On January 20, 2017 Donald J. Trump will be sworn in as the 45^th President of the United States. During the campaign, Trump mentioned the following issues as his priorities for his first 100 days in office:

Pass a 10-year $1 trillion infrastructure plan

• Bill would be revenue neutral leveraging public-private partnerships and private investments through tax incentives
• Revenue neutral – tax breaks for investors who would be willing to lend the money to state and local governments would be offset by new tax revenue paid by the workers and companies undertaking these infrastructure projects
• Applies only to revenue-producing infrastructure projects (e.g. airports, toll roads)

Nominate a “Scalia-like” judge for the Supreme Court

• Diane S. Sykes
• Bill Pryor
• David Stras
• Joan Larsen
• Raymond Kethledge
• Don Willett
• Thomas Lee
• Steven Colloton
• Allison Eid
• Raymond Gruender
• Thomas Hardiman
• Keith Blackwell
• Charles Canady
• Neil Gorsuch
• Mike Lee
• Edward Mansfield
• Federico Moreno
• Margaret Ryan
• Amul Thapar
• Timothy Tymkovich
• Robert Young

Repeal the Affordable Care Act/Obama care

• Replace it with health savings accounts and interstate insurance marketing (the ability to purchase health insurance across state lines)
• Lets states manage Medicaid funds
• Cut “red tape” at the FDA to speed approval of over 4,000 drugs

Propose a constitutional amendment to impose term limits on all members of Congress

Pass the “Restore National Security Act”

• Work with Congress to fully repeal the defense sequester and submit a new budget to rebuild and expand the military
• Provide Veterans with the ability to receive public VA treatment or attend the private doctor of their choice
• Protect vital infrastructure from cyber-attack
• Establish new screening procedures for immigration to ensure those who are admitted to the S. support the U.S. people and its values

Cancel Obama executive orders on climate, energy, immigration, overtime, and retirement saving

Renegotiate trade deals like NAFTA (or withdraw from the deal under Article 2205) and withdraw from the Trans-Pacific Partnership

Instruct his Secretary of Treasury to label China as a currency manipulator

Deport criminal immigrants living in the country illegally

• Cancel visas to foreign countries that won’t take them back

Cancel all federal funding to Sanctuary Cities

Suspend immigration from terror-prone regions where vetting cannot safely occur. All vetting of people coming into our country will be considered extreme vetting.

Pass the “End Illegal Immigration Act”

• Fully-funds the construction of a wall on U.S. southern border with the full understanding that the country Mexico will be reimbursing the United States for the full cost of such wall
• Establish a 2-year mandatory minimum federal prison sentence for illegally re-entering the S. after a previous deportation, and a 5-year mandatory minimum for illegally re-entering for those with felony convictions, multiple misdemeanor convictions or two or more prior deportations
• Reforms visa rules to enhance penalties for overstaying and to ensure open jobs are offered to American workers first

Institute a federal hiring freeze (except for military, public safety, public health) and change civil service laws to ease the firing of disloyal workers

Agency review reports

• Thoroughly review every federal agency

Roll back regulations

• Department heads review regulations and identify regulations that are wasteful and unnecessary
• Institute a requirement that for every new regulation, two have to be eliminated

Hold Cabinet orientation and briefings

Fill top 100 Senate confirmed positions

Pass the “End The Off-shoring Act”

• Impose tariffs on companies that move offshore

Impose the following bans

• 5-year ban on White House and Congressional officials becoming lobbyists after they leave government service
• Lifetime ban on White House officials lobbying on behalf of a foreign government
• A complete ban on foreign lobbyists raising money for American elections

Direct the Secretary of Commerce and U.S. Trade Representative to identify all foreign trading abuses that unfairly impact American workers and direct them to use every tool under American and international law to end those abuses immediately

Lift the restrictions on the production of shale, oil, natural gas and clean coal

Lift the roadblocks on energy infrastructure projects, like the Keystone Pipeline, to allow it to move forward

Cancel payments to U.N. climate change programs and redirect funds for water and environmental infrastructure

Pass the “Middle Class Tax Relief And Simplification Act”

• Massive tax reduction and simplification, in combination with trade reform, regulatory relief, and lifting the restrictions on American energy.
• A middle-class family with 2 children will get a 35% tax cut.
• The current number of brackets will be reduced from 7 to 3
• Tax forms will be greatly simplified
• Business rate will be lowered from 35% to 15%
• Trillions of dollars of American corporate money overseas can now be brought back at a 10% rate.

