Latest news from Washington, D.C. produced by Total Spectrum/SGA exclusively for members of the Arizona С��ñֱ��app of Commerce & Industry

Thanks for your interest in Washington, D.C., and for reading This Week in Washington.

Heard on the Hill covers national politics, caucus elections in both the House and the Senate, the end (finally) of the Georgia runoff and the start of the 2023-24 campaign cycle, and the progress of the lame duck legislative agenda. Total Spectrum’s Senior Partner����is our financial expert, and he wrote an article about the recent failure of a major cryptocurrency exchange and the fallout on related policy.��In this week’s Defense Update,�� dives into the National Defense Appropriations Act, the bill passed annually to fund defense spending.����reports on the December 6^th��hearing of the Senate Agriculture Committee that focused on the 2023 Farm Bill and Research Programs.

In this week’s��,����sat down last Friday with Congressman Kevin Brady (TX-8), the former Chairman and current Ranking Member of the Ways & Means Committee. Congressman Brady was Chairman of the Ways & Means Committee when the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act was passed – and many people contend that the bill could never have been passed unless Kevin Brady had his hands on the steering wheel.��It’s a relatively short but a meaningful����with an excellent legislator and a very good man.

This concludes our sixth year of��This Week in Washington, and the second full year of��Total Spectrum Spotlight. It takes a lot of time and it takes a lot of great people to put these products together on a regular basis. Each of us – Congressman Erik Paulsen, Michael DiMaria, Patrick Robertson, John McKechnie, Al Jackson, Dana Marston, and Ramona Lessen – join me in thanking you for your interest and wish you the��very��best this holiday season. Merry Christmas and all best wishes for a healthy and successful New Year.

Total Spectrum Managing Director

Total Spectrum Spotlight

 is very pleased to bring to you ’s exclusive interview with Congressman Kevin Brady of Texas’s 8^th District.

Kevin Brady was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in November 1996 and is retiring from Congress after the new year. Widely recognized as a national economic leader, Congressman Brady is only the third Texan in history to chair the powerful House Ways & Means Committee – considered to be the most influential committee in Congress – with control over taxes, international trade, health care, Medicare, Social Security, and welfare.

Congressman Brady served as Chairman of the Joint Committee on Taxation, Chairman of the Joint Economic Committee of the House and Senate, and has chaired both the Health Care and Trade Subcommittees of Ways and Means. 

Prior to his election to Congress, Kevin worked as a С��ñֱ��app of Commerce executive for 18 years and served six years in the Texas House of Representatives, where he was named Top Ten Legislator for Families & Children and one of Five Outstanding Young Texans.

Erik Paulsen and Kevin Brady served together in the U.S. House of Representatives. In this��Spotlight��interview, they discuss the legislation affecting tax, trade, and health care that may advance during this year’s lame duck session. They also look back at benefits delivered to businesses and individuals in the five years since passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, and the next Congress’s plan to renew some of its provisions that will soon begin to expire.

Heard on the Hill

By , Total Spectrum Managing Partner

As we expected, the lame duck session is moving at a snail’s pace. Every realistic estimate assumes that the lame duck will conclude right before Christmas Eve. We’ll cover the legislative work that needs to get done in the lame duck, but let’s deal first with some important items.

Senate Republican Leadership

It was widely reported that Senator Mitch McConnell beat back Senator Rick Scott (FL) and continues as Republican Senate Leader. We neglected to note that Senator John Thune (SD) was unanimously reelected to be Minority Whip and Senator John Barrasso (WY) was reelected to be Chair of the Republican Conference. Senator Roy Blunt (MO) had been Chair of the Republican Policy Committee, but he is retiring at the end of the month. Senator Joni Ernst (IA) was elected by her peers to replace Senator Blunt at the Policy Committee.

Georgia Runoff – and Beyond

Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock beat back Republican Herschel Walker in Tuesday’s Georgia runoff. The final numbers are not yet tabulated, but the winning margin should be around 100,000 votes. The percentage of the win appears to be around 2.8% — 51.4% for Senator Warnock and 48.6% for Herschel Walker. 

Mr. Walker’s campaign outperformed its efforts in rural Georgia during the recent general election, due in large part to the help provided by Governor Kemp’s ground game organization. But Senator Warnock’s campaign dramaticallyoutperformed its efforts in Georgia’s four metro areas during the general election.

National Republicans are going through would have, could have, should have, and what went wrong questions – and the finger pointing has begun. Senator Steve Daines of Montana is the new chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee for 2023-2024. He starts with a favorable map but rampant disappointment and disillusionment. Senator Daines’ first job will be to learn the lessons of this off-year campaign, reset the agenda, and then turn the page. 

Many national Democrats know that they dodged a bullet in the off-year elections, and they also know that the 2024 map will be particularly challenging. Senate Democrats will be defending a one-seat advantage, and vulnerable Democratic incumbents in ruby-red Montana, West Virginia, and Ohio will be up for reelection. 

House Republican Chairmen

The House Republicans are scheduled to meet this week to decide on non-contested Chairmen. They had originally planned to lead with contested Chairmen positions, but the order was reversed. 

The most contentious race is the chairmanship of the Ways & Means Committee, where Congressman Vern Buchanan (FL) is being challenged by Congressman Jason Smith (MO). Congressman Buchanan started early and had the early pole position, but Congressman Smith came charging back and appeared to lead in October and November. Congressman Buchanan has gained a little of the momentum back, but the race is too close to call. 

Many House Republicans expect that the election for the Ways & Means chair will be delayed until after the election of the Speaker. Congressman McCarthy has extra votes as the Republican Leader, but he cannot afford to antagonize supporters of either candidate.

Speaker

The Democratic majority in the current House of Representatives is six seats – 219 Democrats and 213 Republicans. The majority will be almost perfectly reversed in the next Congress – 220 Republicans and 213 Democrats.

Congressman McCarthy needs 218 votes from the entire House of Representatives to become Speaker, and at least five Republicans are a hard no. He is currently meeting with a number of Congressmen to solidify supporters or pull unsure votes over to his side. The Republican Governance Group – moderate members – sent a  on December 1 supporting Congressman McCarthy. 

Congressman McCarthy could also win with less than 218 votes if some members of the House vote present. I asked a member of the Republican caucus if there was another way Congressman McCarthy could win. “If he doesn’t win on the House Floor, Republicans will go back into their caucus and have it out. One way or another, there’s a pretty good chance that McCarthy prevails. No other significant member wants the headaches that will come daily for the Speaker with a razor-thin majority.”

Lame Duck Issues

Appropriations. The current continuing resolution expires on December 16. Congress could pass another to expire sometime deep into 2023, but that would continue funding for some important items at last year’s levels, which can be problematic.  Another option is to pass an omnibus as opposed to trying to pass 12 annual spending bills. Individual Senators and Members of Congress don’t like omnibus legislation because it’s impossible to know what’s in the bill. Majority Leader Schumer believes that he has more power by holding up the individual bills and passing one large omnibus. A third option is to pass a short CR that would fund the government into the early part of 2023. This option would give the new Republican majority more leverage to reduce spending for this current fiscal year. 

As of today, there is not much progress on negotiating the top line for government spending in FY2023. Senate Appropriators can’t move without knowing what the top line number is, and Democratic and Republican negotiators are billions of dollars apart.

The holdup is over the split between defense and non-defense spending. Both Democrats and Republicans agree that there should be a kick-up on the defense side, but Senator McConnell argues that Democrats got a ton of money for their social agenda as part of the Inflation Reduction Act – and he doesn’t want to budge. Senator McConnell also knows that it would be House Republicans’ worst nightmare to have to deal with funding in the next Congress.

The safest bet is to expect a short continuing resolution that will keep the government open beyond December 16^th. Hopefully the sounds of Christmas will bring a resolution to the appropriations process, but Senator Thune did encourage his colleagues to bring their favorite Christmas songs back next week to sing.

