Letters from Capitol Hill that Members of Congress have written and signed on to lately.
On Wednesday, we walk things back.
At least that’s what First Buddy Elon was doing this week upon realization that slashing several trillion dollars from a sovereign budget - bloated or not - might be tougher than he first realized.
On theme with this semi-takeback, last week, Trump changed his tune on a hard line plan to push a policy and budget package through Congress using a semi-controversial procedural plan known as reconciliation:
One day he said all the measures should be pushed through as one, the next - possibly thanks to some insight on just how complicated reconciliation can and does become - two bills would be just fine.
House and Senate leadership have different positions on if a one or two bill approach to move this policy priority package would be best, but, one thing is clear: what the President-elect says, goes. Mostly.
In addition to ambitions to minimize the need to negotiate with the Dems through use of the procedurally exploitative reconciliation (basically nuclear) option, Republicans are working out how to address the debt limit, which is set to expire this year.
Essentially, when the debt limit is reached, the Treasury has to work from authority of extraordinary measures, which limit how it is able to function and pay U.S. debts.
Contexualized, a debt-limit increase would “give stability to the bond markets and to send a message around the world that we will pay the nation’s debt,” Johnson said to reporters on the matter this week.
A firebrand of the GOP is fiscal responsibility - not to mention the bedrock of the House Freedom Caucus faction that has the power to make the Speaker lose his Johnson should they choose to defect from Party instructions. In other words, the idea of expanding the size of our nation’s debt through raising the debt ceiling is not usually well received by constituents committed to Republican ideals.
As a means of compromise, Johnson and the majority are reportedly weighing options to tie a debt-limit increase to significant spending cuts, but Republicans have yet to detail exactly what programs to cut.
On the chopping block as broadly discussed thus far include reductions to mandatory spending other than Social Security, potentially targeting Medicare, Medicaid, and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, among other programs.
Raising the debt limit through reconciliation would require a nearly unanimous vote among Republicans, and it would technically require a debt-limit increase rather than a suspension.
This technically would require conservatives to vote to significantly raise the limit, with some House R’s reportedly already discussing a $1.5 trillion baseline increase.
According to the Congressional Budget Office, the deficit for FY24 was $1.8 trillion.
Further still on the list of things outstanding for the 119th Session of Congress is a plan to address expiring tax cuts, a significant number of which were passed in 2017 under Trump I.
Steve Moore, an informal economic adviser to Trump, said the administration is eyeing addressing a tax plan within the first 150 days of the President’s return to office.
For a refresher recap: the President-elect did not achieve an early call to action to get House Republicans to support raising the debt ceiling, and there is waffling on whether there will be one bill or two to move his prospective agenda.
Chamber schedules remain a bit reshuffled to accommodate the final day of funeral processions of former President Jimmy Carter; however, earlier this week, the House advanced one of the first parts of the first piece of the incoming-President’s proclaimed policy agenda by passing the Laken Riley Act.
In a nutshell, H.R. 29 aims to lock up noncitizens charged with shoplifting and other theft-related crimes, additionally empowering state attorneys generals with standing to challenge an array of federal immigration actions, including deportation protections and legal visas.
Introduced after the bill’s namesake was murdered by a person in the U.S. illegally, the bill stalled in previous Sessions of Congress, but faces more favorable odds now with Republicans in control of both chambers.
Additionally, different from the bill’s last round of consideration, Democrats are eager to show they’re tough on illegal immigration, with 48 from the minority crossing the aisle to pass the bill in the House earlier this week.
This is up from 37 Democrats who previously voted for the bill.
In the Senate, the bill will need the support of eight Democrats or independents, as well as all Republicans, to advance, with Sens. John Fetterman (D-PA), Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), and Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI), the top Democrat on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, already expressing their support for the bill.
Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) supported the bill when she was a member of the House.
And, so, the sun rises.
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Jan. 09 | Floor Schedules
Legislation aimed at preventing the International Criminal Court from arresting people from the U.S. and allies including Israel is set for a vote in the House today.
H.R. 23 would require the President to impose sanctions and block any funds from going to the court, which issued warrants in November for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant.
