December 18, 2015

The House and Senate passed a short-term continuing resolution funding the government through Dec 22 giving Congress additional time to negotiate and pass a $1.15T FY16 omnibus appropriations bill (HR 2029) that included a $680B permanent tax extension package (Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes) as well as cybersecurity legislation and an FY16 Intelligence Authorization.

The House approved HR 2820, an Act to reauthorize the Stem Cell Therapeutic and Research Act of 2005; HR 4246, the National Guard and Reservist Debt Relief Extension Act; S 1090, the Emergency Information Improvement Act of 2015; HR 2297, the Hezbollah International Financing Prevention Act of 2015; and HR 3750, the First Responders Passport Act of 2015.  

The Senate passed by unanimous consent or voice vote HR 2270, the Billy Frank Jr. Tell Your Story Act; S 571, the Pilot’s Bill of Rights; HR 2576, the TSCA Modernization Act; S 227, the Strengthening Education through Research Act; HR 515, International Megan’s Law; S 2261, the Rural ACO Provider Equity Act; HR 4246, the National Guard and Reservist Debt Relief Extension Act; S 284, the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act; HR 3594, a bill temporarily extending the Federal Perkins Loan Program; S 238, the Eric Williams Correctional Officer Protection Act; HR 3831, the Securing Fairness in Regulatory Timing Act; S 1616, the Saving Federal Dollars Through Better Use of Government Purchase and Travel Cards Act; S 2425, the Patient Access and Medicare Protection Act; HR 1321, a bill amending the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act; S 2152, the Electrify Africa Act; HR 4188, the Coast Guard Authorization Act; S 1155, the GONE Act; S 1893, the Mental Health Awareness and Improvement Act; and S 2044, the Consumer Review Freedom Act.

The Senate confirmed the following nominations: Alissa Starzak to be General Counsel of the Department of the Army, John Conger to be a Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defense, Stephen Welby to be an Assistant Secretary of Defense, Franklin Parker to be an Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Gabriel Camarillo to be an Assistant Secretary of the Air Force, Patrick Murphy to be Under Secretary of the Army, Miriam Lew to be Chief Financial Officer at the Department of Transportation, Anthony Rosario Coscia and Derek Tai-Ching Kan to be Directors of the Amtrak Board of Directors, John Lettre to be Undersecretary for Intelligence at the Department of Defense, Thomas Melia to be an Assistant Administrator at USAID, Thomas Rothman to be a Member of the National Council on the Arts, Carlos Torres to be Deputy Director of the Peace Corps, Suzette Kimball to be Director of the United States Geological Survey, and Steven Haro to be Assistant Secretary of Commerce.

FY16 Omnibus Appropriations Bill Passed

With the current continuing resolution (CR) funding the federal government set to expire at midnight on December 16, the House and Senate passed another short-term stop-gap spending bill funding the government through December 22. The President signed the bill into law and attention then turned to a long-term agreement.

Early Wednesday morning, House and Senate leadership reached an agreement that funded federal agencies through next September and permanently extended several tax breaks. The omnibus also contained a bicameral compromise bill on cybersecurity as well as compromise text of the Intelligence Authorization Act for FY16. The $1.15T FY16 omnibus appropriations bill passed the House Friday morning by a vote of 316 to 113 with 95 Republicans and 18 Democrats voting against the measure. The bill then passed the Senate by a vote of 65 to 33 with 26 Republicans, 6 Democrats, and 1 Independent voting against the measure. Presidential candidate Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) both missed the vote. The bill now goes to the President who has said he will sign it.

The final agreement did not include several of the controversial policy riders (e.g. blocking a new federal clean-water rule, delaying or rejecting Syrian refugees, rolling back Dodd-Frank regulations, overturning the Labor Departments rule regulating retirement advisors, denying funding for Planned Parenthood, etc.) that had been holding up individual spending bills earlier this year. But it did lift a four-decade-long ban on exporting crude oil. Democrats agreed to include the provision in the final agreement in exchange for extending some tax incentives for wind and solar energy. The bill also toughened visa rules for those entering the United States, requiring citizens of 38 states who are currently exempt from needing a visa, to obtain one if they recently traveled to Syria, Iraq, Iran, or Sudan. And it extends the World Trade Center Health Program through 2090 for first responders and survivors of the 9/11 attacks, while also funding the September 11^th Victim’s Compensation Fund for five additional years by increasing H1B entry visa fees and biometric entry-exit fees.

The FY16 omnibus spending bill does adhere to a bipartisan budget agreement passed by Congress in October that raised previously imposed spending caps. It appropriates $1.067T in base discretionary budget authority and $73.7B in Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO). The Congressional Budget Office scored the final agreement and determined that the final omnibus spending package will add more than $57B to budget deficits over the next 10 years. The spike in debt is largely attributed to the suspensions of health care taxes and extensions of energy tax breaks included in the final agreement.

*Source: federalnewsradio.com

** This request was shifted to the Defense OCO account, though $160 million of it would eventually be shifted to the Coast Guard, which falls under DHS.

Tax Extenders

The Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes (PATH) Act makes permanent changes to the tax code. The House voted on Thursday 318 to 109 (with 214 Republicans voting yes) to pass the tax cut package, the first of two steps in the House to pass the final omnibus package. The Senate passed it as part of the omnibus package on Friday.

The package includes permanent extensions of business breaks like the research and experimentation credit, deductions for sales, and the $500,000 cap for small business expensing. It also includes extensions of credits geared for low-income workers, such as the Earned Income Tax Credit and the American Opportunity tax credit for education expenses.

The bill also delays two taxes in the Affordable Care Act that were designed to help pay for expanded insurance coverage – the “Cadillac” tax which imposes an excise tax of 40% on high-cost employer plans (those who value exceeds $10,200 for individual coverage and $27,500 for a family) and a tax on medical devices.

A summary of the PATH Act can be found at:

http://waysandmeans.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/SECTION-BY-SECTION-SUMMARY-OF-THE-PROPOSED-PATH-ACT.pdf

Cybersecurity

Omnibus Includes Bicameral Compromise on Cybersecurity

The omnibus also contained a bicameral compromise bill on cybersecurity. The compromise provides that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the sole portal for companies to voluntarily share cybersecurity information with the federal government and expressly prohibits the military and NSA from potentially becoming a portal. It provides liability protections to private companies that voluntarily share cyber threat indicators defensive measures with DHS, or with each other, and requires them to review and remove and Personally Identifiable Information (PII) unrelated to cyber threats before sharing the information with the federal government. It enhances DHS’ ability to more effectively secure federal networks and authorizes DHS to execute intrusion detection and prevention capabilities when an imminent cyber threat to an agency information system is identified. This legislation also includes provisions to improve Federal network and information system security, provide assessments on the Federal cybersecurity workforce, and provide reporting and strategies on cybersecurity industry-related and criminal-related matters. Finally, it requires DHS to be co-author of all the privacy procedures to ensure that the robust privacy protections already in place at DHS’ cyber operations center, the NCCIC, will be “baked” into all privacy procedures for information sharing.

