Washington Weekly – July 31, 2015

July 31, 2015

The House passed HR 1994, the VA Accountability Act; HR 427, the Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny Act of 2015; HR 675, the Veterans Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act of 2015; HR 2770, the Keeping our Travelers Safe and Secure Act; HR 1656, the Secret Service Improvements Act of 2015; and S 1482, the Need-Based Educational Aid Act of 2015. The House and Senate passed HR 3236, the Surface Transportation and Veterans Health Care Choice Improvement Act of 2015. The bill authorizes appropriations for federal-aid highway programs through Oct. 29, which were set to expire on July 31. The measure also provides the Veterans Affairs Department with $3 billion to cover a shortfall. The bill now goes to the President for his signature. The Senate also passed a six-year highway authorization, voting 65 to 34 on HR 22. And the Senate passed HR 23, the National Windstorm Impact Reduction Act Reauthorization of 2015; HR 2499, the Veteran Entrepreneurship Act; S 1599, the Criminal Antitrust Anti-Retaliation Act of 2015; and HR 1626, the DHS IT Duplication Reduction Act of 2015. The Senate confirmed Marine Corps General Joseph Dunford Jr. to be the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Air Force General Paul Selva to be Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Jeffrey Michael Prieto to be General Counsel of the Department of Agriculture, Allison Beck to be Federal Mediation and Conciliation Director, and Carol Fortine Ochoa to be Inspector General at the General Services Administration.

Fiscal Year 2016 Appropriations

There are only 20 legislative days scheduled for the Senate and 12 for the House before the end of the fiscal year and government funding expires. The House and Senate Appropriations Committees have passed all of their FY16 spending bills, but floor action on the bills has been stalled in both chambers. House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) recently said that Congress is going to have to pass a continuing resolution (CR) in order to avoid a shutdown. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), however, has said that they have not begun to talk about a CR yet. Further complicating the CR process is a push by House conservatives to include in the CR a provision to defund Planned Parenthood. How long a CR would last and how many would be needed until Congress and the Administration can negotiate a broader budget deal is unclear at this point in time. Talks are not likely to begin before mid-September, right before the end of the fiscal year.

Status of FY16 Appropriations Bills

House Appropriations Committee Chairmanship

House Appropriations Committee Chairman Hal Rogers (R-KY) is in his fifth year as chairman of the committee and is unlikely to seek a waiver to continue as chairman at the end of the 114th Congress in 2016. Speculation is now centered on three contenders for the leadership position (assuming Republicans retain control of the House after the 2016 elections) – Reps. Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-NJ), Robert Aderholt (R-AL), and Kay Granger (R-TX). Frelinghuysen is currently chair of the Defense subcommittee, Aderholt is chair of the Agriculture subcommittee, and Granger is chair of the State Foreign Operations subcommittee. Frelinghuysen is considered the frontrunner at this point in time. If he succeeds Rogers it would free up the Defense subcommittee chair, which is a position Granger has expressed interest in.

Debt Ceiling

Treasury Secretary Jack Lew sent a letter to Congress this week regarding the extraordinary measures the Department of the Treasury is taking to avoid default. On March 16, 2015, the outstanding debt of the US reached the statutory limit. At that time, Treasury had to begin employing extraordinary measures to continue to finance the government on a temporary basis. These measures include a debt issuance suspension period with respect to investments of the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund and a suspension of the daily reinvestment of Treasury securities held by the Government Securities Investment Fund of the Federal Employees’ Retirement System Thrift Savings Plan. The debt issuance suspension period was originally through July 30. Secretary Lew informed lawmakers that he was extending the period through October 30. Lew wrote that his best estimate is that the measures would last for at least through the end of October and maybe for a “brief additional period of time.” Some independent economists have estimated that the measures will prevent default into December giving Congress some more time to determine how they are going to deal with raising the debt limit.

Treasury Secretary Lew Letter to Congress:

http://www.treasury.gov/connect/blog/Pages/Treasury-Sends-Debt-Limit-Letter-to-Congress.aspx

FY16 National Defense Authorization Act

House and Senate conferees on FY16 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) did not complete their negotiations before the August recess. Differences over military pay benefits (increases to Tricare pharmacy co-pays and troops’ out-of-pocket housing costs), closing the Guantanamo Bay detention facility, and acquisition reform stalled the conference process. Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain (R-AZ) said that despite not being in DC in August, negotiations would continue during the recess over the phone and other communication methods. The House and Senate Ranking Democrats, Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA) and Jack Reed (D-RI) are apparently in agreement with McCain on including the Senate provision for phasing in increases in the Tricare pharmacy copays.

