November 7, 2014
Both the House and Senate were in recess this week.
Ebola Supplemental Funding Request
The World Health Organization reported this week that the number of suspected Ebola cases was at 13,042 and deaths were at 4,818. President Obama submitted to Congress a request for an additional $6.18 billion to contain and end the Ebola outbreak in West Africa and speed the development of treatments and vaccinations. This request will be a test of how Republicans will work with the Administration after making significant gains in the midterm elections and winning control of the Senate in the 114th Congress.
The request includes $4.64 billion for immediate needs, which is broken down as follows:
- $2.43 billion for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)
- $1.83 billion is for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
- $333 million is for the Public Health and Social Services Emergency Fund
- $283 million for the National Institutes of Health (NIH)
- $25 million for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
- $1.98 billion for the US Agency for International Development (USAID)
- $127 million for the Department of State
- $112 million for the Department of Defense (DOD)
The administration also requested $1.54 billion in contingency funding of which $751 million is for HHS and $792 million is for USAID and the Department of State. Given the changing nature of the Ebola epidemic the Contingency Fund is requested to ensure that there are resources available to respond to the evolving situation.
The President requested that all of the funding be designated as emergency spending not requiring an offset, which may draw some opposition from conservative budget hawks during consideration. One potential vehicle for this funding is an FY15 omnibus appropriations bill that will be considered during the lame duck session.
More details on the Administration’s request can be found at:
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) Use-of-Force Authorization and Emergency Funding Request
President Obama said that he would seek Authorization to Use Military Force (AUMF) against Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) from Congress. The President will begin discussions on the topic with congressional leaders when they visit the White House today. House Armed Services Committee Chairman Buck McKeon (R-CA) has said that he would like the new 114th Congress to address this issue rather than the current Congress, so it is unclear if the AUMF will be considered during the lame duck session.
The president also plans to request an additional $3.2 billion in war funding for the fight against ISIL. The request will come as an amendment to the administration’s $58.6 billion request for FY15 Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) funding for the military. The funding will be used to replace munitions used in operations against ISIL extremists in Iraq and Syria, pay for the 12 teams of US military advisers that are working with Iraqi forces, and provide flying hours for intelligence and surveillance aircraft. US Central Command released an information sheet last month stating the cost of Navy munitions at $62 million, including $53 million for 47 Tomahawk cruise missiles. The emergency funding request may also provide at least $500 million to train and equip Iraqi and Kurdish forces fighting the Sunni militants.
Political Updates
Vantage Point Strategies’ in-depth coverage of the 2014 midterm elections can be found at:
https://www.vantagepointstrat.com/?attachment_id=295
President Obama will replace departing Attorney General Eric Holder with Loretta Lynch the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York. Lynch was confirmed by the Senate in 2000 and 2010 for her current position. She has also been a partner at Hogan & Hartson, and a member of the board of the Federal Reserve Bank of NY. Lynch earned both her BA and JD at Harvard. If confirmed as Attorney General, she will be the first African-American woman to hold the position, and it will be the first time in nearly 200 years that a president has nominated a US attorney general for Attorney General. While the President as asked that Lynch be confirmed as soon as possible, Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said the nomination should be considered in the new Congress.
The President nominated David Berteau to be Assistant Secretary of Defense for Logistics and Materiel Readiness. Berteau is currently Senior Vice President and Director of the National Security Program on Industry and Resources at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a position he has held since 2013. Berteau has also served as a Director at Clark & Weinstock, director of the National Security Studies Program at Syracuse University, Senior Vice President at SAIC, Acting Assistant Secretary of Defense for Production and Logistics, and Chairman for the Defense Conversion Commission.
The President also nominated Leigh Bradley to be General Counsel at the Department of Veterans Affairs. Bradley is currently Director of the Standards of Conduct Office in the Office of the General Counsel at the Department of Defense (DOD), a position she has held since 2008. Since July 2014, she has served on detail from DOD to the Department of Veterans Affairs as Special Counsel to the Secretary. Previously, Bradley was at the American Red Cross, a Partner at Holland & Knight, LLP, and General Counsel at the Department of Veterans Affairs. She served as Principal Deputy General Counsel for the Department of the Navy and as a senior attorney in the Office of the Deputy General Counsel at DOD. A veteran, she also served on active duty as a Judge Advocate for the US Air Force.
Howard Harary has been appointed director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s (NIST) Engineering Laboratory, which develops the measurement tools and standards needed to support technology-intensive manufacturing, construction and cyber-physical systems. The laboratory also conducts research to reduce the risks of fire, earthquakes and other hazards. Harary became the Engineering Laboratory’s acting director in 2013. The Department of Commerce approved Harary’s appointment, effective November 3, 2014.
Next Week
The House and Senate return from recess next Wednesday November 12. Newly elected members of Congress arrive for orientation and leadership elections for both the House and Senate. House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) said that the House will take up three EPA-related bills the week of 11/17 – HR 4102, the Secret Science Reform Act, HR 1422, the EPA Science Advisory Board Reform Act, and HR 4795, the Promoting New Manufacturing Act. These bills have little chance of passing the Senate before the end of the 113th Congress.