GAO on Agency’s Promotion of NIST Cybersecurity Framework

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report this week critical of DHS’ efforts to promote the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s (NIST) Cybersecurity Framework. NIST originally published the framework of voluntary cybersecurity standards in 2014, and DHS has encouraged industry to use it. However, DHS has not been measuring the results of its advocacy. GAO criticizes DHS saying that without metrics, Homeland Security officials don’t know what is working and what isn’t working. In addition to developing metrics, GAO recommends that DHS and GSA set a time frame to determine whether implementation guidance is needed for the government facilities sector. DHS and GSA concurred with the recommendations.

GAO Report:

http://www.gao.gov/assets/680/674300.pdf

Interest Rates

Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen decided to raise its benchmark interest rate by 0.25 percent this week to 0.5 percent. The move was widely expected and Wall Street took it in stride. It marks the first time the central bank has raised the rate in almost 10 years, signaling confidence that the economy has finally recovered from the 2008 financial crisis. The rate was cut to near zero at the height of the crisis to spur an economic recovery. The Federal Reserve emphasized it will likely lift the rate “gradually” thereafter.

House Speaker Ryan 2016 Preview Video

In what looks more like a movie trailer, House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-WI) continued his digital outreach this week releasing his 2016 preview video. Speaker Ryan sent his video to his GOP colleagues to preview his plan for running the House in 2016.

The one-minute video can be viewed at:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIOR5dPkM5Q&feature=youtu.be

Political Updates

New Hampshire Secretary of State Bill Gardner revealed this week that the state’s primary will be February 9 (eight days after the Iowa caucuses). Gardner unveiled a poster commemorating the 100^th anniversary of the first primary that included sample ballots with the Feb. 9 date.

Dr. Ellen Hughes-Cromwick was appointed to serve as the Department of Commerce’s new Chief Economist. Dr. Hughes-Cromwick is on leave from the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business, following an 18-year career with the Ford Motor Company where she served as the chief global economist. She also served as a senior economist at Mellon Bank, an assistant professor at Trinity College, and a staff economist on the President’s Council of Economic Advisers.

Ashkan Soltani is leaving the Federal Trade Commission where he is the Chief Technologist and joining the White House as a Senior Advisor to the U.S. Chief Technology Officer.

Veterans Affairs (VA) CIO Laverne Council announced on Thursday that Ron Thompson will join the VA Office of Information and Technology as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary starting Jan. 10. Thompson has been the Director of IT and Infrastructure at the Department of Health and Human Services. He replaces Stephen Warren who left VA in August. He will oversee VistA Evolution, the major upgrade of the VA’s electronic health record system.

President Obama nominated Alan Kreczko and James White to be Members of the Internal Revenue Service Oversight Board, Andrew Mayock to be Deputy Director for Management at the Office of Management and Budget, and Edith Ramirez to be a Federal Trade Commissioner.

The president of the White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA) announced this week that Larry Wilmore, host of “The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore,” will be the entertainer at the WHCA dinner on Saturday, April 30.

Next Week

The House and Senate have adjourned for the year. The House will reconvene on January 5, 2016 and the Senate will reconvene on January 11, 2016. House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) released a statement today saying that the House will vote on budget reconciliation when they return in January. The bill will repeal the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) and replace it with a patient-centered health care system as well as prohibit federal funding for Planned Parenthood.

December 11, 2015

The House and Senate passed by voice vote a five-day FY16 continuing resolution (HR 2250) funding the federal government through December 16, which the President said he would sign. The House also passed the conference agreement to HR644, the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015; HR 158, the Visa Waiver Program Improvement and Terrorist Travel Prevention Act of 2015; HR 3842, the Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers Reform and Improvement Act of 2015; HR 2130, the Red River Private Property Protection Act; HR 3578, the DHS Science and Technology Reform and Improvement Act of 2015; and HR 2795, the First Responder Identification of Emergency Needs in Disaster Situations or FRIENDS Act. The Senate passed the conference report to accompany S 1177, the Every Student Succeeds Act, by a vote of 85 to 12, which President Obama signed into law on Thursday. The Senate passed by unanimous consent S 1719, the RAISE Family Caregivers Act; HR 2820, the Stem Cell Therapeutic and Research Reauthorization Act; S 142, the Child Nicotine Poisoning Prevention Act; S993, the Comprehensive Justice and Mental Health Act; S 209, the Indian Tribal Energy Development and Self-Determination Act Amendments; S 2308, the Church Plan Clarification Act; and S 2393, a bill to extend temporarily the extended protection for members of uniformed services relating to mortgage foreclosure and eviction. The Senate also confirmed Linda Etim to be an Assistant Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development, Richard Howorth to be a Member of the Board of Directors of the Tennessee Valley Authority, Cherry Ann Murray to be Director of the Office of Science at the Department of Energy, Eric Eberhard to be a Member of the Board of Trustees of the Morris K. Udall and Stewart L. Udall Foundation, and Darryl DePriest to be Chief Counsel for Advocacy at the Small Business Administration.

FY16 Omnibus Appropriations Negotiations Continue

With the deadline of the current continuing resolution (CR) looming, the House and Senate passed a five-day CR funding the government through December 16. Negotiations will continue over the weekend, but are proceeding at a “snails pace” according to House Appropriations Committee Chairman Hal Rogers (R-KY).

While funding levels appear to be settled, there are still several other items outstanding. Republicans are trying to use the $1.1T omnibus bill as a vehicle for a number of policy riders including ones suspending the immigration of 10,000 Syrian refugees, rejecting a joint EPA-Army Corps of Engineers rule on the Waters of the United States, relaxing restrictions on coordination between political parties and candidates, ending the crude oil export ban, extending congressional authority over the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, exempting community banks under a certain size from Dodd-Frank regulations, shielding E-cigarette manufacturers from an FDA approval process, undoing a recent decision by the National Labor Relations Board that redefines the board’s standard for determining joint employer status, and providing legal standing for businesses and organizations that provide health insurance to sue a government entity that punishes them if they refuse to provide access to abortion-related services. Democrats are considering accepting the provision repealing the ban on crude oil exports in exchange for some of their priorities including the removal of environmental riders, a reauthorization of the Land and Water Conservation Fund, and extensions of tax credits for renewables, energy efficiency measures, and tax breaks targeted to East Coast oil refiners.

