National Journal
By Fawn Johnson
February 22, 2015
In
these final days before the Homeland Security Department is due to shut
down, two things are certain: One, the Senate will hold its fourth vote
Monday to start debate
on a DHS funding bill that also would scrap President Obama's executive
action to defer deportations for some 4 million undocumented
immigrants. Two, the outcome will be the same as it has been the last
three times: Democrats will vote "no," and the impasse
will remain.
Monday's
roll call will reiterate what Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell
has been saying for two weeks—the legislation is stuck in the Senate,
and the chamber needs
another bill from the House in order to move forward. House
Republicans, for their part, seem perfectly willing to let the Senate's
stalemate continue, saying that Democrats will be blamed for the
shutdown that would begin at 12:01 am Saturday.
What
has changed during the lawmakers' week-long recess is a potentially
disruptive ruling by a Texas judge putting an injunction on the
president's latest executive actions
on immigration. The White House has said it will appeal, but in the
meantime, all activities preparing for the broad deferral programs have
been halted. (A 2012 program for unauthorized immigrants who arrived as children is still functioning.)
In
Congress, the court's injunction has had the dual impact of adding fuel
to Republicans' argument that Obama overstepped his bounds while also
giving them a chance to
back off their efforts to stop the immigration actions themselves. If
the courts can stop it, the argument goes, then maybe the Hill doesn't
have to.
A
few cracks in the GOP façade have appeared: Last week, Sen. Marco Rubio
visited Las Vegas on a book tour and said DHS should be funded
regardless of what happens on
Obama's immigration orders, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
The Florida Republican pointed out that the country can't afford to let
DHS shut down, and Obama will not sign any bill that eradicates his
deferred deportation programs.
By
that logic, there really is no choice but to give Obama what he wants, a
clean funding bill that doesn't mention his immigration actions. But
nobody in the Republican
party is saying that just yet.
The
House is moving on to other issues as well. It is expected to vote this
week on a controversial bill to rewrite the 2001 No Child Left Behind
Act. The legislation
marks the Republicans' opening bid in an effort to get an education
bill to President Obama's desk this year. As such, the measure is
conservative and highly deferential to states, removing requirements in
current law that Democrats say are needed to ensure
that poor schools get the same resources as affluent ones. The vote
will likely be along party lines.
DEFENSE
Lawmakers
will continue to digest the administration's request for military force
to combat the terrorist threats in Iraq and Syria this week, with
members on both sides
of the aisle saying they want to support an authorization memo but
aren't completely happy with the draft presented by the White House.
Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker said last week
that the draft represents the beginning of an important
conversation. "This is something that is going to take a long
commitment by all of those in the free world to undermine what ISIS is
doing," he said.
Democrats,
for their part, don't want the authorization to be so open-ended that
it will wind up justifying military actions years down the road, as the
post-Sept. 11
authorization has been used for recent conflicts. The House Armed
Services Committee will hold a hearing Thursday on how the
administration's proposal will help the military defeat the terrorist
organizations in Iraq and Syria.
TECHNOLOGY
The
Federal Communications Commission will vote on expansive net neutrality
regulations Thursday. The rules, requested by Obama, would classify
Internet service in the
same legal category as telephones and would ban providers from blocking
websites or selectively slowing down traffic. Net neutrality advocates
are expected to cheer the decision, which they say will preserve the
free flow of information online. But Internet
providers and Republicans fear it will burden the broadband industry
with cumbersome utility regulation. A lawsuit on the rule is a
certainty.
The
FCC also is scheduled to vote Thursday on petitions to overturn laws in
Tennessee and North Carolina restricting cities from building their own
broadband networks.
Democrats argue the move will allow cities to provide fast Internet
service in areas overlooked by private providers, while Republicans see
it as an attack on states' rights.
Congressional
Republicans are working on a legislative compromise to try to undo the
FCC's net neutrality regulations. Democrats have stated that they want
to see the
FCC's order first. On Wednesday, the House Energy and Commerce
Subcommittee on Communications and Technology will hold a hearing to
discuss the consequences of the FCC's ruling.
The
Senate Commerce Committee will hold a hearing Wednesday to examine the
Obama administration's plan to give up control of the Internet's name
and address system. Republicans
fear that without proper safeguards, the transition could allow Russia
or China to seize new powers over the Internet.
HEALTH
Health
and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell will have a busy
week on Capitol Hill. She is slated to testify Wednesday before the
House Appropriations Committee's
health care subcommittee about HHS' budget request for 2016. She is
also scheduled to testify Thursday before the House Energy and Commerce
Committee's Health Subcommittee.
It's
inevitable that the Affordable Care Act will rear its head in these
appearances. The stated topic of the second hearing is the HHS budget,
but Republicans also are
expected to press Burwell on the administration's plans (or lack
thereof) for a Supreme Court ruling that could invalidate Obamacare's
insurance subsidies in most of the country.
Wednesday,
the Ways and Means Committee's health care panel holds a hearing on the
solvency of the Disability Insurance Trust Fund. On Thursday, the
Senate HELP Committee
holds a hearing titled, "Medical and Public Health Preparedness and
Response: Are We Ready for Future Threats?"
ENERGY
The
Obama administration's climate change and energy budget will be in the
spotlight this week in several hearings on the White House's fiscal 2016
proposal. EPA administrator
Gina McCarthy will testify before the House Energy and Commerce
Committee on Wednesday and is sure to face questions about her agency's
plans to regulate carbon emissions from power plants and other air
pollution regulations. The administration proposed bumping
EPA's budget up to $8.6 billion to pay for the massive climate plan,
which Republicans have vowed to block.
House
Republicans plan to put Obama's budget request for the Department of
Energy under the microscope at two hearings. On Wednesday, Energy
Secretary Ernest Moniz is
set to field questions about the budget from members of the House
Science, Space and Technology Committee. The House Appropriations Energy
and Water Development and Related Agencies subcommittee delves into the
department's budget request Thursday.
WHITE HOUSE
Next
week, expect the White House to ratchet up the pressure on Congress as
it faces an end-of-the-month deadline on funding the Department of
Homeland Security. To that
end, the president will travel to Miami on Wednesday to conduct a town
hall on immigration policy.
The
highlight of President Obama's week may be something not included on
his official schedule. He is expected to veto the Keystone pipeline
bill. But as of the weekend
he had not yet received it from Congress. Expect it during the week,
though.
On
Monday, Obama will attend a meeting of the National Governors
Association in Washington and later hold a credentialing ceremony for
foreign ambassadors at the White
House. On Tuesday, the president will welcome the emir of Qatar, Sheik
Hamad, to the White House. After he returns from Miami, Obama, along
with the first lady, will host a reception celebrating Black History
Month on Thursday evening. On Friday, the president
welcomes another foreign leader, Liberian President Ellen Johnson
Sirleaf, to the White House.
For more information, go to: www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com
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