Cybersecurity

The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee marked up and reported out of committee this week S 1869, the Federal Cybersecurity Enhancement Act of 2015. The bill would mandate that federal agencies implement several cybersecurity controls and best practices, including two-factor authentication for access to sensitive systems and database encryption. The bill would also formally authorize and accelerate deployment of the EINSTEIN 3 Accelerated program, a federal intrusion detection and prevention system. If the bill is signed into law, all federal agencies will be required to adopt EINSTEIN 3. And federal agencies would have to provide annual status reports of the EINSTEIN programs. House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-TX) introduced a similar bill this week HR 3313, the Cyber Defense of Federal Networks Act of 2015. McCaul commended the Senate for their quick action and encouraged his peers in the House to take action.

S 1869 Bill Text:

http://www.ronjohnson.senate.gov/public/_cache/files/39cfd76e-8084-4216-9f2a-e6a3d589243f/s.-1869.pdf

HR 3313 Bill Text:

http://homeland.house.gov/sites/homeland.house.gov/files/documents/072915-HR3313.pdf

In other cybersecurity news, the Senate may take up S 754, the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act (CISA) next week on the Senate floor. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said that the Senate would first vote on a bill to defund Planned Parenthood. If that vote fails, McConnell said that the Senate would then turn to the cybersecurity bill. However, some Senators oppose CISA and could try to filibuster the legislation. The Electronic Frontier Foundation, ACLU, Sunlight Foundation, the Center for Democracy and Technology, and others have lined up against the bill because of privacy and civil liberties concerns. Their opposition and some Republican Senators desire for robust debate on the bill allowing for several amendments may push its consideration until after the August recess.

Political Updates

One more Republican candidate threw his hat into the ring for the 2016 Presidential race – Former Virginia Governor Jim Gilmore. He joins the already crowded Republican field that includes Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, Ohio Governor John Kasich, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, former Texas Governor Rick Perry, former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, former HP CEO Carly Fiorina, businessman Donald Trump, retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, former NY Governor George Pataki, and former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA). The first Republican debate is next Thursday August 6, with the top 10 candidates on at 9 pm and the remaining seven candidates on at 5 pm. On the Democrat side, the field includes former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), former Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley, former Rhode Island Governor and Senator (and former Republican) Lincoln Chaffee, and former Virginia Senator Jim Webb.

Rep. Chaka Fattah (D-PA) was indicted by federal prosecutors this week on 29 counts including racketeering conspiracy, bribery, and wire fraud. Fattah stepped down from his position as ranking Democrat on the House Commerce, Justice, Science Appropriations subcommittee. He has also stepped aside from his chairmanship of the board of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation. Fattah maintains his innocence and has vowed to run for re-election in 2016.

Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC) filed a motion to try to force House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) from his leadership post. The move, called a motion to vacate the chair, represents a new level of opposition to GOP leadership from the conservative wing of the House Republican Conference. Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) tweeted that he cosponsored Meadows’ resolution. The motion was referred to the House Rules Committee, which is packed with supporters of the Speaker so the motion is unlikely to go any further.

Peter Cook has been appointed as the Deputy Assistant to the Secretary of Defense (press secretary), Office of the Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs in the Pentagon. Cook previously served as the chief Washington correspondent for Bloomberg Television in Washington, DC. Susan Yarwood has been assigned as the Deputy Director in the Washington Headquarters Services in Washington, DC. Yarwood previously served as the Director of the Human Resources Directorate in the Washington Headquarters Services.

Retired Navy Rear Admiral Earl Gay withdrew himself from consideration after being nominated by the President for the position of Deputy Director at the Office of Personnel Management. Gay’s nomination had been blocked by Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) since January over an OPM-issued Obamacare exemption.

Former Rep. Mike Michaud (D-ME) was nominated by the President to be the Labor Department’s Assistant Secretary for Veterans’ Employment and Training. During his time in Congress, Michaud was the ranking member on the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee. The President also nominated Darryl DePriest to be Chief Counsel for Advocacy at the Small Business Administration, Victoria Wassmer to be Under Secretary of Energy at the Department of Energy, Beverly Scott to be a member of the National Transportation Safety Board, Michael Suarez to be a member of the National Council on the Humanities, Brigadier General Richard Kaiser to be Commissioner of the Mississippi River Commission, Major General Michael Wehr to be President of the Mississippi River Commission, and Judith Kimble to be Chairman of the President’s Committee on the National Medal of Science.

Next Week

The House is in recess until September 8. The Senate will be in session next week and is scheduled to vote on a procedural motion on a measure to defund Planned Parenthood (S 1881). If they are not successful on that vote, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said that S 754, the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act would be up next.