House Cloakroom: July 15 – July 19

Analysis: The House is set to have a busy week dealing with Obamacare, education reform, and defense funding. In the wake of the Obama Administration’s decision to delay implementation of the Obamacare employer mandate for a year, the House will take action on both of Obamacare’s mandates. It will affirm the delay of the employer mandate in a bill and pass a bill to delay the individual mandate to purchase health insurance as well. The House will also vote on a new education law that attempts to reform No Child Left Behind and a bill to fund the Defense Department for the next fiscal year.

Major Floor Action:

  • HR 2667 – Authority for Mandate Delay Act (Obamacare Employer Mandate Delay)
  • HR 2668 – Fairness for American Families Act (Obamacare Individual Mandate Delay)
  • HR 5 – Student Success Act
  • HR 2397 – Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2014

Major Committee Action:

  • The House Armed Services Committee will hold a hearing on the “Security Situation in Syria.”
  • The House Judiciary Committee will hold an oversight hearing on FISA activities.
  • The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee will hold a hearing on a “Postal Service Overhaul.”
  • The House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife, Oceans and Insular Affairs Subcommittee will hold a hearing on “U.S. Compliance with Foreign Laws under Lacey Act.”

Senate Cloakroom: July 15 – July 19

Analysis: This week, the Senate is poised to have another confrontation over the filibuster. Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) appears poised to employ the “nuclear option” on executive nominations, which would gut minority rights in the Senate and allow nominees to be confirmed by a simple majority rather than the traditional 60 votes that are needed to end debate. The nominees that Senator Reid has used to set up this showdown are controversial in their own right. The three nominees to the National Labor Relations Board were unconstitutionally recess appointed to the board previously. Thomas Perez has a very problematic record at the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division that is documented here. The Senate may also vote on a bill that would return the federal student loan interest rate to 3.4 percent until July 1, 2014.

Major Floor Action:

  • Potential “Nuclear Option” vote on executive nominations:
    • Richard Cordray to be Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
    • Richard F. Griffin to be a Member of the National Labor Relations Board
    • Sharon Block to be a Member of the National Labor Relations Board
    • Fred Hochberg to be President of the Export-Import Bank
    • Mark Gaston Pearce to be a Member of the National Labor Relations Board
    • Thomas Perez to be Secretary of Labor
    • Regina McCarthy to be Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency
  • S 1238 – Keep Student Loans Affordable Act of 2013

Major Committee Action:

  • The Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing on the “Voting Rights Act.”
  • The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee will hold a hearing on “Climate Change.”
  • The Senate Foreign Relations Committee will hold a confirmation hearing for Samantha Power to be U.S. representative to the United Nations.