November 14, 2014
The House and Senate returned to DC after the mid-term election recess. The House passed HR 4194, the Government Reports Elimination Act of 2014 and HR 5682, a bill approving the Keystone XL Pipeline. House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) announced that the House will convene for the 114th Congress on January 6, 2015. And he confirmed that the targeted adjournment date for the 113th Congress is Dec. 11. The Senate approved a few judicial nominations and voted to invoke cloture on S1086, the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 2013.
Leadership Elections
This week Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) was elected Senate majority leader and Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) was elected Senate minority leader for the 114th Congress, which convenes in January. McConnell was elected as GOP leader without dissent, while Reid received several no votes including Sens. McCaskill (D-MO), Warner (D-VA), Manchin (D-WV), and Kaine (D-VA). Republican senators chose Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS) as chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee for the 2016 cycle while democrats chose Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT) as chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) was appointed as Senior Policy Advisor to the Democratic Policy and Communications Center, a newly created Senate leadership post. And Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-WI) was elected as chairwoman of Steering and Outreach.
The House Republican Conference voted to keep Rep. John Boehner (R-OH) as speaker of the House (his third term), and Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) was re-elected as majority leader. The votes came in as a secret ballot of the GOP caucus on Thursday. The full House must approve the GOP’s choice by a majority vote in January. Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA) won a full-term as Republican Whip in the next Congress and Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) won her second term as chairwoman of the House Republican Conference. House Republicans also selected Rep. Luke Messer (R-IN) as Republican Policy Committee chairman. And Speaker Boehner announced today that he selected Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX) to remain as chairman in the House Rules Committee in the next Congress. House Republicans also passed a party rule that a chairman must give up their gavel if they announce their intention to run for another office.
FY15 Appropriations
House and Senate Appropriations Chairmen Harold Rogers (R-KY) and Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) have directed their staffs to have a detailed, line-by-line omnibus spending plan ready for floor action by the week of Dec. 8. While some more conservative republicans may be pushing for a shorter-term spending deal, appropriations staff insist that a continuing resolution (CR) is not part of the leadership discussions. The current CR epxires on Dec. 11, so Congress needs to take action before then in order to avoid a government shutdown. House Republicans may wait on moving the omnibus bill potentially using it as a vehicle to limit any executive orders from President Obama on immigration reform. Sen. Mikulski has warned that any immigration provisions would be a deal-breaker for an omnibus. If the Senate opposes an omnibus with immigration riders attached, the House may then opt for a clean, short-term continuing resolution funding the government into the new Congress when republicans have the majority in the Senate.
The Obama Administration requested an additional $5.6 billion for Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) activities for Operation Inherent Resolve, the military campaign focused on defeating the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). The request includes $1.6 billion to establish an Iraq Train and Equip Fund (ITEF) to train and support approximately 12 Iraqi and Kurdish brigades, as well as an additional $520 million for State Department-related operations. This proposed OCO funding is in addition to the $58.6 billion Department of Defense OCO request sent to the Congress in June as these activities and operations were not anticipated at the time that request was submitted. Some Republicans were critical of the request questioning if it was large enough and whether all of it should be considered emergency funding, but stopped short of opposing it. The details of the request can be found at:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/assets/budget_amendments/amendment_11_10_14.pdf
Department of Defense Nuclear Enterprise Review
Today Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel announced a comprehensive action plan to reform the nuclear enterprise and called for additional investments in sustainment as well as measures to address longstanding cultural issues. This announcement follows a series of missteps involving the nation’s nuclear forces and their leadership after which Secretary Hagel called for both an internal and external review of the entire Department of Defense nuclear enterprise. Together, the two reviews identified more than 100 recommendations to improve the nuclear deterrent forces. They focus on several key areas, including: oversight, investment, and personnel and training. Their recommendations range from acquisition investments that will cost several billion dollars over the five-year defense spending program. The Department will prioritize funding on actions that improve the security and sustainment of the current force, ensure that modernization of the force remains on track, and address shortfalls that are undermining the morale of the force.
Link to External Independent Review:
http://www.defense.gov/pubs/Independent-Nuclear-Enterprise-Review-Report-30-June-2014.pdf
Link to Summary of Internal Nuclear Enterprise Review:
http://www.defense.gov/pubs/Summary-Internal-NER.pdf
Link to DOD Fact Sheet on Implementation:
http://www.defense.gov/pubs/NER-Fact-Sheet.pdf
Veterans Affairs Reorganization
The Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert McDonald announced a major restructuring of the department this week including creating a new VA-wide customer service office led by a Chief Customer Service Officer who will report directly to the Secretary. The reforms also include establishing new partnerships with a national network of Community Veteran Advisory Councils to coordinate better service delivery with local, state and community partners, and identifying opportunities for VA to realign its internal business processes into a shared services model in which organizations across VA leverage the same support services, to improve efficiency, reduce costs and increase productivity across VA. McDonald also confirmed that the department has taken disciplinary action against 5,600 employees and has plans to hire about 28,000 medical professionals around the country, including about 2,500 mental health professionals.
Senate Armed Services Committee
This week Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), the expected next chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) said that he plans to shake up the committee when he takes over as chairman in the 114th Congress. McCain is considering establishing one or two new subcommittees to better deal with cybersecurity and launch oversight investigations. Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI) is poised to take over as the ranking democrat on the committee.