Defense. The National Defense Authorization Act is a must-pass piece of legislation that’s consistently been approved since the 1960s. The negotiated final package is $857 billion, and a number of controversial items have been eliminated. It will be passed, as negotiated, by both the House and the Senate and should be signed by the President. 

Tax Extenders.  Congressman Kevin Brady (TX) – the former Chairman and now ranking member of the House Ways and Means Committee – talks to Congressman Erik Paulsen in today’s&�Բ�����;Total Spectrum Spotlight about the items that are being discussed for inclusion in a tax package. I don’t sense that Leader McConnell or Congressman McCarthy are excited about including this tax package in lame duck activity. 

Crypto Exchange Failure Sends Policymakers Scurrying for Answers

By��John McKechnie, Total Spectrum Senior Partner

A combination of the collapse of a major cryptocurrency exchange and a lackluster performance by Republicans in the midterm elections has silenced many digital currency advocates in Washington and raised significant questions about the legal and financial future of that industry.

First, the major development in the crypto sector: BTX, the multi-billion-dollar crypto exchange founded by entrepreneur (and political megadonor) Sam Bankman-Fried collapsed after it experienced severe liquidity problems and was unable to meet customer withdrawals. Rival platform Binance initially offered to purchase BTX, then abruptly backed out of the deal less than 24 hours later. BTX declared bankruptcy shortly after. This capped a week in which the expected Republican majority, stocked with pro-market, pro-innovation digital currency advocates failed to materialize.   

The crypto economy shed more than $230 billion in value during the week of November 6.  

Prior to the crypto upheaval, Republican allies on Capitol Hill such as incoming House Financial Services Chairman Patrick McHenry (NC), and incoming Senators Katie Britt (AL), J.D. Vance (OH), and Ted Budd (NC) were prepared to advocate for looser federal oversight and broader product offerings by the nascent digital currency exchange industry. Budd, as a House Member in the 117^thCongress, had even led an effort to stymie a Treasury attempt to gain new crypto oversight; he now is quoted as recommending a “go-slow, measured approach” to crypto currency in the near future. 

Even though the industry’s most outspoken friends in Washington were Republicans, in the lead-up to the 2022 elections the crypto lobby appeared determined not to let the technology become a partisan issue. A group of Democratic House lawmakers, led by Josh Gottheimer (NJ) had tried to mute some liberal concerns about the potential volatility of digital assets, but he is now also signaling a need for stronger federal supervision and new limits on crypto offerings, according to several House Financial Services staffers.  

Additionally, Senate Agriculture Committee Chair Debbie Stabenow and a handful of Committee Republicans are working on legislation, most likely to be acted upon in the next Congress, to give the Commodity Futures Trading Commission oversight of crypto exchanges. At one time this was considered by digital asset advocates to be an approach that was preferable to having the Security and Exchange Commission involved; now both regulators are expected to ratchet up their regulatory involvement in digital currency transactions.  

And speaking of the SEC, another telling sign of concern was expressed by SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce, a strong free-market voice and outspoken ally of the crypto industry. In the aftermath of BTX’s failure, Peirce, who had resisted SEC Chairman Gary Gensler’s attempt to regulate cryptocurrency as a security under the Commission’s purview, is now saying that “given the upheaval in the crypto markets the better approach would be for Washington to come to a consensus on the agency’s jurisdiction over digital assets. If you can’t figure that part out, it’s hard to figure out a lot of the rest.” 

November 2022 may become known as the end of the emerging crypto financial infrastructure, or at least the first major stumble in the move to a digital future.  As one senior Senate Banking Committee staffer commented, “BTX was considered the gold standard in the industry. That went from being accepted wisdom to ridiculous in less than a week.” The speed and size of its failure gives everyone, friend and foe alike, pause as both Congress and federal regulators figure out next steps.

Defense Update

By��Al Jackson, Total Spectrum Strategic Consultant

The Congress is in the final stages of passing their defense policy bill, the FY2023 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The authorization bill will increase funding for the military by 8% over FY2022 levels. Several Republican lawmakers, led by Senator Rand Paul (R-KY), threatened to delay passage of the legislation unless the bill contained language to rescind the military’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate for service members.  Thus far, more than 8,000 active-duty service members have been dismissed from the ranks for refusing the vaccine. 

The $858 billion plan, which includes $817 billion in Department of Defense spending, also includes plans for a 4.6% pay raise for servicemen and women starting next month and nearly $19 billion in additional funding to offset increased inflation costs on construction, fuel prices, and other military purchases. The $817 billion authorized for military funding is $45 billion above the initial President’s request, and includes additional funding for both personnel and equipment priorities. 

The $858 billion topline is higher than both the House version ($839 billion) and Senate version ($847 billion). The Department of Energy is authorized to receive from that topline number $30.3 billion for nuclear activities.  The House of Representatives is expected to pass this legislation by the end of the week, which would allow the Senate to take up the bill next week. If the legislation passes both chambers, it could be signed into law before the end of the month, which would continue a six-decade (61 years) streak of passing NDAA. 

For the second consecutive year, the Senate did not pass its own version of the bill, opting instead to make adjustments to the House-passed version from this summer rather than taking amendment votes on their own military policy priorities. 

The bill authorizes $32.6 billion to increase the U.S. Naval fleet, including 11 battle force ships.  For the Army, it authorizes funding increases for the CH-47 heavy lift helicopter, the UH-60 Blackhawk medium lift helicopter and the MQ-1 Gray Eagle drone. The bill also authorizes funding for five additional F-35A aircraft above the President’s request, as well as F-22 modernization.  It does allow the administration to proceed with plans to retire the A-10 aircraft, a move that Congress, namely the Arizona and Georgia delegations, have long opposed.

Even with apparent agreement on the authorization bill, the Congress still needs to pass an appropriations bill for FY2023 in order for the Defense Department to receive and allocate the money outlined in the $817 billion NDAA.  Government agencies have been operating on a temporary budget since Oct. 1. 

The House and Senate have until December 16 to pass a full-year FY2023 budget. If that cannot be accomplished, another continuing resolution would need to be passed to avoid a government shutdown. Both Houses of Congress are optimistic a compromise will be reached in the next few days.  As it relates to defense spending, the difference between the House ($762 billion) and Senate ($850 billion) is significant.  

Hearing Report

By Ramona Lessen, Executive Director, Total Spectrum

Senate Agriculture Committee Hearing on the 2023 Farm Bill Focusing on Research Programs

Tuesday, December 6, 2022; 10:00 a.m.

To view a livestream of the hearing please .

Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Chairman

Senator John Boozman (R-AR), Ranking Member

Witnesses:

The Honorable Chavonda Jacobs-Young

Under Secretary for Research, Education, and Economics

United States Department of Agriculture

Washington, D.C.

Dr. Jason Rowntree

CS Mott Chair of Sustainable Agriculture; Director, MSU Center for Regenerative Agriculture; Professor

Michigan State University

East Lansing, MI

Dr. Felecia Nave

President

Alcorn State University

Lorman, MS

Dr. Katy Rainey

Associate Professor; Director, Purdue Soybean Center

PurdueUniversity

West Lafayette, IN

Mr. Steve Ela

Partner and Manager

Ela Family Farms

Hotchkiss, CO

Dr. Deacue Fields

Vice President for Agriculture

University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture

Little Rock, AR

Congressional Calendar

Monday, Dec. 5

• 3 p.m. House Rules Committee  to consider four measures, including one that will serve as the vehicle for the fiscal 2023 National Defense Authorization Act.