Pass the “School Choice And Education Opportunity Act”

• Redirects education dollars to give parents choice to send their kid to the public, private, charter, magnet, religious or home school of their choice
• Ends common core, brings education supervision to local communities.
• Expands vocational and technical education
• Makes 2 and 4-year college more affordable.

Pass the “Affordable Childcare and Eldercare Act”

• Allows Americans to deduct childcare and elder care from their taxes
• Incentivizes employers to provide on-side childcare services
• Creates tax-free Dependent Care Savings Accounts for both young and elderly dependents, with matching contributions for low-income families.

Pass the “Restoring Community Safety Act”

• Creates a Task Force On Violent Crime
• Increases funding for programs that train and assist local police
• Increases resources for federal law enforcement agencies and federal prosecutors to dismantle criminal gangs and put violent offenders behind bars.

FY17 Continuing Resolution (CR)

There are 7 days left until the end of the fiscal year. While the text of a continuing resolution (CR) wasn’t made available until Thursday, the Senate voted 89 to 7 on Tuesday evening to move forward on HR 5325, the legislative vehicle for CR. This vote had been postponed twice while negotiators continued discussions trying to hammer out a final deal. On Thursday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) filed what he called a “clean CR” funding the government through Dec. 9 (at FY16 levels reduced by 0.496%). The CR includes funding for the opioid epidemic, Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), flood relief in MD, WV and LA, and $1.1B for the Zika Virus, as well as full-year funding for the FY17 Military Construction-Veterans Affairs appropriations bill. The bill did not include the ICANN provision proposed by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX). And it did allow for Planned Parenthood clinics in Puerto Rico to get reimbursed for Zika-related spending.

The Senate will hold a cloture vote on this substitute amendment on Tuesday at 2:15 pm. McConnell said that this would give the Senate time to also hold a veto override vote on the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act (JASTA) that the President is expected to veto today (the 10-day window for the President to submit his rejection of the JASTA bill closes on Friday).

Senate Appropriations Committee Ranking Democrat Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) spoke on the Senate floor after McConnell and said that Democrats wanted a clean CR with no riders. However, she claims that the substitute amendment McConnell filed is a “Republican only bill” that Democrats cannot support. She said that the bill fails to help the people of Flint, MI. The Senate passed a Water Resources Development Act recently that does include funding for Flint, MI, and the House has it on the calendar for next week. Democrats are also objecting to a policy provision preventing the Securities and Exchange Commission from requiring corporations to disclose their political spending. If Democrats remain united in their opposition, the cloture vote will fail, as Republicans won’t be able to get the 60 votes required under Senate rules. Senate Republicans are also not united on the measure as Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) issued a statement that he would vote against the measure unless is provides a provision to restore full power to the Export-Import Bank and Cruz could oppose it over not including language to delay a transition of internet oversight from the United States to a global group.

The House Rules Committee approved a rule this week that allows for same-day authority (informally called “martial law”) through September 27, which will allow House leaders to potentially bring legislation to the chamber floor the same day that its advanced by Rules. This shows that they are hoping to quickly pass the CR once it is sent over from the Senate.

Continuing Resolution Legislation:

http://bit.ly/2coPRXR

Continuing Resolution Section-by-Section Summary:

http://bit.ly/2dmKiyi

Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Summary:

http://bit.ly/2cZLfbo

Zika Research, Treatment, and Control Funding Summary:

http://bit.ly/2d4akE4

Explanatory Statement: Front:

http://bit.ly/2d3Eadv

Explanatory Statement: Division A:

http://bit.ly/2crGHip

Explanatory Statement: Divisions B, C, D:

http://bit.ly/2cPdLlK

Last Thursday the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) sent a memo to all federal agency heads revising its guidance on the roles and responsibilities of Senior Agency Officials for Privacy (SAOP). The memo rescinds and replaces the original guidance that was issued in 2005; and it gives the agency heads 60 days to assess the management, structure, and operation of their agency’s privacy program and designate or re-designate a new official to serve as the SAOP. The memo outlines the requirements for the role and designation of the SAOP, the responsibilities of the SAOP, and the requirement to identify the resources (financial, human, informational, and infrastructural) needed to carry out privacy related functions required by law and by OMB policies.