In order for House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-WI) to abide by his promise that he would not waive the three-day rule, the omnibus package will have to be posted and made available to members by Monday for passage by Wednesday’s deadline.

Tax Extenders

Negotiations over an $800B tax extenders have been proceeding, but prospects for a permanent extension of expiring tax breaks are dimming. Republicans may consider scaling back the cost of the package to get more support for it. At the same time, they are trying to build consensus for a two-year extension that would not include any offsetting spending cuts. The two-year extension would cost around $108.4B and would extend many of the tax breaks through 2016. Part of the opposition to the permanent tax extension deal is coming from Democrats who are balking at the cost of the package without offsets. And House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has been pushing for inclusion of provision that would index the Child Tax Credit to inflation so that it would not lose value over time. House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) said that as of now the House would consider tax extenders and the FY16 omnibus appropriations bill as separate measures, but that no final decision has been made.

Budget Reconciliation

The Senate passed a budget reconciliation measure last week by a vote of 52 to 47. The measure (HR 3762) repeals most of the Affordable Care Act, and also denies federal funding for one year for Planned Parenthood. The House was expected to consider the measure this week, but instead chose to defer action until January when they may be able to get more public attention. Republicans hope to use the vote as a political wedge in the 2016 election year cycle. The vote is largely symbolic, as the President has promised to veto the measure if it reaches his desk and Republicans don’t have the 2/3 majority needed to override his veto.

House Republican Steering Committee

House Republicans elected six new members to the House Republican Steering Committee to serve as at large representatives for the remainder of the 114^th Congress. The GOP lawmakers elected Rep. Tim Huelskamp (R-KS) of the House Freedom Caucus, Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI) and Rep. Susan Brooks (R-IN) of the Tuesday Group, Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK), Rep. Jason Smith (R-MO), and Rep. Mike Rogers (R-AL). The Steering Committee is the panel that determines committee assignments and chairmanships.

Political Updates

House Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) Ed Cassidy submitted his resignation on Monday, which is effective at the end of this year. Cassidy is looking to retire from federal service altogether early next year. Will Plaster will serve as Interim Deputy Chief Administrative Officer. The CAO provides support for members of Congress and their staffs on matters ranging from payroll to parking and office furniture.

Rep. John Fleming (R-LA) launched his campaign to replace Sen. David Vitter (R-LA), who is retiring after this term following a failed gubernatorial bid. Fleming, a member of the House Freedom Caucus, is expected to face Rep. Charles Boustany (R-LA), who has said he is running for Vitter’s seat but has yet to formally announce. Fleming has held his north Louisiana congressional seat since 2009.

President Obama nominated Marcela Escobari to be an Assistant Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development, Charlotte Kessler and Esperanza Emily Spalding to be Members of the National Council on the Arts, Andrew Mayock to be Deputy Director for Management in the Office of Management and Budget, Edith Ramirez to be Commissioner and Chair of the Federal Trade Commission, Alan Kreczko and James White to be Members of the Internal Revenue Service Oversight Board, and John Kirby to be Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs at the Department of State.

Rep. Linda Sanchez (D-CA) circulated a letter to each of her colleagues this week asking for their support in her bid to be the Democratic Caucus vice chairwoman for the 115^th Congress. Sanchez is the chairwoman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and is ranking democrat on the Ethics Committee and a member of the Ways and Means Committee. The current caucus vice chairman, Rep. Joe Crowley (D-NY), is term limited in 2017 and is expected to seek election as caucus chairman succeeding Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-CA) who is also term limited. Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA) is also seeking the vice chairman position.

Next Week

The House and Senate will have to take up either an FY16 omnibus appropriations agreement or another continuing resolution as the current funding agreement expires at midnight on December 16. The House will also consider tax extenders and an omnibus appropriations bill. The Senate will consider the nominations of Alissa Starzak to be General Counsel of the Department of the Army, John Conger to be a Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defense, Stephen Welby to be an Assistant Secretary of Defense, and Franklin Parker to be an Assistant Secretary of the Navy.

December 4, 2015

The House passed HR 4127, the Intelligence Authorization Act; S1170, the Breast Cancer Research Stamp Reauthorization Act; and HR 8, the North American Energy Security and Infrastructure Act. The House also passed two conference reports – S1177, the conference report to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 and HR 22, the conference report to authorize funds for Federal-aid highways, highway safety programs, and transit programs. The Senate also passed the highway bill conference report, so it now goes to the President for his signature. The House passed two resolutions – SJRes 23, providing for Congressional disapproval of a rule submitted by the EPA relating to “Standards of Performance for Greenhouse Gas Emissions from New, Modified, and Reconstructed Stationary Sources” and SJRes 24, providing for congressional disapproval of a rule submitted by the EPA relating to “Carbon Pollution Emission Guidelines for Existing Stationary Sources: Electric Utility Generating Units.” The Senate has already passed both resolutions, so they now go to the President who has vowed to veto the measures. The Senate passed HR 3762, the Restoring Americans’ Healthcare Freedom Reconciliation Act of 2015 and S 1698, the Treatment of Certain Payments in Eugenics Compensation Act. The Senate also confirmed Gayle Smith to be Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development.

FY16 Omnibus Appropriations Negotiations Continue

Lawmakers left DC this week not having reached agreement on a final FY16 omnibus spending bill and frustrated by partisan differences. House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-WI) met with his Republican conference on Thursday and characterized the impasse as a “crap sandwich.” Democrats were also unhappy with the process saying that the Republican proposal was a “tea party wish list” with over 30 policy riders that Democrats consider poison pills. Earlier this week, House Appropriations Committee Chairman Hal Rogers (R-KY) said that he had hoped to file the text of an omnibus bill on Monday to allow for passage by December 11 when the current continuing resolution expires. Chairman Rogers reiterated that hope later in the week.

Negotiations between the House and Senate over the funding levels for seven of the 12 bills are nearly complete, with the three most contentious bills still in flux (Interior, Financial Services, and Labor HHS), but policy rider disputes are still the main threat to the omnibus. The potential riders include the treatment of Syrian refugees, amending Dodd-Frank financial regulations, campaign finance restrictions, defunding Planned Parenthood, blocking the Labor Department’s fiduciary duty rule, overturning the EPA and Army Corps of Engineers Waters of the US rule, blocking President Obama’s Clean Power Plan and carbon standards, modifying or restricting spending under the Affordable Care Act, barring FCC enforcement of net neutrality rules, lifting the ban on crude oil exports, and restricting relations with Cuba. The Syrian refugee issue could be resolved by the bipartisan compromise legislation introduced by Rep. Candice Miller (R-MI) this week that the House will consider next week. All of the other policy rider issues are likely to be dealt with in the 11th hour and behind closed doors.