Tuesday, Dec. 6

• 10 a.m House Financial Services Diversity and Inclusion Subcommittee on “a review of progress made and a plan to achieve full economic inclusion for every American,” which includes a legislative hearing on six bills, one of which would add additional demographic reporting requirements to the Federal Reserve Act to modify the goals of the Federal Reserve.
• 10 a.m. House Foreign Affairs Middle East, North Africa and Terrorism Subcommittee  on confronting Yemen’s humanitarian and political crises without a ceasefire.
• 10 a.m. House Small Business Oversight Subcommittee  on building sustainable business through employee ownership at the Small Business Administration.
• 10 a.m. House Veterans’ Affairs Economic Opportunity Subcommittee  on the future of the VA Grant and Per Diem Program.
• 10 a.m. Senate Agriculture Committee  on the 2023 farm bill, focusing on research programs.
• 1 p.m. House Science Committee  on building a safer Antarctic research environment.
• 1:30 p.m. House Climate Crisis Select Committee  on “key accomplishments, additional opportunities, and the need for continued action.” 
• 2 p.m. House Financial Services Investor Protection, Entrepreneurship and Capital Markets Subcommittee  on private sector disclosure of workforce management, investment and diversity data, which includes a legislative hearing on seven bills, one of which would require Dodd-Frank-regulated entities to provide information necessary for the Offices of Women and Minority Inclusion to carry out their duties.
• 2 p.m. House Foreign Affairs Committee  of seven measures, including a resolution that would request the president and direct DoD and the State Department to transmit, respectively, “certain documents” to the House of Representatives concerning congressionally appropriated funds to Ukraine between Jan. 20, 2021 and Nov. 15, 2022.

Wednesday, Dec. 7

• 10 a.m. Senate Commerce Committee  to consider 10 board nominations and eight lists of Coast Guard promotions.
• 10 a.m. Senate Foreign Relations Committee  to consider four ambassadorial nominations, a Foreign Service nominations list and 14 measures, including a bill that would amend certain authorities relating to human rights violations and abuses in Ukraine. 
• 10 a.m. House Financial Services Oversight Subcommittee  on the role of financial institutions “in the horrors of slavery and the need for atonement.”
• 10 a.m. House Foreign Affairs Asia, the Pacific and Nonproliferation Subcommittee  on understanding and addressing challenges in the Mekong region.
• 10 a.m. House Small Business Committee  on SBA oversight.
• 10 a.m. House Transportation Coast Guard Subcommittee  on the Coast Guard’s leadership on Arctic safety safety, security and environmental responsibility.
• 10 a.m. House Veterans’ Affairs Committee  on ensuring effective implementation of toxic exposure legislation.
• 2 p.m. House Foreign Affairs International Development Subcommittee  on modernizing international development assistance.
• 2:30 p.m. Senate Foreign Relations Committee  on three ambassadorial nominations including Richard Mills’ nomination to be the U.S. ambassador to Nigeria.

Thursday, Dec. 8

• 9 a.m. Senate Judiciary Committee  to consider DeAndrea Gist Benjamin’s nomination to be a U.S. Circuit Court judge for the Fourth Circuit and five U.S. District Court judgeship nominations.
• 10 a.m. House Judiciary Committee  on “Undue Influence: Operation Higher Court and Politicking at SCOTUS.”

Flu season swings into full force as Covid-19 cases tick back up

What you need to know about the lame duck government funding deal

Congress’ lame duck to-do list

The committees set to lose the most members in the new Congress

The post This Week In Washington appeared first on С��ñֱ��app.

Latest news from Washington, D.C. produced by Total Spectrum/SGA exclusively for members of the Arizona С��ñֱ��app of Commerce & Industry

More Info: Michael DiMaria | Partner and Vice President of Business Development | 602-717-3891 | mdimaria@totalspectrumsga.com

Thanks for your interest in Washington, D.C., and for reading This Week in Washington.

The eye of the midterm elections has now passed. Open Secrets on November 3 that the total cost of federal candidate campaigns and federal political committees was expected to total $8.9 billion, and that the cost of state candidates, party committees, and ballot measure committees was expected to total an additional $7.8 billion.

joined me in writing about why the election results didn’t match Republican expectations – and the reaction in Washington – in today’s Heard on the Hill. , Total Spectrum’s Southwest Regional Director and Vice President of Business Development, provides an Arizona Election Recap.

writes about the list of items on Leader Schumer’s lame duck to-do list in Washington Whispers.

is Total Spectrum’s Senior Partner, with over 35 years of experience in the financial services sector.  I asked John to bring us up to date on the credit card interchange bill sponsored by Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Senator Roger Marshall (R-KS) that pits the financial services industry against the retailers.   continues our focus on financial services with her review of the November 15 hearing by the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee entitled, “A Strong Banking and Credit Union System for Main Street.”

We’ll be back on December 7 with our last This Week of 2022. We’ll review some of the highlights and maybe a few lowlights of this year and start to focus on the New Year and the next Congress.

Best wishes for a wonderful Thanksgiving. Stay well.

Total Spectrum Managing Director

Heard on the Hill

By , Total Spectrum Managing Partner

By , Total Spectrum Strategic Consultant

Red Puddle

Many Republicans in Washington and around the country felt a Red Ripple or a Red Wave was coming – and there were numerous reasons for this optimism. The off-year congressional election after a presidential victory is traditionally good for the party out of power. Add in President Biden’s low favorability, then layer on the highest inflation in 40 years which is causing prices to go up, the stock market to go down, and interest rates to go way up – and it’s easy to see why Republican expectations were high. 

Polls showed that 70% of Americans thought that we were going in the wrong direction. Pundits and pollsters read the red tea leaves and felt the momentum. Predicting the final number of Republican pickups in the Senate and the House became a parlor game. Most Republicans in Washington – and some Democrats, too – expected Republicans to have a 1- or 2-seat advantage in the Senate next January and to win at least 20 new seats in the next House of Representatives.

As we all know, that is not what happened. As of today—

• Democrats will have at least a 50-50 tie in next year’s Senate, with Vice President Harris available to break a tie. The runoff in Georgia will be held December 6, so the U.S. Senate next year will either be 50-50 or 51-49 with Senator Schumer and the Democrats in control.  
• Republicans have secured a majority in the House of Representatives. They currently hold 218 seats, including the recently decided victories in Arizona of Congressman David Schweikert and Juan Ciscomani. Democrats hold 208 seats.  Six races remain uncalled.

Republicans are indeed pleased with retaking the majority in the House, even if it’s a razor thin majority.  But they expected a bigger victory in the House and hoped for a new majority in the Senate.

One reason for the outcome was that the polls were off again this cycle. Some polls oversampled Republicans, trying to overcompensate for under sampling Republicans in previous elections.

It is also true that some of our assumptions about the election were off.  Democrats were much more enthused about the election than previously thought, and a major reason for that intensity was the abortion issue. The Supreme Court’s decision overturning Roe v. Wade set off a wave of reaction. Democrats then put an abortion referendum on the ballot in Michigan, California, Kentucky, Montana, and Vermont, which ensured pro-choice women would go the polls. 

There’s also no question that the January 6^th investigation and the intense feelings some Americans have for former President Trump helped create enthusiasm among Democrats and some Independents. Exit polls show that Republicans turned out more of their voters than did Democrats, but also show that Independents favored Democrats nationally by over four percentage points – and by a much larger margin in Arizona, Georgia, and Pennsylvania.

Independents and political moderates used to be fertile terrain for ticket splitters, but there was concern that our polarized political environment may have choked off their oxygen. This year’s election proved that ticket splitters still exist. Voters in Georgia, New Hampshire, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin were asked in the exit polls if they strongly approved of President Biden, strongly opposed President Biden, or somewhat disapproved of President Biden – and if they were going to vote for the Republican or Democratic candidate. 

 in these six states showed that the voters who somewhat disapproved of President Biden were about 10% of the total sample of voters, but they made up a significant amount of the swing voters in four of the six states.

• In Georgia, this group backed Republican Governor Brian Kemp by 16 points, but backed Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock by 6 points.
• In New Hampshire, they backed Republican Governor Chris Sununu by 20 points, but backed Democratic Senator Maggie Hassan by 47 points.
• In Nevada, they backed Republican gubernatorial candidate Joe Lombardo by 12 points, but supported Democratic Senator Catherine Cortez Masto by 3 points.
• In Wisconsin, they backed Democratic Governor Tony Evers by 15 points, but supported Republican Senator Ron Johnson by 3 points.