Senators will vote on the Senate version of the “Laken Riley Act” (S. 5), which would require the Homeland Security Department to detain individuals in the country illegally who are charged with or arrested for theft.
Sixty senators would have to back the 3 p.m. vote to cut off debate on the motion to proceed to the measure for it to advance. 48 Democrats reportedly backed S. 5 earlier this week.
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Jan. 09 | Friends of Georgia, Enemies of Ivanishvili
Chairman of the U.S. Helsinki Commission, Republican Congressman Joe Wilson, along with 42 other politicians, established an international group called the Friends of Georgia and sent a joint letter to all “free and democratic governments.” The group urged them “not to recognize the illegitimate regime of Bidzina Ivanishvili and to demand free and fair elections in Georgia.”
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Jan. 08 | Global Alliances, Attorney Generals, Indian Billionaire Gautam Adani
In a strongly worded letter to US Attorney General Merrick B Garland, Congressman Lance Gooden, member of the House Judiciary Committee, demanded answers on the Justice Department’s selective prosecution of foreign entities and the potential harm such actions pose to US’s global alliances and economic growth and that if there is any George Soros connection to it.
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Jan. 08 | Demands for Swift Repair
U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor (FL-14) called on the Michaels Organization and Harbor Bay at MacDill Air Force Base to immediately address hurricane damage to homes and necessary repairs for service members and their families. Following Hurricanes Helene and Milton, many homes remain in disrepair, leaving military families with unacceptable living conditions.
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Jan. 08 | Monumental Opposition
Representative Tom McClintock and members of the California congressional delegation today sent a letter to President Biden calling on him not to establish a proposed Range of Light National Monument. The proposed monument would redesignate over 1.4 million acres of federal land, including the entirety of the Sierra National Forest and the San Joaquin River Gorge.
The letter is co-signed by Representatives Doug LaMalfa, Kevin Kiley, Vince Fong, David Valadao, Jay Obernolte and Darrell Issa.
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Jan. 08 | State Department Spending Sprees
House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Brian Mast notified Secretary of State Antony Blinken and U.S. Agency for International Development Administrator Samantha Power that he has placed a hold on hundreds of millions of dollars in disbursements on radical State Department social initiatives authorized as part of a last minute woke spending spree by the outgoing Biden Administration.
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Jan. 08 | Housing Resources for Hurricane Helene
Senators Thom Tillis and Ted Budd sent a letter to President Biden demanding that he deploy all available federal disaster recovery resources, including direct temporary housing assistance, so families impacted by Hurricane Helene are out of hotels and back on their property in a warm and safe home for the winter.
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Jan. 08 | California Wildfires Continue to Rage
Congressman Ted W. Lieu (D-Los Angeles County) joined U.S. Senators Alex Padilla (D-CA) and Adam Schiff (D-CA), as well as 47 bipartisan members of the California Congressional delegation in urging President Biden to grant Governor Gavin Newsom’s request for a major disaster declaration in response to the devastating wildfires impacting the greater Los Angeles area. President Biden has since quickly approved Governor Gavin Newsom’s request for the major disaster declaration, understanding the urgent need to provide relief to residents impacted by these fires.
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Jan. 06 | FOTC BIL IRA WYD
Representatives Jesús “Chuy” García (IL-04), Ayanna Pressley (MA-07), and Mark Takano (CA-39), Co-Chairs of the Future of Transportation Caucus (FOTC), sent a letter to President Biden outlining actions his administration can take now to safeguard the investments and policies secured in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) and the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).
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Jan. 03 | Requests for Recovery Assistance from Several Reps.
Congressman Troy A. Carter, Sr. (D-LA), Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA), Senator John Kennedy (R-LA), Dr. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA), Rep. Clay Higgins (R-LA), and Rep. Julia Letlow, Ph.D. (R-LA) sent two letters requesting disaster recovery assistance following the Bourbon Street terrorist attack in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana. The Members request expedited approval from President Biden of Governor Jeff Landry’s emergency disaster declaration for the State of Louisiana. They also request a Small Business Administration (SBA) Disaster Declaration for Orleans Parish. This will make essential assistance available in the form of SBA Economic Injury Disaster Loans to small businesses affected by the attack.
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