After a two-week break, lawmakers return to Washington this week with a hefty to-do list before the month-long August recess. House lawmakers are advancing legislation to protect people’s access to abortion, respond to active shooters, and authorize Defense spending. At the same time, the Select Committee to Investigate the Jan. 6th Attack on the U.S. Capitol is continuing its public hearing series. Meanwhile, Senators are busy advancing nominations.
Table of Contents:
- Progressive Playbook
- House
- Senate
- Issues to Watch
- Key Dates
- What We’re Reading
Progressive Playbook
GUN VIOLENCE PREVENTION
No matter what we look like, where we come from, or what’s in our wallets, we all want our families and communities to be safe. Yet, each day, certain politicians stand by as hundreds of Americans – Black and White, young and old, rural and urban – are hurt or killed by guns. Gun corporations and the NRA have spent millions trying to pit us against each other based on our race or origin, but we refuse to fall for their fear-mongering. We must stand up for each other and work together to invest in community programs that prevent violence, dismantle laws like Stand Your Ground that encourage bias-motivated gun violence, and pass common sense reforms like universal background checks and a ban on assault weapons. Together, we can make this a place where we know that we are all safe.
WORDS THAT WORK
- For decades, the NRA and gun lobby have used fear and racist rhetoric to keep us divided and allow people to get ever more deadly weapons without any common sense checks.
- We need our leaders to stop the reckless and irresponsible gun lobby and industry who want to keep their profits high, no matter the cost.
- Allowing certain politicians and the NRA to spread gun violence in our communities is a choice we don’t have to keep making.
House
House Floor
The House will vote on 22 suspension bills from the Committees on Ways & Means, Oversight & Reform, Homeland Security, and Foreign Affairs. Suspension bills require a ⅔ majority to pass. For a list of all suspension bills being considered, click here.
The House will also consider the following bills, subject to rules:
H.R. 6538 – Active Shooter Alert Act of 2022 (Rep. Cicilline – Judiciary): The bill would create a program similar to the AMBER Alert system for law enforcement to alert the public to active shooters in their community. Specifically, the bill would direct the Department of Justice to create an Active Shooter Alert Coordinator who would offer federal training, technical support, and best practices to local and state law enforcement to effectively improve or implement active shooter alert systems.
- Press Release (Rep. Cicilline)
H.R. 7900 – National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023 (Rep. Smith (WA) – Armed Services): The bill would authorize nearly $850 billion for defense related programs, which is $37 billion more than President Biden’s FY2023 budget proposal. In addition to defense spending, the bill would authorize $45 million for the Nuclear-Armed Sea-Launched Cruise Missile. It also sets policy related to sexual harassment in the ranks as well as reproductive rights for service people.
- Press Release (House Armed Services Committee)
H.R. 8296 – Women’s Health Protection Act of 2022 (Rep. Chu – Energy and Commerce): The bill would guarantee a pregnant person’s right to access an abortion—and the right of an abortion provider to deliver these abortion services—free from medically unnecessary restrictions that interfere with a patient’s individual choice or the provider-patient relationship. The House passed a similar bill in September 2021.
- Press Release (Rep. Chu)
H.R. 8297 – Ensuring Access to Abortion Act of 2022 (Rep. Fletcher – Energy and Commerce): The bill would ensure that people can cross state lines in order to obtain abortions and prohibit states from passing laws that prevent anyone from obtaining, providing, or facilitating abortion access across state lines, including physicians, nurse-midwifes, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants. The bill also protects the interstate commerce of FDA-approved drugs.