It may also be worth noting that Democrats’ efforts aimed at Generation Z voters paid off and may have made the difference in many close races.  As one example, exit polls show that 72% of young women aged 18-29 voted for the Democrat candidate in House races nationwide. 

The Republican message during the election was that Democrats were the party in power, and they either created or were responsible for inflation, the spike in crime, and ballooning illegal immigration. The Democratic message was that this election was not a referendum on President Biden. Rather, it was a choice between Republicans and Democrats, and that extremist Republicans can’t be trusted to be competent and return America to the relatively normal life we had before the pandemic.

Republicans turned out their voters, but some Republicans also turned off Independents. 

The Reaction

Democrats in Washington, D.C., as you can imagine, are a little giddy. As Winston Churchill famously said, “nothing in life is so exhilarating than being shot at with no result.”

The biggest reaction on the Democratic side was in the House of Representatives. Nancy Pelosi announced on Thursday that she was stepping down as Speaker, which will clear the way for Congressman Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY 7) to become the House Minority Leader in the next Congress.

Republicans are working to digest the election and plan their structure and agenda.  House Republicans on Tuesday nominated Congressman Kevin McCarthy to be their candidate for Speaker of the House, surviving a challenge from Congressman Andy Biggs.  Congressman Steve Scalise (R-LA) was unopposed to be Majority Leader. Congressman McCarthy will have to find a way to get 218 votes for Speaker when the House convenes in January. 

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell was opposed by Senator Rick Scott, who was Chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee this past election cycle. Senator McConnell said for months that he had the votes he needed to be reelected, and he did. Senator McConnell was reelected Wednesday by a 37-to-10 vote, which sets him up to break the record next January as the longest serving Senate leader. 

Arizona Election Recap

By Michael DiMaria, Total Spectrum Vice President of Business Development and Southwest Regional Director

The best way to sum up election night (week) in Arizona is an often-used quote from former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld: “There are known knowns. These are things we know that we know. There are known unknowns. That is to say, there are things that we know we don’t know. But there are also unknown unknowns. There are things we don’t know we don’t know.”

The long arduous task of counting votes in Arizona leaves much to be desired for those wishing for quick outcomes.  We had a little over 1.5 million votes cast this cycle.  As of this update, we know:

• Katie Hobbs (D) pulled out a tight victory for Governor of Arizona, 
• Mark Kelly (D) won the United States Senate seat, and 
• We will have two new Republican Congressmen in Eli Crane and Juan Ciscomani.

Arizona has not seen its government this divided since 2009.  The state legislature will continue with the smallest of margins for Republicans again.  Most of the ballot propositions will pass.  Let’s do a rundown of the results:

Congress:  

• CD1 – David Schweikert (R) 
• CD2 – Eli Crane (R)
• CD3 – Ruben Gallego (D)
• CD4 – Greg Stanton (D) 
• CD5 – Andy Biggs (R) 
• CD6 – Juan Ciscomani (R) 
• CD7 – Raul Grijalva (D) 
• CD8 – Debbie Lesko (R)
• CD9 – Paul Gosar (R)

Statewide Offices:  

• Governor – Katie Hobbs (D) 
• Secretary of State – Adrian Fontes (D)
• Attorney General – Kris Mayes (D) – expect a recount/200 point margin
• Treasurer – Kimberly Yee (R)
• Secretary of Public Instruction – Tom Horne (R)

State House:  31 Republicans/29 Democrats

Republican Leadership:

• Speaker Ben Toma
• Majority Leader Leo Biasiucci
• Minority Whip Teresa Martinez 

Democrat Leadership: 

• Minority Leader Andrés Cano
• Assistant Minority Leader Lupe Contreras 
• Co-minority Whips Melody Hernandez and Marcelino Quinones

State Senate:  16 Republicans/14 Democrats 

Republican Leadership:

• Senate President Warren Petersen
• President Pro Tempore T.J. Shope
•  Senate Majority Leader Sonny Borelli
•  Senate Whip Sine Kerr

Democrat Leadership: 

• Senate Minority Leader Raquel Terán
• Assistant Minority Leader Mitzi Epstein
• Co-minority Whips Lela Alston and Rosana Gabaldon 

Corporation Commission:  

• Kevin Thompson (R)
• Nick Myers (R)

Washington Whispers

By Patrick Robertson, Total Spectrum Strategic Consultant

As Congress returns to Washington and the dust settles after this month’s midterm elections, Members of Congress and advocates have a long list of potential to-do items in the lame duck session, which began this week.

A lame duck session of Congress occurs when Congress still has business to do between the elections and the swearing in of the newly elected Congress. The 118^th Congress will be sworn in on January 3, 2023. The largest factor driving the lame duck is the expiration of government funding on December 16. But since Congress is in session, there are all kinds of issues they could resolve before adjourning to end the 117^th Congress. Those issues, in order of likelihood to happen, are:

1. Marriage bill. The Senate is considering a House-passed bill to codify the Supreme Court’s decision from last decade to allow same-sex marriage. The bill is borne out of concern post-Dobbs that the current court could revisit other precedent. The bill received 62 votes for cloture Wednesday afternoon, and its passage by the full Senate is likely.
2. National Defense Authorization Act.  This annual defense policy bill has been passed for nearly six decades and Congress watchers expect this year to be no exception. At this point, the House has passed its version of the bill with some significant non-defense provisions, and the Senate is set to pre-conference a final version with the House while the Senate also has its debate on the bill. 
3. Government funding.  With government funding running out December 16th, Congress will need to pass either a continuing resolution (CR) or an omnibus appropriations bill to fund the government. There are some in the newly elected House Republican majority who want to try and save this bill for leverage next year, but it seems likely that Congress will fund the government until the end of the fiscal year, September 30, 2023, and save the fight on government funding in a divided government for another day. In addition to government funding, there are a large number of earmarks for retiring and returning Members tied up in this package. Appropriations leaders are currently negotiating a total number for the spending bill, and they will need to arrive at an agreement by the end of next week or sooner to have any chance of getting this done this year.
4. Secure Act 2.0.  This retirement security bill has broad bipartisan support and should be able to be folded into any package that moves, although this bill does have a number of tax provisions, which could be excluded if a broader agreement on taxes is not reached.
5. Increase in the debt ceiling.  The United States is expected to reach the limit of its borrowing authority sometime in the spring or summer of 2023. In order the avoid a massive fight in a divided Congress, some leaders are considering raising the debt ceiling now to ensure that the full faith and credit of the United States lasts through the next presidential election. Democrats are saying this effort must be bipartisan, even as some Democrats suggest it would be best for them to use the filibuster-proof budget reconciliation process. Look for this conversation to be resolved before other items move.
6. Medicare cuts.  These cuts to doctors are a product of congressional “pay-as-you-go” (PAYGO) rules and are often described as sequestration. Congress is likely to take care of doctors.
7. Tax items – There is a lot of pent-up demand, especially among House and Senate tax writers, for some tax provisions. Republicans are currently discussing fixing the amortization of the Research and Development Tax Credit (IRC Section 179), while Democrats want to temporarily or permanently revive the Child Tax Credit that was part of the American Rescue Plan. These two items cost wildly different amounts, and as a result, a compromise may be hard to reach. However, it is not clear what other items either side might want in such a package, which is why this is so far down on the list.
8. Nominations.  Before it was clear that Democrats would hold the Senate, most congressional watchers assumed Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) would spend most of the lame duck session moving Biden Administration and judicial nominees. With the majority assured, he will likely have most of these nominees wait until the 118^th Congress.
9. Electoral Count Act.  This bill would make some changes to the law governing the certification of elections in Congress. It is working toward 60 votes, much like the marriage bill.
10. Permitting reform.  Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) has been pushing for a permitting reform bill. He tried to attach it to the continuing resolution in September but was thwarted by Republican opposition. He continues to push for its inclusion in the defense bill, but it is not clear that he has 60 votes.