National Defense Authorization Act
Leaders of the House and Senate Armed Services Committees met this week to negotiate the most contentious issues (which includes transfer of Guantanamo Bay prisoners, retiring 11 Navy cruisers, and retiring the A-10 Warthog attack jet) of the FY15 National Defense Authorization Act. Committee staff have been preparing an informal conference report that irons out the differences between the House passed bill and the Senate committee passed version. The conference report will be passed as stand-alone legislation in the House and Senate without amendments.
Political Updates
While Sen. Mark Begich (D-AK) has not yet conceded, the Associated Press has called the race for Republican Dan Sullivan. Sullivan’s win would make the new 114th Congress majority in the Senate 53 republicans to 46 democrats. One more race will be decided in Louisiana after the runoff on Dec. 6.
The race between Rep. Ron Barber (D-AZ) and republican challenger Martha McSally is heading towards a recount. One legal challenge has already been filed over provisional ballots. A full recount will take weeks. McSally currently has a 133 vote lead.
The House swore-in three newly elected members who were filling current vacancies – Congresswoman-Elect Alma Adams (D-NC), Congressman-Elect Donald Norcross (D-NJ), and Congressman-Elect David Brat (R-VA).
The President nominated Deputy National Security Advisor Tony Blinken to become the next deputy secretary of state. If confirmed by the Senate, Blinken would replace William Burns who retired earlier this year. Previously, Blinken was Staff Director for the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee and a Senior Fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. In the Clinton Administration, he served on the National Security Council staff as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for European Affairs and as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Strategic Planning and Speechwriting. He also served as Special Assistant to the Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs at the Department of State.
The President also nominated Nicholas Rasmussen to be the director of the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC), succeeding Matthew Olsen who stepped down this summer. Rasmussen is currently the Deputy Director of the NCTC, a position he has held since 2012. Rasmussen has also served on the National Security Council (NSC) staff, held senior policy and planning positions at NCTC, and served as Director for Regional Affairs in the Office of Combating Terrorism on the NSC staff. Director of National Intelligence James Clapper strongly endorsed the President’s nomination of Rasmussen.
Jeffery Baran, a current member of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), was renominated for the position. Prior to becoming a member of the NRC, he served as Staff Director for Energy and Environment on the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce. Baran is serving out the term of Commissioner William Magwood IV, who stepped down in August to become director-general of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s Nuclear Energy Agency. The Senate confirmed Baran on a 56-44 vote in September.
Elissa Slotkin was nominated for Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs. Slotkin is the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs, a position she has held since 2012. She has also held the position of Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, Chief of Staff to the Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs, and Senior Advisor for Middle East Transition at the Department of Defense. Slotkin has also worked at the Central Intelligence Agency and in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
The President nominated Antonio Weiss to be Under Secretary for Domestic Finance at the Department of the Treasury. Weiss is the Global Head of Investment Banking for Lazard and is a Member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the Economic Advisory Council of the Center for American Progress. He is Publisher of The Paris Review. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) said that she would oppose Weiss’ nomination because of his past work with corporate inversions as he advised on Burger King’s acquisition of Canadian doughnut chain Tim Hortons.
The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency announced that Susan Gordon will become deputy director upon the retirement of current NGA deputy director Mike Rodrigue on December 31. Gordon, a 34-year veteran of the intelligence community, is currently the director of the CIA information operations center.
President Barack Obama has renominated Jeffery Baran to the NRC. Baran, a former aide to outgoing Rep. Henry Waxman, was confirmed by the Senate in September to fill in the remaining months of the term vacated by William Magwood. Baran’s current term expires June 30, 2015. He’s been nominated to fill in the remainder of NRC Chairwoman Allison Macfarlane’s term, which expires June 30, 2018 – not the seat he now occupies, which will become vacant on July 1 and would’ve expired in 2020 if he were reconfirmed to it.
And the White House finally withdrew the nomination of Jo Ann Rooney nomination to be Undersecretary of the Navy undersecretary. Rooney was nominated 14 months ago, but faced opposition from Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) after Rooney said that rape and sexual assault should be prosecuted in the militarys chain of command. Rooney also clashed with Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) who said he would not support her nomination. Rooney is a two-time college president who served as principal deputy undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness in 2011 and 2012. A new nominee for the Navy undersecretary position was not immediately announced.
Brendan Goode, the director of the Network Security Deployment division in the Office of Cybersecurity and Communications (CS&C) is leaving for the private sector. HIs last day will be Nov. 21. Danny Toler, the deputy director of the Federal Network Resilience division is being promoted to replace Goode.
Confirmation hearings for attorney general nomineee Loretta Lynch will likely wait until next year appeasing republicans who want to wait unitl they have the majority and freeing up the Senate Judiciary Committee to pursue enactment of the USA Freedom Act during the lame duck session. Overhaul of the domestic surveillance programs has been a priority for Senate Judiciary chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT).
Next Week
The House will take up HR 1422, the EPA Science Advisory Board Reform Act of 2013; HR 4012, the Secret Science Reform Act of 2014; and HR 4795, the Promoting New Manufacturing Act. The Senate will resume consideration of S1086, the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 2013. The Senate will also take up S2280, authorizing the Keystone XL Pipeline and S2685, the Uniting and Strengthening America by Fulfilling Rights and Ensuring Effective Discipline Over Monitoring Act of 2014. Finally, the Senate could take up the USA Freedom Act as soon as next week, but the bill is still facing opposition from Senate Intelligence Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), Senate Republican Whip.