Link to OMB Memo:

https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/memoranda/2016/m_16_24_0.pdf

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) filed cloture on the motion to proceed to the vehicle (HR 5325, the House-passed Legislative Branch appropriations bill) for the continuing resolution (CR). McConnell said that he expects the CR to fund the government through December 9 at last year’s enacted levels (with a potential across-the-board cut to comply with budget caps) and include funds for Zika control as well as the FY17 Military Construction Veterans Affairs spending bill. House and Senate leadership are meeting at the White House this afternoon to work out the details and discuss the path forward. Once the Senate clears the funding measure, they may adjourn to return home to campaign. This would put pressure on the House to accept the Senate-passed CR or risk a shutdown. This puts House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) in a difficult position as House Freedom Caucus members have been pushing for a CR into next year. Ryan is also advocating for smaller “mini-buses” in December with several regular spending bills packaged together. Whatever bills couldn’t get funded in a “mini-bus” would then be funded through a year-long CR. Republican appropriators and Democrats will likely oppose this strategy. A year-long CR forces agencies to operate on auto-pilot, unable to start new programs or make any policy changes.

Congress returns on September 6 with only 17 days (House) and 23 days (Senate) of session scheduled before they adjourn for the November elections. While their “to do” list is long, they’re unlikely to accomplish much in September leaving it all until a lame-duck session after the November elections. And the election results in November will dictate much of the lame-duck agenda and strategy. Here are some of the key items on their “to do” list: 

1. FY17 Appropriations Bills

The House and Senate Appropriations Committees have reported out all of their FY17 spending bills, but the House has only passed five while the Senate has passed three. One bill, the FY17 Military Construction-Veterans Affairs appropriations bill was conferenced and passed the House, but failed to get cloture in the Senate stalling the process. While Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-WI) made passing individual spending bills a top priority this year, the looming September 30 end of fiscal year deadline will require Congress to pass a continuing resolution (CR) until they can agree on an omnibus spending bill. Emergency funding for the Zika virus could be included in a CR. Fights over funding levels for certain agencies and the use of Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) funding will push any omnibus agreement until after the election. While conservatives members of the House (Freedom Caucus) have been pushing for a year-long CR for FY17 (or a CR through March/April 2017) that is unlikely at this point. Most likely scenario is a CR through early December (December 9?) leaving time for Congress to cut a deal before the end of the 114^th Congress.

Subcommittee                   House                                       Senate

2. Supreme Court Confirmation

Justice Antonin Scalia’s death in February left a vacancy on the Supreme Court that has not yet been filled. On March 16, President Obama nominated Merrick Garland, Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, to fill the vacancy. The Senate has not held confirmation hearings on Garland’s nomination to date and is not expected to do so during the September session. Whether or not the results of the November election will change the Senate’s posture on holding hearings and voting on his nomination before they adjourn for the 114^th Congress remains unclear.  

3. FY17 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA)

The House passed their FY17 NDAA (HR 4909) on May 18 by a vote of 277 to 147. The Senate passed their bill (S 2943) on June 14 by a vote of 85 to 13. The House agreed to conference by voice vote on July 8 and the Senate followed on July 14 (vote of 90 to 7). The NDAA is considered must-pass legislation and has been enacted the past 54 years. The current authorization expires on September 30. Conferees need to work out differences over funding (House shifts $18B in OCO funds to the base budget), military health programs, LGBT provisions, requiring women to register for the draft, and restructuring acquisition management within the Department of Defense, among other things. While HASC and SASC staff have spent the summer recess hashing out the differences in the bill, a final conference package is not expected until after the election as conferees are unlikely to be able to work out funding level differences for the NDAA without a deal for the top-line budget.  