The Congress is hoping to accomplish some or all of these items while American consumers do their Christmas shopping. The continuing resolution on government funding runs through December 16 and if a deal on other issues is close, it could very well be extended about a week to allow Congress to finish its work. The toxic mix of jet fuel and mistletoe will certainly overtake negotiations by December 21 or 22 and all Members will likely be gone from Washington by December 23. In years past, they have returned after Christmas, but with the calendar this year, it is more likely than not that they will get their work done and adjourn to return for the swearing in of the new Congress in January.

Interchange Fee Issue Coming to a Head 

By John McKechnie, Total Spectrum Senior Partner

Will the Durbin-Marshall credit interchange bill become law?  This seems to be one of the predominant questions in the lame duck session, as both the financial services and retail industries once again prepare for the latest chapter in a long-running battle over fees charged for electronic payments. 

To review the bidding, on July 28, Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Roger Marshall (R-KS) introduced the Credit Card Competition Act of 2022, which would require multiple competing networks to be available for the routing of credit card payments, beyond Visa and Mastercard. According to the Senators, “the Federal Reserve would issue regulations, within one year, ensuring that banks that have assets of over $100 billion cannot restrict the number of networks on which an electronic credit transaction may be processed…at least one of which must be outside of the top two largest networks (Visa and Mastercard).” 

Interchange fees, whether associated with debit or credit transactions, are charged by credit card companies to create, maintain, and update electronic payment transaction networks.  Additionally, the companies, the banks, and the credit unions that issue cards to consumers use income from these interchange fees to protect data sent through the networks, an increasingly complex and expensive process given the prevalence of data breaches and other financial cybercrimes. 

The merchant lobby hailed the legislation, which would act as a companion to a similar amendment governing debit transactions that Senator Durbin inserted into the Dodd-Frank Act in 2010.  Controversial at the time of passage, the original Durbin amendment sought to cap debit card interchange fees charged by credit card companies and the financial institutions that issue them.  In the decade that followed, critics have said that the Durbin amendment amounted to a giveaway to large retailers—a 2015 study by the Richmond Fed found that 98% of merchants did not pass savings from debit regulation to consumers and over 20% of merchants actually increased prices.

Senate sources say that Senator Durbin and Senator Marshall are now floating a plan to attach their bill to either the annual defense bill or the federal spending bill that is needed to fund the government past the December 16 deadline.  Although there is a possibility that Majority Whip Durbin will maneuver his way into a recorded vote on the Senate floor, Senators on both sides of the issue say that passage is unlikely for several reasons:

1. The issue is generally unpopular because it forces Senators and Congressmen to choose sides in the bitter, expensive, and exhausting war between two powerful lobbying groups – financial services and retailers.
2. The financial services industry has made a relatively strong argument suggesting that this bill would lead to transactions being routed to payment networks that, while cheaper to use, are also not secure and easily breached by cybercriminals.
3. Attaching anything to either the defense or spending bills will further complicate an already tortured path as Congress tries to dispose of its year-end business in a very limited timeframe.  The two legislative options would require broad bipartisan support and this effort is still too politically contentious. A Republican Senate leadership staff member told me that “putting the Durbin amendment onto already controversial bills doesn’t make sense to anyone. Hard to see it happening.”  

The latest Durbin-Marshall credit interchange bill has its share of Senate supporters. Some sources say as many as 20 Republicans could join most Democrats in voting for the bill if it is offered as an amendment on the Senate floor. In theory there are legislative avenues for Durbin and the merchant lobby to pursue, but it appears that the political arithmetic is against passage in the remaining weeks of

Hearing Report

By Ramona Lessen, Executive Director, Total Spectrum 

Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee Hearing on the Oversight of Financial Regulators: A Strong Banking and Credit Union System for Main Street

Tuesday, November 15, 2022; 10:00 a.m.

To view a livestream of the hearing please

Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Chairman

Senator Patrick J. Toomey (R-PA), Ranking Member

Witnesses:

The Honorable Michael S. Barr

Vice Chair For Supervision

Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System

The Honorable Todd M. Harper

Chair

National Credit Union Administration

The Honorable Martin J. Gruenberg

Acting Chair

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation

Mr. Michael J. Hsu

Acting Comptroller

Office of the Comptroller of the Currency

Congressional Calendar

All times ET

• Tuesday, Nov. 15
• 9:30 a.m. House Homeland Security Committee on worldwide threats to the homeland. DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and FBI Director Christopher Wray testify.
• 10 a.m. House Financial Services Housing and Insurance Subcommittee on “addressing chronic disinvestment in Colonias, the Southern Black Belt, and the U.S. Territories.”
• 10 a.m. House Foreign Affairs Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights and International Organizations Subcommittee on U.S. foreign assistance, with respect to addressing the root causes of instability and conflict in Africa.
• 10 a.m. House Oversight Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Subcommittee on developments in state cannabis laws and bipartisan cannabis reforms at the federal level.
• 10 a.m. Senate Agriculture Committee on the 2023 farm bill, with an emphasis on rural development and energy programs.
• 10 a.m. Senate Banking Committee on “a strong banking and credit union system for Main Street.” Federal Reserve Board Vice Chair for Supervision Michael Barr and acting FDIC Chair Martin Gruenberg testify.
• 10 a.m. Senate Judiciary Committee on six nominations , including Anthony Johnstone’s nomination to be a U.S. Circuit Court judge for the Ninth Circuit and five U.S. District Court judgeships. 226 Dirksen.
• 2 p.m. House Financial Services Investor Protection, Entrepreneurship and Capital Markets Subcommittee on U.S. capital flows to foreign rivals and adversaries around the world.
• 2:30 p.m. Senate Environment Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on opportunities for local jurisdictions to address transportation challenges.
• 2:30 p.m. Senate Homeland Security Investigations Subcommittee on medical mistreatment of women in ICE detention. DHS IG Joseph Cuffari testifies.

• Wednesday, Nov. 16
• 10 a.m. House Foreign Affairs Europe, Eurasia, Energy and the Environment Subcommittee on Russia’s waning global influence. DOE Secretary Ernest Moniz testifies.
• 10 a.m. House Oversight National Security Subcommittee on protecting JROTC cadets from sexual abuse and instructor misconduct.
• Wednesday, Nov. 16 | 10 a.m. House Rules Committee on legal and procedural factors related to seating a Cherokee Nation delegate in the U.S. House of Representatives.
• 10 a.m. Senate Foreign Relations Committee on U.S. policy in the Caucasus.
• 10 a.m. Senate Judiciary Committee on DHS oversight.
• 10 a.m. House Financial Services Committee on eight bills, including one that would require the Federal Reserve to develop and conduct financial risk analyses relating to climate change, and on ensuring the safety, soundness, diversity and accountability of depository institutions. Federal Reserve Board Vice Chair for Supervision Michael Barr and acting FDIC Chair Martin Gruenberg testify.
• 10 a.m. House Natural Resources Committee of H.Res. 1378 , which would request the president, and direct USDA, to transmit, respectively, “certain documents to the House of Representatives relating to Resolution Copper mine.”
• 10:30 a.m. House Science Space Subcommittee on initial science results from the James Webb Space Telescope.
• 10:30 a.m. Senate Aging Committee on promoting healthy and affordable food for older Americans.
• 2 p.m. House Oversight Government Operations Subcommittee on “The Holiday Rush: Is the Postal Service Ready?” USPS IG Tammy Whitcomb testifies.
• 3 p.m. Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee on VA implementation of the Honoring our PACT Act of 2022 .
• 2:30 p.m. Senate Indian Affairs Committee to consider three bills, including one that would authorize the Colorado River Indian Tribes to enter into lease or exchange agreements and storage agreements relating to water of the Colorado River allocated to the Colorado River Indian Tribes, and a legislative hearing on three bills, including one that would approve the settlement of the water right claims of the Tule River Tribe.
• 4:15 p.m. Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee to consider two nominations, including Robert H. Shriver III’s nomination to be the deputy director of the Office of Personnel Management, and two bills, including one that would direct DOT to establish a national aviation preparedness plan for communicable disease outbreaks.
• TBD Senate HELP Committee to consider three nominations, including Karla Gilbride’s nomination to be general counsel at the EEOC.