If Congress can’t get an omnibus done by December 11, leaders of both parties and the White House have indicated that they would accept a short-term (a few days to a week) CR giving them enough time to complete the omnibus and avoid a shutdown. Whether or not they finish it by the 11th or the next week depends on the desire of members to leave next week or the following week. Negotiations are continuing this weekend.

Highway, Transit, and Rail Conference Bill Passes

The House and Senate both passed a five-year transportation infrastructure reauthorization bill, the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act, which now heads to the President for his signature. The Senate passed the conference report by a vote of 83 to 16 (2 Democrats and 14 Republicans voted against the bill) while the House passed it by a vote of 359 to 65 (all 65 nay votes were from Republicans).

The $305B bill sets federal policy and funding levels for highways, transit, passenger rail, and bridge programs. With the Highway Trust Fund only expected to generate $208B over the five years from the gas tax, the rest of the bill was paid for with General Fund revenues, with most of that coming from reducing the size of the Federal Reserve surplus account.

The bill also reauthorizes Amtrak and the expired Export-Import Bank. But while the bank has been reauthorized, its lending cap has been reduced from $140B to $135B and only two of the five seats on the EXIM’s Board are filled. Without a quorum, the agency can’t approve loans for greater than $10M. While bigger loans are less than 20% of the bank’s transactions, they make up an overwhelming majority of the bank’s total financing. So the bank’s supporters will have to gear up for another potential fight over nominations next year.

FAST Act Bill Text:

http://transportation.house.gov/uploadedfiles/crpt-114hrpt-hr22.pdf

FAST Act Joint Explanatory Statement:

http://transportation.house.gov/uploadedfiles/joint_ex.pdf

Department of Defense Announcement on Women in Combat Jobs

Department of Defense Secretary Ash Carter announced yesterday that all military combat jobs would be open to women at the beginning of 2016. The policy change will allow women to serve as Army Rangers and Green Berets, Navy SEALS, Marine Corps infantry, Air Force parajumpers, and in other roles that were previously open only to men. The Secretary directed all military services to formulate implementation plans for integrating women into these positions 30 days from December 3. The 30-day waiting period is required by law. The chairmen of the House and Senate Armed Services Committees released a joint statement in response to the announcement stating that they will utilize the 30-day period to review the implications of the decision, including the Department’s views on any changes to the Selective Service Act that may be required as a result of this decision. The announcement from the Pentagon on Thursday did not include any requirement that females register with the Selective Service when they turn 18, like males currently are required to do.

Cybersecurity Conference Report

House and Senate staff continue negotiations over cybersecurity information sharing legislation. The Senate passed S 754, the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act in late October and the House passed two cybersecurity bills – HR 1560, the Protecting Cyber Networks Act and HR 1731, the National Cybersecurity Protection Advancement Act – earlier this year. There is a chance that a conference agreement could be released early next week and voted on before Congress adjourns for the year. Reports are that a conference bill is drafted and industry input has been given on the draft.

FY16 National Defense Authorization Act Enacted Into Law

On November 25, President Obama signed the $607B National Defense Authorization Act into law despite his opposition to restrictions in the bill that ban him from moving Guantanamo Bay detainees to the United States.

House Leadership Memo

House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-LA) sent a memo to his Whip Team earlier this week in which he asks members to vote for bills that they vote no on even though they actually hope the bill passes as they know the outcome will be even worse if they bill fails.

House Majority Whip Steve Scalise”s memo:

http://static.politico.com/d2/77/c90f3fbf4496bc37c8846b009ecb/scalise.pdf

Political Updates

After losing the race to become Louisiana’s next governor, Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) announced that he would complete his term but not seek re-election to the Senate in 2016. Reps. Charles Boustany Jr. (R-LA) and John Fleming (R-LA) both said they would run for Vitter’s seat, but New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu announced this week that he would not run for the seat.

Department of Defense Secretary Ash Carter tapped Marine Corps Brigadier General Eric Smith to be his new senior military assistant. Smith replaces Army Lt. Gen. Ron Lewis who Secretary Carter fired amid allegations of sexual misconduct. Smith is a graduate of Texas A&M, has fought in Operation Desert Storm, and was deployed to Iraq twice. He has been the commander of the US Marine Corps Forces, South for the past five months.

The Department of Defense Inspector General, Jon Rymer, is resigning from government in early January after having served 30 years in the military and in the federal civilian service. The office’s Principal Deputy IG, Glenn Fine, will serve as Acting Inspector General once Rymer officially departs on January 8.

Christopher “Kappy” Kapellas has been assigned as Director of Human Resources Directorate at the Department of Defense. Kapellas previously served as the Deputy Director of the Human Resources Directorate.

Carnegie Mellon Professor of Computer Science, Engineering, and Public Policy Lorrie Faith Cranor has been named Chief Technologist at the Federal Trade Commission. Cranor is replacing Ashkan Soltani who took up the post a year ago, but had only committed to staying at the commission for a year. Cranor was previously a researcher at AT&T Labs Research and has also taught at the Stern School of Business at New York University.

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has named Roderick (Rod) Allison as Acting Deputy Administrator. Allison will temporarily fill the position left bacant by the departure of Mark Hatfield. Before being named Acting Deputy Administration, Allison served as the TSA Assistant Administrator for the Office of Law Enforcement and Director of the Federal Air Marshal Service.

FBI Director James Comey has named Randall Coleman Executive Assistant Director of the Criminal, Cyber, Response, and Services Branch at FBI headquarters. In this position, Coleman will oversee all FBI criminal and cyber investigations worldwide, international operations, critical incident response, and victim assistance.  He most recently served as Assistant Director of the counterintelligence division beginning in April 2014.

Next Week

The House will take up a bill to tighten the visa waiver program (HR 158) as well as HR 2130, the Red River Private Property Protection Act; HR 644, the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015; and a bill to extend certain provisions of the Tax Code. Additionally, it is possible that the House will consider an omnibus appropriations act and budget reconciliation. The White House this week said that it is “pleased” by the House-crafted bipartisan visa waiver program overhaul bill, and that it believes the legislation “would make our country safer.” The Senate will take up the conference report to to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, which the House adopted earlier this week. The Senate may also consider an omnibus appropriations bill.