4. Energy Authorization

The Senate passed S 2012, the North American Energy Security and Infrastructure Act of 2016, on April 20 by voice vote. The House passed a modified S 2012 on May 25 by a vote of 241 to 178. The House had previously passed HR 8, the North American Energy Security and Infrastructure Act of 2015, last December by a vote of 249 to 174. Both the House and Senate have agreed to go to conference, but Senate Democrats held out until they received assurances that the provisions the President threatened to veto would be left out of the bill. Conferees are working out key points of contention including funding levels, length of the authorization, and issues such as language allowing FERC to impose deadlines on energy project-related environmental reviews. Several major provisions may require negotiations that could not be resolved after the election.

5. Veterans Authorization

The Senate Veterans Affairs Committee has reported out S 2921 the Veterans First Act (voice vote May 12) while the House has passed similar provisions as stand-alone measures (HR 677, HR 1338, HR 2256, HR 2915, HR 3016, and HR 4063). Senate Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Johnny Isakson (R-GA) and Ranking Member Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) have sought a floor vote for their bill. While the Senate bill has widespread support, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) and House Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Jeff Miller (R-FL) told Isakson that the Senate bill does not do enough to discipline VA employees.

6. Commodity Futures Trading Commission Reauthorization

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has operated without formal authorization since September 2013. The House passed HR 2289, the Commodity End-User Relief Act in June 2015 by a vote of 246 to 171. The Senate Agriculture Committee marked up and reported out of committee a similar bill, S 2917, in May of this year. But efforts to provide the CFTC with a new authorization appear to have stalled in the 114^th Congress.

7. Trade Agreements

At the top of the trade agenda is the TransPacific Partnership (TPP), which requires a vote in Congress to ratify. Both presidential candidates oppose TPP and House Speaker Ryan has said that there isn’t sufficient support for a vote. However, President Obama plans to mount a final push toward approval of TPP when Congress reconvenes in September and a vote could take place after the election. As for the TransAtlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (T-TIP) agreement, the 14^th round of negotiations took place in July 2016 in Brussels and negotiators are hoping to conclude their work by the end of 2016.

8. NIH Reauthorization

The House passed HR 6, the 21^st Century Cures Act by a vote of 344 to 77 in July 2015. The Senate HELP Committee took a more piecemeal approach and approved 19 bills this year. House and Senate negotiators could announce a bipartisan agreement on renewing the authorization of the National Institutes of Health soon after Congress returns in September. But it could be put off until next year when the FDA user fee authorization expires.

9. Criminal Sentencing

The Senate Judiciary Committee reported out S 2123, the Sentencing Reforms and Corrections Act at the end of last year, which would reduce or eliminate mandatory minimum prison terms for street-level drug offenses. At the beginning of 2016, members of the Senate Judiciary Committee were negotiating the fine points of the legislation and by early March bill sponsors were confident enough to say they were close to an agreement. However, some key Senators oppose provisions that would reduce mandatory minimum sentences, so pre-election consideration of the bill is unlikely. 

10. EB-5 Investor Visas

The Regional Center Program sets aside EB-5 visas for participants who put either $500,000 or $1 million (depending on the type of investment) in an area of high unemployment. The program allows investors to pool resources and gain visas with less money on the line than otherwise would be required. The authorization for the program is set to expire at the end of this fiscal year, and there is disagreement in the Senate over whether it should be reauthorized. Critics include Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Grassley (R-IA) and Ranking Member Patrick Leahy (D-VT) who believe that the program is marred by fraud and abuse. They want to overhaul the program rather than reauthorize it. Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) and Majority Whip John Cornyn (R-TX) support the program and don’t want to alter it. Grassley and Leahy introduced S 1501, the American Job Creation and Investment Promotion Reform Act of 2015, which would raise the minimum investment in the program from $500,000 to $800,000, and would give the Department of Homeland Security more authority to investigate domestic and international fraud claims. Schumer and Cornyn back S 2415, the EB-5 Integrity Act, which was introduced by Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) on Dec 17, 2015.