- Press Release (Rep. Fletcher)
House Committee Highlights
A full list of this week’s hearings and markups can be found here. Notable hearings and markups include:
Tuesday Hearings
On the January 6th Investigation (Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol)
Wednesday Hearings
The Impact of the Supreme Court’s Dobbs Decision on Abortion Rights and Access Across the United States (Oversight & Reform)
Nuclear Waste Cleanup: Research and Development Opportunities for the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management (Science, Space, & Technology)
Better Together: Examining the Unified Proposed Rule to Modernize the Community Reinvestment Act (Financial Services)
A 2022 Review of the Farm Bill: Forestry (Agriculture)
Nowhere to Live: Profits, Disinvestment, and the American Housing Crisis (Ways & Means)
Thursday Hearings
What’s Next: The Threat to Individual Freedoms in a Post-Roe World (Judiciary)
Constituent Services: Building a More Customer-Friendly Congress (Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress)
A 2022 Review of the Farm Bill: The State of Credit for Young, Beginning, and Underserved Producers (Agriculture)
Examining the U.S. Interest in Regional Security Cooperation in the Middle East and North Africa: Opportunities, Obstacles, and Objectives (Foreign Affairs)
Friday Hearings
Climate Smart from Farm to Fork: Building an Affordable and Resilient Food Supply Chain (Select Committee on the Climate Crisis)
Senate
Nominations
The Senate this week has teed up votes on the following nominees:
- Ashish S. Vazirani to be a Deputy Under Secretary of Defense
- Steven M. Dettelbach to be Director, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives
- Michael S. Barr to be a Member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System for the unexpired term of fourteen years from February 1, 2018
- Michael S. Barr to be Vice Chairman for Supervision of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System for a term of four years
Senate Committee Highlights
A full list of this week’s Senate committee hearings, including confirmation hearings, can be found here. Notable committee hearings include:
Tuesday Hearings
A Post-Roe America: The Legal Consequences of the Dobbs Decision (Judiciary)
Advancing Public Transportation under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law: Update from the Federal Transit Administration (Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs)
The Role of the Federal Government in Attacking the Financial Networks of Cartels (United States Senate Caucus on International Narcotics Control)
Wednesday Hearings
Reproductive Care in a Post-Roe America: Barriers, Challenges, and Threats to Women’s Health (HELP)
Pathways To Lower Energy Prices (Energy & Natural Resources)
A Review of the Fiscal Year 2023 President’s Budget for the Department of Interior (Appropriations)
- Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland is testifying
Thursday Hearings
Protecting the Homeland from Unmanned Aircraft Systems (Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs)
Issues to Watch
Reproductive Health Care Post-Roe
Following the Supreme Court’s decision last month to overturn Roe v. Wade and, with it, the nearly 50-year precedent that guaranteed the right to abortion care, President Joe Biden on Friday signed an executive order protecting access to reproductive health care. Specifically, the order directs the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to expand and protect access to emergency contraception, reversible contraception like intrauterine devices, and medication abortion such as through the use of mifepristone. The order also directs HHS to improve outreach and public education efforts on abortion, establishes an interagency task force on reproductive health care access, and takes steps to protect consumer privacy when seeking information about reproductive health care services. Both the House and Senate Committees on the Judiciary are also examining the impact of the Supreme Court’s decision on abortion rights this week. Ten states have already banned abortions and as many as 26 states are expected to outlaw or severely restrict abortion.
- President Biden to Sign Executive Order Protecting Access to Reproductive Health Care Services (The White House)
- What if Roe fell? (Center for Reproductive Rights)
- Where abortion has been banned now that Roe v. Wade is overturned (Axios)
- The Right to Travel in a Post-Roe World (The New York Times)
- What overturning Roe v. Wade means for pregnant people in pollution hotspots (Salon)
January 6th Committee Public Hearings
The House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the Capitol is continuing their public hearings this week. On Tuesday, the Committee is expected to focus on the connections between the Trump Administration and militia groups that participated in and helped organize the attack on the Capitol, such as the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys. A former spokesperson for the Oath Keepers is expected to testify. This public hearing will be the seventh so far this year, but more could follow. Recently, Rep. Mo Brooks (R-AL-05) and former Trump advisor Steve Bannon, who have been subpoenaed by the Committee, have stated that they are willing to testify.
- January 6 committee members preview Tuesday’s hearing on role of extremist groups in Capitol riot (CNN)
- Meet the key players in the next Jan. 6 hearings (Politico)
- Five important takeaways from the January 6 committee’s June hearings (Brookings)
- Strongest Evidence of Guilt: Chart Tracking Trump’s Knowledge and Intent in Efforts to Overturn the Election (Just Security)
Reconciliation Talks
With budget reconciliation instructions set to expire at the end of this fiscal year on September 30, Senators are making an effort to advance a reconciliation bill—potentially before the end of the summer. Current reporting suggests the nascent proposal would seek to address high prescription drug prices, climate change, and energy production. However, additional policies, like tax changes and an extension of expiring ACA subsidies, could still be added to the package. Last week, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer submitted text to the Senate parliamentarian that would allow the federal government to negotiate prescription drug prices for Medicare. The parliamentarian will subject the text to a Byrd Bath, a process that examines proposals and ensures that policies passed through reconciliation directly impact the federal budget. While the proposal to address high drug prices has the support of all 50 Democratic Senators, there is not yet a deal on other issues. Any reconciliation bill that passes the Senate would also require House approval to be signed into law.
- Schumer making last-ditch bid to pass reconciliation bill this summer (The Hill)
- Democrats are racing to pass their scaled-back economic and health package (The Washington Post)
- Introduction to Budget “Reconciliation” (Center on Budget and Policy Priorities)
Key Dates
July 1 – 11: House is out of session
July 16 – 24: Latino Conservation Week
July 30 – Sept. 5: House is out of session
August 8 – Sept. 5: Senate is out of session
August 12: House Remote Voting expires
What We’re Reading
America’s $1.4 Trillion So-Called “National Security” Budget Makes Us Less Safe—Not More (Common Dreams)
Gun Violence Disproportionately and Overwhelmingly Hurts Communities of Color (Center for American Progress)
State and local governments have made transformative investments with American Rescue Plan recovery funds in 2022 (Economic Policy Institute)
The Case Against Judicial Review (The American Prospect)
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