November 20, 2015

The House and Senate passed a short-term bill reauthorizing surface transportation programs through December 4, and the President signed the measure before the current authorization expired today. The House passed HR 511, the Tribal Labor Sovereignty Act of 2015; HR 1201, the Portfolio Lending and Mortgage Access Act; HR 1737, the Reforming CFPB Indirect Auto Financing Guidance Act; and HR 3189, the Fed Oversight Reform and Modernization (FORM) Act of 2015. The House also passed HR 4038, the American Security Against Foreign Enemies Act with a veto-proof majority (the White House has issued a veto threat for the bill). The measure would enhance the vetting procedures for Iraqi and Syrian refugees. The Senate passed two joint resolutions providing for congressional disapproval of two rules submitted by the Environmental Protection Agency relating to “Carbon Pollution Emission Guidelines for Existing Stationary Sources: Electric Utility Generating Units” and “Standards of Performance for Greenhouse Gas Emissions from New, Modified, and Reconstructed Stationary Sources: Electric Utility Generating Units.” The White House said the President would veto the latter resolution. The Senate also passed by unanimous consent HR 2297, the Hezbollah International Financing Prevention Act of 2015, and confirmed Peter William Bodde, of Maryland, to be Ambassador to Libya. The Senate began consideration of the FY16 Transportation HUD appropriations bill but abandoned the effort before leaving for the Thanksgiving holiday. Finally, the Senate agreed to go to conference on the Every Child Achieves Act of 2015 (S 1177), and the conference committee agreed 38 to 1 to advance a final package that would give state and local leaders more control over education decisions. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) voted no by proxy.

FY16 Appropriations

The current continuing resolution funding the government expires on December 11. House and Senate Appropriations committees have been working on an FY16 omnibus spending bill and negotiations are ongoing. An omnibus bill is likely to be released during the week of Dec. 7. Currently the biggest holdups are possible inclusion of language regarding funding for Syrian refugees, dividing up the $30B spending increase both sides have agreed to in principle, environmental policy riders, crop insurance subsidies, and policy riders pushing back Dodd-Frank financial regulations. Senate Appropriations Ranking Democrat Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) said that they are also waiting to hear from the President about any supplemental funding needs post-Paris attacks. And new House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady (R-TX) said this week that he would like to move permanent business and individual tax breaks extensions in the final omnibus.

This week, House Republican leaders held a series of listening sessions getting GOP members’ input on the spending bills. While it is unclear how much of an impact these sessions will have on the final omnibus, they did buy the new leadership team some goodwill by making members part of the process.

Republicans have discussed including policy riders in the omnibus, while Democrats have promised to stand firm against them. This week a group of 165 House Democrats sent a letter to House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-WI) and other House leaders calling for an FY16 omnibus spending bill without riders. Republicans are aware that they will need the support and votes of some Democrats to carry the final package, and therefore, may resist the urge to overload the legislation with contentious provisions.

House Democrat Letter re: FY16 Omnibus and Policy Riders:

https://www.vantagepointstrat.com/?p=529

FY16 National Defense Authorization Act Conference Report

The House adopted a Senate resolution making technical corrections to the FY16 National Defense Authorization Act, including changing the formal title of the bill, fixing spelling errors (mostly dealing with Ukraine), and replacing one of the bill’s funding tables. The bill was then enrolled and sent to the President for his signature.

New Ways and Means Committee Chairs and Members

The House Ways and Means Committee did a bit of reshuffling this week after Rep. Pat Tiberi (R-OH) moved to take the gavel of the Health Subcommittee. Tiberi lost to Rep. Kevin Brady (R-TX) in his bid to succeed House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-WI) as chairman of the full committee. Brady had been the chair of the Health subcommittee, the panel that presides over issues including Medicare, Medicaid, drug prices, and efforts to rollback provisions of the Affordable Care Act. Rep. Tom Rice (R-SC) was selected to fill the vacancy on the committee. And the Committee adopted new rules that 1) increased the size of the Health subcommittee by one Republican member and one Democrat member, 2) renamed the Subcommittee on Select Measures as the Subcommittee on Tax Policy, and 3) increased the size of the Subcommittee on Tax Policy by two Republican members and one Democrat member.

The new Republican subcommittee chairs and members are as follows:

Health


Chairman Tiberi – OH

Mr. Johnson – TX

Mr. Nunes – CA

Mr. Roskam – IL

Mr. Price – GA

Mr. Buchanan – FL

Mr. A. Smith – NE

Ms. Jenkins – KS

Mr. Marchant – TX

Ms. Black – TN

Mr. Paulsen – MN

Trade


Chairman Reichert – WA

Mr. Nunes – CA

Mr. A. Smith – NE

Ms. Jenkins – KS

Mr. Boustany – LA

Mr. Paulsen – MN

Mr. Marchant – TX

Mr. Young – IN

Mr. Kelly – PA

Mr. Meehan – PA

Tax Policy


Chairman Boustany – LA

Mr. Reichert – WA

Mr. Tiberi – OH

Mr. Reed – NY

Mr. Young – IN

Mr. Kelly – PA

Mr. Renacci – OH

Ms. Noem – SD

Mr. Holding – NC

Oversight


Chairman Roskam – IL

Mr. Meehan – PA

Mr. Holding – NC

Mr. J. Smith – MO

Mr. Reed – NY

Mr. Rice – SC

Mr. Marchant – TX

Human Resources


Chairman Buchanan – FL

Ms. Noem – SD

Mr. J. Smith – MO

Mr. Dold – IL

Mr. Rice – SC

Mr. Reed – NY

Mr. Reichert – WA

Social Security


Chairman Johnson – TX

Mr. Dold – IL

Mr. Buchanan – FL

Mr. A. Smith – NE

Mr. Kelly – PA

Mr. Renacci – OH

Mr. Rice – SC

House Republican Steering Committee Changes

House Republicans passed changes to overhaul the membership and operation of its Steering Committee by voice vote on Thursday. The Steering Committee assigns Republican members to the House committees. The biggest change Republicans adopted was the elimination of the six committee (Rules, Financial Services, Ways and Means, Budget, Appropriations, and Energy and Commerce) chairmen who currently have seats on the Steering Committee. Until the end of 2016, these chairmen will be replaced by six “at-large” members elected by the GOP conference by secret ballot. The candidates who receive the most votes will be on the Steering Committee. The vote has not been scheduled yet but will take place in 2015. After 2016, the six “at-large” members will be replaced by six regional representatives. Other changes adopted include adding one “rotating committee chairman” slot to be occupied by any chairman whose committee membership is under consideration by the Steering committee, and adding one slot to be filled at the discretion of the Speaker to address gaps in representation (women, Freedom Caucus representatives, etc.). Finally, for the first time, House Republican leadership would be required to make the Steering Committee roster public.

Political Updates

Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal dropped out of the Republican Presidential primary race this week after struggling to gain traction in the crowded field of candidates.