• Thursday, Nov. 17
• 9 a.m. Senate Judiciary Committee to consider 14 nominations, including three for U.S. Circuit Court judgeships, nine for U.S. District Court judgeships, McLain Schneider’s nomination to be a U.S. attorney for the District of North Dakota and David Davis’ nomination to be a U.S. marshal for the Southern District of Illinois.
• 10 a.m. House Foreign Affairs Committee on the Biden administration’s U.S. strategy toward sub-Saharan Africa.
• 10 a.m. House Natural Resources Committee on Puerto Rico’s post-disaster reconstruction and power grid development.
• 10 a.m. House Transportation Aviation Subcommittee on addressing challenges for passengers with disabilities.
• 10 a.m. Senate Environment Superfund and Waste Management Subcommittee on Stephen Owens’ nomination to be the chair of the Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigations Board and Catherine Sandoval’s nomination to be a member of the board.
• 10:15 a.m. House Education and Labor Subcommittee on Workforce Protections on workplace protections for warehouse workers.
• 10:15 a.m. Senate HSGAC on threats to the homeland. DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and FBI Director Christopher Wray testify.
• 10:15 a.m. House Education and Labor Committee to approve new subcommittee assignments.

11 a.m. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee on three DOE nominations, including David Crane’s nomination to be the under secretary of Energy (Infrastructure).

Biden administration pushes bivalent vaccines as subvariants rise

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What you need to know about Student Loan Debt Forgiveness Challenges

The post This Week In Washington appeared first on С��ñֱ��app.

Latest news from Washington, D.C. produced by Total Spectrum/SGA exclusively for members of the Arizona С��ñֱ��app of Commerce & Industry

More Info: Michael DiMaria | Partner and Vice President of Business Development | 602-717-3891 | mdimaria@totalspectrumsga.com

Thanks for your interest in Washington, D.C., and thanks for reading This Week in Washington.

This is the last edition before the November 8^th midterm election, so we are using a different format. 

My Heard on the Hill column looks at the upcoming senatorial and congressional elections from the perspective of a former Republican political consultant and now managing partner of Total Spectrum. ’s&�Բ�����;Washington Whispers column looks at the upcoming elections from his perspective as a Democratic attorney and lobbyist who served as deputy chief of staff for former Senator Jay Rockefeller and managed the 2008 Rockefeller for Senate reelection campaign.

We have included an encore presentation of ’s June 1^st interview of Charlie Cook for Total Spectrum Spotlight. I was introduced to Charlie Cook in 1986, two years after he founded the independent and non-partisan Cook Political Report. He’s the dean of political journalism – and for a good reason. This interview still gets a great number of viewers and generates a lot of compliments, so I hope you’ll take a few minutes to watch it – or watch it again. It will be time well spent.

The Total Spectrum team is working now to bring you a post-election analysis as well as an introduction to the lame duck session and the next Congress.  More on that special edition soon.

Please vote. From the left or from the right, it’s the right thing to do.

Stay well.

Total Spectrum Managing Director

Total Spectrum Spotlight

Charlie Cook, who’s been called the “Picasso of election analysis,” founded The Cook Political Report in 1984 as an independent and non-partisan newspaper that analyzes both elections and political trends. For nearly 40 years, people from both parties have wanted to know “What does Charlie think?” 

In this encore edition of Total Spectrum Spotlight,  talks with Charlie Cook about what issues may actually drive voters in the 2022 midterms, how we could see a wave election while our country is so divided, and two Members of Congress who, in Charlie’s opinion, have really improved the American experience.

Heard on the Hill

By Steve Gordon, Total Spectrum Managing Partner

Decision Day 2022

“It is almost certain Republicans will take the House, and the likelihood of Republicans taking the Senate was already high and is getting even higher.”  

– Charlie Cook, Total Spectrum Spotlight interview of June 1, 2022

National Republicans are going into the last two weeks of the campaign feeling good and sensing that the political winds are at their back.

Republicans started the 2021-2022 cycle with high expectations. The first off-year congressional election after a presidential victory is traditionally good for the party out of power.  The real question has been how good it may turn out to be.

Momentum was building for Republicans, but the Supreme Court’s June reversal of Roe vs. Wade brought that momentum to a halt. The ruling gave new energy to Democrats and pro-choice Americans, and caught Republicans and members of the pro-life community without a clear message or a coordinated plan. 

Since Labor Day, momentum has swung back to Republicans. Part of the problem for Democrat incumbents and challengers is that they are running while President Biden’s popularity is under 50%.  But the biggest problem for Democrats is that America’s mood has turned sour. 

The stock market is down, the economy is cooling off, interest rates are jumping up, and most experts predict a recession next year. Housing starts have historically been an excellent barometer of the economy because it is a leading indicator:  one of the first sectors to slow down before a recession and one of the first to pick up steam on the other side. Housing starts in the U.S. slumped 8.1% last month.

Inflation is the worst economic problem because it impacts everyone and almost everything. My accountant and financial advisor explained it to me this way. “Use 100 as a base. Divide 100 by 12, which gives you 8.33 – which means that you spend an average of 8.33% of your annual income each month. If inflation is at least 8.33%, that means inflation is costing people one month of income each year.  Many people are going to be looking for their wages to increase to make up for that loss, and those wage increases will be passed on by companies to their customers and consumers – so the cycle continues.”

A  released on October 12^th showed that 78% of Americans thought our economy was either somewhat poor or very poor. NBC News released a  on October 23^rd which showed that 71% of Americans think America is on the wrong track. 

Add a huge spike in crime and a significant increase in illegal immigration to the economic problems and it’s no wonder Americans are feeling sour. 

Republicans are seeing red

I started my career in politics 44 years ago, and I remember when candidates won by big margins. Blowouts are now mostly a thing of the past because of our polarized society.  We’re equally divided between Republicans and Democrats, so turnout and independents have an oversized hand in picking the winner. As Charlie Cook said in his Spotlight interview, most campaigns are now won with narrow margins “because our divided country guarantees high floors and low ceilings.”

Almost every reasonable political observer has predicted that Republicans will likely take back the House next month. The parlor game in Washington, D.C. has been to guess how big the House majority will be. The bigger the majority the better chance Republicans will have to govern effectively.

Leader McConnell said recently that Republicans have a 50-50 chance of retaking the Senate. The battlegrounds are in seven states:  Arizona, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Nevada, and Georgia. 

Republicans need to reelect Senator Ron Johnson in Wisconsin, elect Congressman Ted Budd to replace the retiring Senator Richard Burr in North Carolina, and elect Dr. Mehmet Oz in Pennsylvania to replace the retiring Senator Patrick Toomey. Holding those three seats would assure Republicans of at least retaining a 50-50 Senate.

Now the challengers:  Blake Masters is challenging Senator Mark Kelly in Arizona, Adam Laxalt is challenging Senator Catherine Cortez Masto in Nevada, and Herschel Walker is challenging Senator Raphael Warnock in Georgia. 

Each of these seven races are very close and within the margin of error.  We have nationalized much of the content and direction of senatorial and congressional campaigns, so if this is truly going to be a wave election, it makes sense that most of these seven races will be won by Republicans.

Pollsters and strategists watch the ‘generic question’ in polls (“are you inclined to support a generic republican or a generic democratic in this election”) to measure waves – which is why last week’s poll from the New York Times/Siena College got everyone’s attention. Their September poll showed that generic Democratic candidates had a one-point advantage over Republicans among likely voters. But the same poll released on October 17^th gave Republicans an edge among likely voters of over four points on enthusiasm – 49% to 45% – a five-point turnaround.

Another way to determine the possibility of a potential wave is to gauge the intensity of interest in the election, and that’s off the charts. An October 23  showed “…70% of all registered voters expressing high interest in the election…  the highest percentage ever in the survey for a midterm election at this same point in time.”  By party, “78% of Republicans have a high interest in the midterms, compared with 69% of Democrats.”Anything can happen in two weeks, but the conditions seem to be coming together for a red wave. 

