is intending to pass a continuing resolution until March, but what else will be in it remains subject to ongoing negotiations. According to reports, the House is considering attaching a one-year extension of the Farm Bill, disaster relief, and a health care package, and Democrats are demanding funding to rebuild the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Maryland, among other sundry items.
Like most funding debates in Washington, this will probably come together—but only at the last possible minute.
In the House, multiple committees began announcing who they recommend in the 119th Congress. Freshman members added to committee leadership so far include Riley Moore of West Virginia, who will join the Appropriations Committee, and Julie Fedorchak of North Dakota, who will be joining the Energy and Commerce Committee.
The 17 standing committees have chosen their committee chairs, but an important role remains open, and an ongoing lobbying battle is ensuing for the head of the House Rules Committee. The Rules Committee is historically one of the most powerful committees in Congress and determines both which bills will be debated on the floor and the rules for debate. The Speaker personally appoints each member. Conservative Congressman Chip Roy announced that he is seeking to be appointed chairman and will face fierce opposition from Virginia Foxx, who previously served as chairman of the Education and Workforce Committee. Pete Sessions, who previously chaired the Rules Committee from 2013 to 2018, is also vying for the top position.
Looking forward to the 119th Congress, the House and Senate recently released their new Congressional calendars, which show when they will be in session. The Senate will work without a week-long break for 10 weeks and will be in session for five days a week until mid-March. During the first 100 days of Donald Trump’s presidency, Congress will face intense scrutiny, with pressure to complete two reconciliation packages, implement comprehensive immigration reform, extend and expand tax reform, and then approve a new budget by the end of March.
Meanwhile, President Biden’s legacy continues down the regressive and divisive path that caused him to lose popular support. After breaking his promise not to pardon his son, Hunter, he then pardoned 39 individuals and commuted the sentences of a whopping 1,499 non-violent offenders, including a woman from Illinois who embezzled $53 million, because he believed they “deserved a second chance.” Barack Obama set the previous record by granting clemency to 330 offenders before leaving office.
Not receiving a pardon are the estimated 1,572 defendants who have been charged related to the events on January 6th and the over 1,200 who have been convicted or pleaded guilty. Back in June, Congressman Thomas Massie excoriated Attorney General Merrick Garland over the presence of FBI informants on the scene on January 6th. Garland promised not to prevent the release of Inspector General Michael Horowitz’s report related to the FBI’s involvement.
That report was finally released last week and left many questions unanswered. Horowitz confirmed that there were 26 confidential human sources (who work with the FBI but are not employed by the FBI) present at the Capitol but claimed that most of them were not there at the request of the FBI, though their trip was expensed to the Bureau. The report also claimed that none of them were authorized to enter the Capitol or enter the restricted areas around it, though 17 did anyway. None were authorized to do anything illegal, and none have been prosecuted for any activity that day.
The Latest from the Conservative Movement
- Matt Gaetz to join Prime Time at OANN Channel
- How the Federal Government Weaponized the Bank Secrecy Act to Spy on Americans
- Officer who killed Ashli Babbitt abandoned US Capitol post for card game and lied to investigators about it, source says
One More Thing