Transportation Security Administration (TSA) Deputy Administrator Mark Hatfield announced his retirement this week as well as his new role as the Chief Security Officer for Miami International Airport. Hatfield worked at the TSA for 13 years taking over as Deputy Administrator in January 2015.

President Obama announced the following nominations this week: Hester Maria Peirce for reappointment as a Member of the Securities and Exchange Commission; Philip Cullom to be Assistant Secretary of Defense for Energy, Installations, and Environment at the Department of Defense; Swati Dandekar to be United States Executive Director at the Asian Development Bank; Harry Hoglander to be a Member of the National Mediation Board; Daniel Maffei to be a Commissioner on the Federal Maritime Commission; Georgette Mosbacher to be a Member of the United States Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy; and Patrick Pizzella to be a Member of the Federal Labor Relations Authority.

William LaPlante and Heidi Shyu, the top acquisition officials from the Air Force and Army, both announced this week that they will be stepping down from their positions. LaPlante announced his departure in an email writing that he would leave at the end of November and return to the MITRE Corp where he worked before going to the Pentagon. Shyu said that she would retire at the end of January. Frank Kendall, the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics, has said that he plans to stay in his post until the end of the Obama Administration.

Jimmy Panetta, son of former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, announced his campaign for Congress this week. Panetta is running for the 20^th Congressional District seat, which is being vacated by retiring Rep. Sam Farr (D-CA) at the end of 2016.

Jeffrey Chen joined the Commerce Department as Chief Data Scientist this week to lead the projects for the Commerce Data Service, a newly launched internal startup that harnesses the power of data science. Chen is a former Presidential Innovation Fellow who worked for NASA’s Climate Data Initiative. He has also worked in the Office of Science and Technology Policy as well as the New York Fire Department. He was most recently the data scientist in residence at Georgetown University.

Next Week

The House and Senate are in recess next week and will return the week of November 30.

Happy Thanksgiving to you and all of your family and friends!

November 13, 2015

The House was in recess this week. The Senate passed the FY16 Military Construction/Veterans Affairs appropriations bill and the revised FY16 National Defense Authorization Act, which now goes to the President for his signature. The Senate passed by unanimous consent S 1203, the 21st Century Veterans Benefits Delivery Act; HR 2262, the U.S. Commercial Space Launch Competitiveness Act; and S 2280, the POWER Act. The Senate also agreed to go to conference with the House on a six-year highway and transit authorization bill. And the Senate confirmed Scott Allen to be U.S. Director of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

FY16 Appropriations

While the Senate was not able to get the 60 votes needed to invoke cloture on the FY16 Defense spending bill last week, they were able to consider and pass the FY16 Military Construction and Veterans Affairs this week. The $79.74B bill (HR 2029) passed by a vote of 93 to 0. The bill will likely serve as the legislative vehicle for the anticipated FY16 omnibus spending bill. The Senate may next turn to its $55.65B FY16 Transportation HUD spending bill for consideration on the floor.

FY16 National Defense Authorization Act Conference Report

The Senate passed the adjusted FY16 National Defense Authorization Act (S 1356) by a vote of 91 to 3. The three “no” votes in the Senate on the legislation came from Sens. Merkley (D-OR), Sanders (I-VT), and Wyden (D-OR). And the four GOP Presidential candidates (Cruz, Graham, Paul, and Rubio) missed the vote in addition to Sens. Heller (R-NV) and Vitter (R-LA).

The House passed the measure last week. While the bill is now poised to go to the President for his signature, the House needs to adopt a resolution making technical corrections to the bill. The Senate adopted a resolution instructing clerks handling the bill’s enrollment to make technical corrections, which include changing the formal title of the bill, fixing spelling errors (mostly dealing with Ukraine), and replacing one of the bill’s funding tables. The House is expected to make the corrections next week allowing the President to sign the bill sometime before the end of the month.

Political Updates

Rep. Pat Tiberi (R-OH) is reported to be eyeing the House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee chair that Rep. Kevin Brady (R-TX) vacated when he was chosen for chair of the full Ways and Means Committee. This may set off a bit of reshuffling as Tiberi is currently the chair of the Trade Subcommittee. Brady is interested in filling the vacant subcommittee chairmanships next week.

Rep. Joe Pitts (R-PA) announced last Friday that he will not seek re-election in 2016. Pitts was first elected in 1996, and has chaired the House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee since 2011. State Senator Lloyd Smucker announced that he is running to replace Pitts. And Reps. Sam Farr (D-CA) and Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) announced this week that they would retire when their terms end in 2017. Farr is a member of the House Appropriations Committee holding the ranking member position on the Agriculture subcommittee. Lummis is on the Natural Resources and Oversight and Government Reform committees and is the only female member of the House Freedom Caucus. Former Vice President Dick Cheney’s eldest daughter, Liz Cheney, said she is seriously considering running for Lummis’ seat. Rep. Rubén Hinojosa (D-TX) is expected to announce his retirement today. Hinojosa is on the Education and the Workforce and Financial Services committees.

And speaking of the House Freedom Caucus, they are scheduled to elect their new chairman Monday night. This will be the caucus’ second election since its founding. Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) is expected to win re-election.

Sen. John Boozman (R-AR) drew a primary challenge Monday from businessman Curtis Coleman of Little Rock, who unsuccessfully sought the GOP nominations for Senate in 2010 and governor in 2014.

President Obama nominated Beth Cobert to be Director of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM). Cobert has been “Acting” Director since Katherine Archuleta resigned in July.

The White House is bringing on Jason Schultz, a New York University law professor and former Electronic Frontier Foundation attorney, to serve as a senior adviser to Megan Smith, the U.S. Chief Technology Officer. Schultz will advise Smith on intellectual property and innovation focusing on patent and digital copyright issues.

Brian Burns is taking over as Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) at the Department of Veterans Affairs. Burns takes over for Dan Galick, who was serving as Acting CISO since Stan Lowe retired in August. Burns most recently served as Deputy Director of the Joint VA-Defense Department Interagency Program Office (IPO) charged with improving interoperability between the two agencies’ electronic health record system. Burns will retain his IPO responsibilities as he takes on the added role of implementing the VA’s cybersecurity strategy.

President Obama withdrew the nomination of Kenneth Kopocis to be an Assistant Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. His nomination was originally sent to the Senate on June 24, 2015. Kopocis retired this month as the Deputy Assistant Administrator for Water at the EPA concluding 32 years of public service. His departure comes as the EPA is involved in the battle over its Waters of the U.S. regulation, and it will set off a leadership reorganization at EPA. Joel Beauvais will take on Kopocis’ job as EPA’s Acting Deputy Assistant Administrator for Water, Laura Vaught will fill Beauvais’ old job as Acting Associate Administrator for EPA’s Office of Policy, and Nicole Distefano will take over Vaught’s job as Acting Associate Administrator for EPA’s Office of Congressional Affairs and Intergovernmental Relations.