Washington Whispers

By Patrick Robertson, Total Spectrum Strategic Consultant

We are in the closing stretch of election season which, for those of you who live in swing states like Pennsylvania, Georgia, or Arizona, means the deluge of political ads will soon end.

Democrats have long faced an uphill climb because historically the party out of power picks up seats in the midterm election of a President’s first term. In addition, the economy is dragging, compounded by generational inflation. 

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said earlier this year that Republicans would win as many as 70 seats in the House. But predictions of a Republican tsunami have subsided. The most recent forecasts have shown everything from Democrats holding steady, which is an outlier, to Republicans winning 25-30 seats, which would be the outlier in the other direction.

Former House Speaker Tip O’Neill famously said that “all politics is local,” but that saying may be less true in 2022 than at any time in American politics. The country seems like it is smaller than it has ever been. We have homogenized news and politics, and we have national House members who run on national issues instead of constituent services or local projects.

Many of the old rules in politics make it likely that Republicans will walk away with this midterm election, but there are two reasons they may not:  the Supreme Court’s decision overturning Roe v. Wade and former President Donald Trump. Former President Trump remains a polarizing figure and one who turns out Democrats. He weighed in on Republican primaries and he continues to hold rallies around the country and energizes Democratic voters nearly as much as it energizes Republicans.

Republicans have also struggled because some of their endorsed candidates are not from the mainstream. These candidates are giving many independents pause in voting for them. 

Ultimately, the question will be whether voters – particularly in toss-up states – cast their ballots based on those concerns or based on their concerns about the economy.  If voters vote on social issues or personality concerns, Democrats likely will keep this election close and may even retain the Senate. If this election is a referendum on inflation or gas prices, Republicans will likely control both houses of Congress.  

The Pennsylvania Senate race is an excellent example. Television’s Dr. Mehmet Oz won the Republican primary and is being challenged in the general election by Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman, who won the Democratic primary. Fetterman, a liberal, painted Oz as a New Jersey resident out of touch with Pennsylvania voters, and these attacks and greater name identification allowed Fetterman to start the general election with a double-digit lead. 

But Mr. Fetterman suffered a serious stroke earlier this year. Voters’ concern about his physical condition combined with the national trend toward Republicans have made this a dead even race.

The two candidates had their one and only debate this week. Pennsylvania voters had their chance to see how Oz and Fetterman stack up, with special focus on Fetterman’s health and Oz’s relatability. It was a 60-minute high-stakes event.

If you extrapolate the Pennsylvania dynamic to other states, you will find some similar dynamics at the local level, overlayed with national trends.

I agree with Steve Gordon when he says the House will likely be in Republican control come January. Some of the statistical models show them winning close to 80 times out of 100 when they run simulations. That is not a guarantee, just a likelihood.

In the Senate, where it felt like Democrats had a slight advantage in August, the battle for control feels like every bit of a toss-up. Races like Pennsylvania’s, with their complicated dynamics, will decide what happens in the Senate. On Democrats’ best day their ceiling is 52 seats in the Senate… and that is their very best day. The same can be said for Republicans. It is hard to see a path to more than a 52-48 majority for either party, meaning the Senate will need 60 votes to pass most anything, unless the majority party uses the reconciliation process again.  

Shortly after the 2018 midterm election – one with high turnout by historical standards – it was estimated that 113 million people voted, many of them early. As of Tuesday, more than eight million people had voted early across 39 states. We are closing in on 10% of ballots already cast, which means that some of the closing arguments are being made to an increasing number of people who have already cast ballots. 

Steve Gordon and I will provide post-election analysis on everything from leadership races to committee leadership, and what might happen in November and December’s lame duck session.  

The post This Week In Washington appeared first on С��ñֱ��app.

Latest news from Washington, D.C. produced by Total Spectrum/SGA exclusively for members of the Arizona С��ñֱ��app of Commerce & Industry

More Info: Michael DiMaria | Partner and Vice President of Business Development | 602-717-3891 | mdimaria@totalspectrumsga.com

Thanks for your interest in Washington, D.C., and thanks for reading This Week in Washington.

Special thanks to those who participated in this week’s Arizona С��ñֱ��app Fly-in. and I enjoyed visiting with each of you who attended. The pandemic robbed members of Congress from interacting with Americans… and the pandemic robbed Americans from interacting with members of Congress and their staff.  Thankfully, that’s all in the rearview mirror. 

Both the Senate and the House returned to Washington right after Labor Day, and both are scheduled to leave town by the end of September.  has written an excellent summary of Congress’ legislative agenda – what’s possible in the next 7 days and what is going to get pushed off until the lame duck session.  Patrick’s&�Բ�����;Washington Whispers articles are always good, and this week’s is exceptionally well done. 

 monitored the September 20^th hearing of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, entitled “Tightening the Screws on Russia.” 

While Patrick summarized the legislative agenda, the political agenda is also on the front burner, and the water is boiling.  Republicans expect to take back the House of Representatives; the question is how many seats they will hold next January. The very conservative low is about 220, and the realistic high is around 230.  Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy will present the House Republicans’ ‘Commitment to America’ today in Pittsburgh, which they hope will help them achieve the biggest majority possible in the next Congress.

The Senate is way too close to call. The key states have been – and still are – Arizona, Georgia, North Carolina, Ohio, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. Republicans had momentum through the spring, but Democrats took some back over the summer. Republicans now sense a slight breeze at their back as inflation, interest rates, and the economy become more impactful. Senate Republicans are beginning to feel cautiously optimistic that they could hold a one or two seat majority next January.

Today’s&�Բ�����; interview is with Nathan Gonzales, the Editor and Publisher of Inside Elections, which provides nonpartisan analysis of Senate, House, and gubernatorial, and presidential elections. Nathan provides important context and fascinating observations on November’s elections.  

Congressman Erik Paulsen has planned a number of really important interviews for our  series.  The next interview should be distributed next week, and as always, we welcome your thoughts and comments.We’ll be back in two weeks with the next issue of This Week.

Total Spectrum Managing Director

Total Spectrum Spotlight

Labor Day starts the final lap toward the finish line for this year’s elections.

n this week’s��,����speaks with Nathan Gonzales, Editor and Publisher of��Inside Elections,��a publication which provides nonpartisan analysis of campaigns for Senate, House, governor and president.��Mr. Gonzales also serves as Elections Analyst for��CQ Roll Call.

Mr. Gonzales shares his insights on the GOP’s momentum going into November’s midterm election and how the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision may have changed that momentum.��He also explores whether results from special elections should be considered as trend indicators, and which Senate races are surprising analysts – and the potential for another runoff in Georgia

All this and more in today’s��Total Spectrum Spotlight.

Washington Whispers

By Patrick Robertson, Total Spectrum Strategic Consultant

Congress returned after Labor Day from its summer break and its to-do list has narrowed as September marches on. 

Coming into the month, the Senate had hoped to vote on a bill to codify the right for same-sex couples to marry, pass the annual defense authorization bill, pass a permitting reform bill authored by Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV), and pass a Continuing Resolution (CR) to fund the government beyond the end of Fiscal Year 2022 (FY22), which ends at midnight on September 30. 

But since Congress returned, a number of these items have been pushed until after the election or even later. First, Democratic and Republican Senators  that they would put off a vote on the same sex marriage bill until after the election. The bill negotiators, who include Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and Susan Collins (R-ME), have been working for months to agree on a product that will get 60 votes in the Senate. This delay will give them more time to find the 60 votes they will surely need to clear the filibuster.

Congress has passed an annual defense authorization bill for the better part of six decades. The Senate has not debated this year’s version, but the House passed a bill with almost 330 votes and defense negotiators have decided to conference a final product that both chambers can pass in a lame duck session following the November election. This strategy has been used in years past and observers expect that the bill will eventually pass.

In exchange for his vote on the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) got assurances from Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) to consider a permitting reform bill that would make it easier to get federal permits for infrastructure projects, especially in the energy sector. This agreement was necessary because the changes Senator Manchin is seeking could not be considered under the Senate’s limited budget reconciliation rules that the Senate used to pass the IRA.