11. Zika Funding

In February, President Obama requested $1.9 billion to combat the Zika virus. House Republicans balked at the amount and sought offsets from other programs. House and Senate Republicans worked out an agreement to provide $1.1 billion to fight the Zika virus, which was included in the conference report for the FY17 Military Construction Veterans Affairs spending bill (HR 2577). The House adopted the conference report on June 23 by a vote of 293 to 177. Democrats in the Senate blocked a cloture vote on the conference report by a vote of 52 to 44 on July 14. Democrats prefer the agreement that provided $1.1B without offsets or use restrictions. In the meantime, HHS has said that transferred funds that they have been using to fight the Zika virus now will run out at the end of September.

12. Postal Service Solvency

The U.S. Postal Service lost $5 billion last year, and after it was forced to reduce the price of a first-class stamp to 47 cents from 49 cents, it will likely lose even more this year. The losses are being driven by a requirement to pre-fund future retiree health benefits, and by USPS’s difficulty in transitioning from being a letter-oriented service to a package delivery service. Reps. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) and Elijah Cummings (D-MD) cosponsored HR 5714, the Postal Service Reform Act, which was introduced in the House on July 11, 2016. And on the Senate side, Sen. Tom Carper (D-DE) introduced S 2051, the Improving Postal Operations, Service, and Transparency Act of 2015, and held hearings on the bill earlier this year. Lawmakers are pushing to aid the postal service before Christmas.

13. School Nutrition Programs

The House Education and Workforce Committee approved HR 5003, the Improving Child Nutrition and Education Act of 2016, by a vote of 20 to 14 on May 18, while the Senate very nearly passed a child nutrition reauthorization bill by unanimous consent just before the recess. The Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee approved S 3136, the Improving Child Nutrition Integrity and Access Act of 2016 on January 20 by voice vote. The bills reauthorize nutrition programs with temporary authorizations while changing related programs. The last reauthorization expired at the end of fiscal year 2015, and most programs were continued under the FY16 omnibus spending bill. There are substantial differences between the House and Senate bills, with the Senate bill having broader support. House Education Chairman John Kline (R-MN) is retiring at the end of this Congress and is expected to push for finishing this bill before he leaves. 

14. Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Program

The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, which provides $16.5 billion in annual federal block grant funding to states, will expire at the end of this fiscal year. But it has been routinely extended in previous fiscal years. The House passed HR 5170, the Social Impact Partnerships to Pay for Results Act, on June 21 by voice vote on the suspension calendar. Senate timing is unclear at this point. The goals of the program are providing assistance to families so that childcare can be provided in their own homes; reducing families’ need for government benefits; preventing out-of-wedlock pregnancy; and encouraging the maintenance of two-parent families. The base block grant amount hasn’t been increased since the program’s inception in 1996. 

15. Water Resources Reform and Development Act

Legislation authorizing Army Corps of Engineers water projects has bipartisan support in both chambers and could be considered this fall. The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee reported HR 5303, the Water Resources Development Act of 2016 out of committee on May 25 by voice vote. The Senate Environment and Public Works committee reported out their bill, S 2848, the Water Resources Development Act of 2016 on April 28 by a vote of 19 to 1. The current authorization expires at the end of this fiscal year. The Senate bill includes a provision to address the Flint, MI water crisis.

16. State Department Reauthorization

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee reported out of committee S 2937, the State Department Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017. And S 1635, the Department of State Operations Authorization and Embassy Security Act for Fiscal Year 2016 was passed by the full Senate by unanimous consent on April 28, 2016. The State Department has not had a reauthorization since 2002. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker (R-TN) still plans to pursue passage of the 2016 and 2017 authorization bills, but its unclear what venue he would choose. He and Ranking Member Ben Cardin (D-MD) could introduce it on the Senate floor or attempt to add it to the possible CR. 

17. Intelligence Reauthorization

The House passed their FY17 Intelligence Authorization Act (HR 5077) on May 24 by a vote of 371 to 35. The Senate bill, S 3017, has been reported out of the Senate Intelligence Committee but has not yet reached the Senate floor for consideration.