Secretary of Defense Ash Carter removed Army Lt. Gen. Ron Lewis from his post Thursday morning amid allegations of misconduct. Lewis has been serving as the senior military assistant to Secretary Carter and routinely accompanied him on his trips abroad. The matter has been referred to the Defense Department’s Inspector General for an official investigation.

Next Week

The House will consider HR 1737, the Reforming CFPB Indirect Auto Financing Guidance Act; HR 3189, the FORM Act of 2015; and HR 1210, the Portfolio Lending and Mortgage Access Act, which eases some mortgage lending standards set by the Dodd-Frank financial regulatory overhaul. The Senate may take up the FY16 Transportation HUD appropriations bill.

November 6, 2015

The House passed a more than $325B six-year surface transportation reauthorization bill by a vote of 363 to 64, and agreed to a bicameral conference on the legislation. The bill includes a provision to reauthorize the Export-Import Bank. The current authorization expires on Nov. 20. The House also passed under suspension of the rules a revised FY16 National Defense Authorization Act (S 1356) by a vote of 370 to 58. The bill now goes to the Senate for consideration early next week. The Senate rejected two cloture motions on S 1140, the Federal Water Quality Protection Act (vote 58 to 41) and HR 2685, the FY16 Department of Defense Appropriations Act (vote 51 to 54). The Senate did invoke cloture on HR 2029, the FY16 Military Construction/Veterans Affairs Appropriations Act. And the Senate passed a joint resolution (SJ Res 22) providing for congressional disapproval of the rule submitted by the Corps of Engineers and the Environmental Protection Agency relating to the definition of “waters of the United States” under the Federal Water Pollution Control Act. Finally, ending a seven year review process, President Obama announced this morning that he was rejecting the request from a Canadian company to build the 1,179 mile Keystone XL oil pipeline. The President said his decision was based on his belief that the pipeline would not make a long-term, meaningful contribution to our economy and would not lower gas prices for American consumers.

House Ways and Means Committee Chair Election

Ways and Means Committee Chair

The House Republican Steering Committee tapped Rep. Kevin Brady (R-TX) as the next chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee filling the vacancy left by House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-WI). The House 33-member GOP steering committee chose Brady over Rep. Pat Tiberi (R-OH) as the next chair of the powerful tax-writing committee. Tiberi may be offered the top GOP position on the Joint Economic Committee (replacing Brady) as a “consolation prize.” And with Brady now at the helm of the committee, this opens up the chair of the Health subcommittee. The GOP has a seniority-based bidding system for the vacancy. If a current subcommittee chair opts to switch to the Health subcommittee, this could set off a ripple effect of reshuffling.

FY16 Appropriations

The President signed into law the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 on Monday. With the discretionary spending caps now set for FY16 and FY17, Congress began work on their FY16 bills. The Senate took up the FY16 Defense Appropriations bill but could not get the 60 votes necessary to invoke cloture. Senate Democrats blocked the bill to use it as future leverage to ensure that Republicans pass all of the FY16 spending bills.

During the debate on the Senate floor over the defense spending bill, Sen. Richard Durbin (D-IL) said that there was an “understanding” of how they would move forward on the FY16 appropriations bills. The “understanding” led to Democrats allowing consideration in the Senate of the FY16 Military Construction/Veterans Affairs appropriations bill. Cloture was invoked on that bill by a vote of 93 to 0. The agreement to let this bill proceed may be a procedural maneuver to allow a legislative vehicle for a potential omnibus measure to move forward at the same time showing a gesture of goodwill prior to the omnibus negotiations. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said that he hopes to finish consideration of the MilCon/VA bill by Tuesday evening. The chairman of the MilCon/VA Appropriations subcommittee, Sen. Mark Kirk (R-IL) offered a substitute amendment to reflect the new budget agreement funding levels. The substitute amendment recommends a total of $79.7B in discretionary funding, a more than $2.1B increase over the committee-reported bill.

Yesterday the House and Senate Appropriations subcommittee chairs learned of their revised allocations, which were developed by the House and Senate Appropriations chairmen with input from the ranking members. While there is agreement on the budget caps for each subcommittee, one last issue could still force a government shutdown when the current continuing resolution expires on Dec. 11 – policy riders. Speaker Ryan has not ruled out including policy riders in an omnibus appropriations bill. And Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn (R-TX) said that a policy rider on the Waters of the United States (WOTUS) could surface in the omnibus spending bill. House and Senate Democrats as well as the White House would oppose the inclusion of these riders. Stay tuned!

FY16 National Defense Authorization Act Conference Report

The House and Senate opted to forgo veto override votes for the FY16 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). Instead, the House took up S 1356 and amended it to include an FY16 NDAA that had been adjusted to account for the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015. The $5B adjustments impacted more than 100 separate programs including the Syrian train and equip program, the Air Force’s next generation strategic bomber, Army readiness, and the Counterterrorism Partnership Fund. The adjusted FY16 NDAA passed the House by a vote of 370 to 58 and now heads to the Senate for consideration. Despite the inclusion of restrictions on closing the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, the President is likely to sign the measure.

S 1356 Bill Text:

http://armedservices.house.gov/index.cfm?a=Files.Serve&File_id=27E9F5EB-757A-4BF2-B807-333B6BD6A627

S 1356 Report Language:

http://armedservices.house.gov/index.cfm?a=Files.Serve&File_id=E0B05DFB-B970-4D0C-92EA-26FD566B7E3B

FY16 NDAA Adjustments List:

http://armedservices.house.gov/index.cfm?a=Files.Serve&File_id=61603558-B545-4B27-A3F2-D02E38B01F2F

Homeland Security Science & Technology Advisory Committee

The Department of Homeland Security appointed 28 new members to the Homeland Security Science and Technology Advisory Committee (HSSTAC). The HSSTAC provides scientific and technical advice to the DHS Secretary and senior department leadership on matters related to the expansion of technological capabilities across the homeland security enterprise.

The HSSTAC members are selected from disciplines within the following fields of expertise: Organizational Strategy and Management; First Responders; Cybersecurity/Risk; Cross-Cutting Technical Expertise; and Chemical and Biological Defense. The 28 new HSSTAC members will join the six current members on the committee. All members serve two-year terms on the committee.

The 28 new members are:

Organization Strategy and Management

James R. Brigham, Jr., corporate director of simMachines, Inc.

Herbert Lee Buchanan, President/CEO of Arete Associates

James F. Decker, Principal and Co-Founder of Decker, Garman, Sullivan and Associates, LLC.

Michael J. Goldblatt, CEO of Aixxia, LLC

Annie McKee, founder of Teleos Leadership Institute

Brock C. Reeve, Executive Director of the Harvard Stem Cell Institute

John A. Sims, Executive Director of External Relations for Academic Affairs at Bentley University

David A. Whelan, Vice President of Engineering for Boeing Defense, Space and Security

Roy A. Wiggins, Dean of Business, Professor of Finance, and Director of the Bentley Microfinance Initiative at Bentley University

Christina C. Williams, Associate Provost for Administration and Finance at Brandeis University

First Responder

1. Keith Bryant isan emergency medical technician and member of the

Oklahoma City Fire Department. He is the current President of the

International Association of Fire Chiefs.

Murray “Jay” Farr is the Deputy Chief of Police in the Arlington County,

Va. Police Department.

Gary W. Schenkel is Executive Director of the Chicago Office of Emergency

Management and Communications and oversees the Public Safety Consortium,

which brings together local, state, and federal partners to plan and

coordinate emergency response.

James Schwartz is the Chief of the Arlington County, Va. Fire Department.

Cybersecurity/Risk

Vinton G. Cerf, Vice President and Chief Internet Evangelist for Google

Vincent W. S. Chan, Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at MIT

James A. Hendler, Director of the Institute for Data Exploration and Applications, and the Tetherless World Professor of Computer, Web, and Cognitive Sciences at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Cross Cutting Technical Expertise

Philip E. Coyle, Senior Science Fellow at the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation

William P. Crowell, partner with Alsop Louie Partners

Daniel Dubno, developer of Keyhole

Yacov Y. Haimes, Lawrence R. Quarles Professor of Systems and Information Engineering, Civil and Environmental Engineering, and Founding Director of the Center for Risk Management of Engineering Systems at the University of Virginia

Eric Haseltine, President of Haseltine Partners LLC

Karim R. Lakhani, Associate Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School and Principal Investigator of the Crowd Innovation Lab and NASA Tournament Lab at the Institute for Quantitative Social Science.

Mark T. Maybury, Chief Technology Officer of the MITRE Corp

Brian C. Toohey, Executive Vice President of DEKA Research and Development Corp

Theodore Lawrence Willke II, Senior Principal Engineer for Intel Labs

Chemical and Biological Defense

Kathie L. Olsen, Founder and Managing Director of ScienceWorks

Gerald W. Parker, Vice President for Public Health Preparedness and Response, and principal investigator for the Texas A&M Center for Innovation in Advanced Development and Manufacturing.

Political Updates

Harvard Professor Lawrence Lessig dropped out of the Democratic presidential primary contest this week, citing a change to the party’s debate rules.

Next week’s Republican Presidential debate by Fox Business Network/Wall Street Journal will have a few less familiar faces on stage at the 9 pm main event. New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), former New York Governor George Pataki, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum, and former Virginia Governor Jim Gilmore all failed to make the cut for the main stage and instead will debate at the 6 pm undercard debate. The eight candidates on the main stage are: Ben Carson, Donald Trump, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, Carly Fiorina, Ohio Governor John Kasich, and Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY).

Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL) received a primary challenger this week when Iraq War veteran Jonathan McConnell announced that he would challenge the five-term Republican senator. McConnell founded Meridian.us, a global maritime security company. Shelby, who is 81, has more than $19M in his campaign account and confirmed earlier this year that he is running for re-election. Given how “red” the state is, whoever wins the March 1 primary will likely win the seat in November.

Rep. Richard Nugent (R-FL) announced this week that he won’t seek re-election in 2016. Nugent cited a desire to spend more time with his family as a chief factor in his decision to retire next year. Rep. Daniel Webster (R-FL), whose district became considerably more Democratic in the most recent round of redistricting, is considering a run to succeed Nugent, although Nugent has already endorsed his chief of staff, Justin Grabelle, to replace him

Ohio Governor John Kasich set the special election date for the seat vacated by former House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) for June 7. The primary election will be held on March 15, the same day as the state’s presidential primary. The winner would serve the remainder of the term, and a full-time replacement would be decided in the next general election. GOP candidates include state Rep. Tim Derickson, Butler County Auditor Roger Reynolds, state Sen. Bill Beagle, and Troy teacher J.D. Winteregg.

The House and Senate released their FY16 calendars this week:

House:

http://www.majorityleader.gov/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/2016_ANNUAL_CALENDAR.pdf

Senate:

http://www.senate.gov/legislative/2016_schedule.htm

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) appointed Clifton Triplett as the new Senior Cyber and Information Technology Advisor. Triplett’s role will be to help upgrade OPM’s network infrastructure and cybersecurity, and he will report directly to Beth Cobert, OPM’s Acting Director. Triplett, a military veteran, comes to OPM with 30 years of cross-industry and IT organizational transformation experience. Before joining OPM, he was a managing partner at SteelPointe Partners, a global management consulting company.

Mark Day, the General Services Administration’s Deputy Assistant Commissioner in the Integrated Technology Services office in the Federal Acquisition Service, retired from the federal government on Oct. 30. Kathleen Turco, the Chief Financial Officer for the Veterans Health Administration also announced her plans to retire as of Dec. 30. And Health and Human Services Chief Information Officer Frank Baitman told his staff this week that he is leaving as of Nov. 30.

FBI Director James Comey named Gregory D. Cox as the Assistant Director of the Critical Incident Response Group in Quantico, VA and Carlos Cases as the Assistant Director of International Operations Division at FBI Headquarters in Washington DC.

Christine Harada, the General Services Administration’s Associate Administrator in the Office of Governmentwide Policy and Acting Chief of Staff, is moving to the White House. Harada will become the Chief Sustainability Officer (CSO) at the Council on Economic Quality (CEQ) on Nov. 16.

Former Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert’s (R-IL) portrait was quietly removed from the Speaker’s lobby this week. Last week, Hastert pleaded guilty in a hush-money scheme. Hastert’s portrait was replaced by a portrait of Frederick H. Gillett, a Massachusetts Republican who served as a speaker from 1919 to 1925.

Next Week

The House is in recess next week. The Senate will resume consideration of the FY16 Military Construction/Veterans Affairs Appropriations bill on Monday and will vote on the revised FY16 National Defense Authorization Act on Tuesday. The Senate will also hold a confirmation vote on the nomination of Scott Allen to be U.S. Director of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. The Senate is not in session on Wednesday in observance of Veterans Day.