Senator Manchin  this week which proposes these permitting changes:

• A maximum time to consider federal permit requests;
• Concurrent review of permit application by multiple federal agencies;
• A new designation of projects of “strategic national importance” to receive expedited consideration;
• Some shorter timelines for legal challenges to federal permitting actions; and
• Enhance federal government authority over interstate transmission lines.

Leader Schumer and Senator Manchin are working to insert these changes into the extension of government funding because it is a bill that will get 60 votes. They are banking on Republican support for both the funding bill and the permitting reform bill carrying over to make this package pass the Senate. But there are a few warning signs. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) has  with 46 Republican Senate cosponsors, which gives those Republicans cover for opposing the Manchin plan if they want to do so. Some Republican Senators are suggesting they could tank the deal as revenge on Democrats who used budget reconciliation to pass their priorities. In addition, 72 House Democrats have said they oppose the Manchin plan. Just yesterday, Sen. Capito announced she will vote in favor of Sen. Manchin’s bill if it is included in the CR.

Finally, in addition to some of the concerns being raised on the left, top House Republican Rep. Kevin McCarthy is currently urging House Republicans to oppose the CR over their concerns on border funding. On Friday, Leader McCarthy will be in Pittsburgh, PA to announce Republicans’ unified message, called “Commitment to America.” 

In short, there are a lot of twists and turns remaining in the debate to pass a funding bill before September 30 and the Congress has left a lot of work for itself when it returns after the November midterm elections. Lame duck sessions of Congress go one of two ways – either a lot of bipartisan dealmaking happens or Congress does the bare minimum, sometimes even punting decisions to the new Congress in the new year.  

At this point, Congress is banking on having some cooperation in the lame duck but no one can know if that will be true until the political dynamic is set post-election. As a reminder, the 2020 Senate landscape was not clear until January 2021 with runoffs and recounts, so there could be an even more compressed timeline.Most observers predict that Congress will pass a short-term funding bill before September 30 to fund the government until either December 9 or December 16, and then decide if anything else can ride on that bill or if all items will need to wait until after the midterms.  

Hearing Report

By Ramona Lessen, Executive Director, Total Spectrum 

Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee hearing on “Tightening the Screws on Russia”

Tuesday, September 20, 2022; 9:00 a.m. 

To view a livestream of the hearing please . 

Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Chairman

Senator Patrick J. Toomey (R-PA), Ranking Member

Witnesses:

The Honorable Elizabeth Rosenberg

Assistant Secretary For Terrorist Financing And Financial Crimes

U.S. Department of the Treasury

Mr. Andrew C. Adams

Director, Task Force KleptoCapture

United States Department of Justice

Congressional Calendar

All times ET

Monday, Sept. 19

• 2 p.m. House Rules Committee  to consider a bill, S. 1098, that would authorize federal direct consolidation loan borrowers to separate joint consolidation loans.

Tuesday, Sept. 20

• 9 a.m. Senate Banking Committee  on “tightening the screws on Russia,” focusing on smart sanctions, economic statecraft and next steps.
• 9:30 a.m. Senate Armed Services Committee  on U.S. nuclear strategy and policy.
• 10 a.m. House Agriculture Conservation and Forestry Subcommittee on a 2022 review of the Farm Bill, with respect to stakeholder perspectives on Title II conservation programs.
• 10 a.m. House Oversight Committee  of at least five bills, including one that would provide for expanded home rule for the residents of the District of Columbia.
• 10 a.m. House Financial Services Consumer Protection and Financial Institutions Subcommittee  on alternative payment systems and the national security impacts of their growth.
• 10 a.m. House Science Committee  on ”strengthening science to respond to a rapidly changing Arctic.”
• 10 a.m. House Small Business Committee  on the Small Business Administration’s Office of International Trade.
• 10 a.m. House Veterans’ Affairs Oversight and Technology Modernization subcommittees joint  on ”VA Major Acquisitions Failures: In Search of Solutions.”
• 10:15 a.m. House Education and Labor Early Childhood, Elementary and Secondary Education Subcommittee  on meeting students’ academic, social and emotional needs.
• 11 a.m. House Natural Resources Energy and Mineral Resources Subcommittee  on a bill, H.R. 8802, that would require the Interior Department the Forest Service to align management of public lands and waters with the president’s greenhouse gas emission reduction goal.
•  1 p.m. House Natural Resources Indigenous Peoples Subcommittee  on “Examining Oklahoma v. Castro-Huerta: The Implications of the Supreme Court’s Ruling on Tribal Sovereignty.”
• 2 p.m. House Agriculture Commodity Exchanges, Energy and Credit Subcommittee  on assessing crypto as a tool for financial inclusion.
• 2 p.m. House Financial Services Diversity and Inclusion Subcommittee  on a review of diversity and inclusion at America’s largest insurance companies, including on five bills, one of which would require Dodd-Frank-regulated entities to provide information necessary for the Offices of Women and Minority Inclusion to carry out their duties.
• 2 p.m. House Rules Committee  to consider the Presidential Election Reform Act.
• 2:30 p.m. Senate Banking Transportation-HUD Subcommittee  on stakeholder perspectives on the USDA’s Rural Housing Service.
• 2:30 p.m. Senate Homeland Security Investigations Subcommittee on how DOJ “failed to implement” the Death in Custody Reporting Act.
• 2:30 p.m. Senate Judiciary Antitrust and Competition Subcommittee on oversight of federal enforcement of antitrust laws.

Wednesday, Sept. 21

• 9:30 a.m. House Oversight National Security Subcommittee  on Russia’s use of private military companies.
• 10 a.m. House Financial Services Committee  on oversight of the U.S.’ largest consumer-facing banks. The hearing will include testimony on 14 bills, including one that would require the CFPB to create “clear federal oversight” over the development of credit scoring models and testimony from several witnesses, including JPMorgan Chase & Co. Chairman and CEO Jamie Dimon.
• 10 a.m. House Foreign Affairs Middle East, North Africa and Terrorism Subcommittee  on U.S. interest in regional security cooperation in the Middle East and North Africa.
• 10 a.m. House Homeland Security Committee  on critical infrastructure preparedness and resilience, with a focus on water.
• 10 a.m. House Rules Legislative and Budget Process Subcommittee on legislative and budgetary solutions to unfair restrictions on third-party repair of electronic devices.
• 10 a.m. House Science Space Subcommittee  on the next generation of weather satellites.
•  10 a.m. Senate Appropriations Military Construction-VA Subcommittee  on an update on rollout, cost and schedule of the VA’s electronic health record modernization efforts.
• 10 a.m. Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee  on five nominations, including Colleen Shogan’s nomination to be the archivist of the National Archives.
• 10 a.m. Senate Judiciary Committee  on pending nominations.
• 10 a.m. House Judiciary Committee  of six measures, including a bill that would create a grant program for states to assist their efforts in modernizing criminal justice data infrastructure to facilitate automated record sealing and expungement.
• 10 a.m. House Natural Resources Committee  of a bill, H.R. 4690, which would reauthorize existing fishery conservation and management laws.
• 10 a.m. House Small Business Committee  of two measures, including a bill, H.R. 8844, that would reauthorize the Small Business Administration (SBA)’s State Trade Expansion Program, or STEP.
• 10 a.m. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee to consider eight nominations, including six for the Tennessee Valley Authority board of directors, and five General Services Administration resolutions. The business meeting will be followed by a hearing on state and local perspectives on “putting the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to work.”
• 10:15 a.m. House Education and Labor HELP Subcommittee  on administration of the unemployment insurance system.
• 10:30 a.m. Senate Energy and Natural Resources National Parks Subcommittee  on 16 measures, including a resolution that would redesignate the Robert E. Lee Memorial in Arlington National Cemetery as the “Arlington House National Historic Site.”
• 2 p.m. House Armed Services Military Personnel Subcommittee  on how the recommendations of the Independent Review Commission on Sexual Assault in the Military have been implemented and on the establishment of the Office of Special Trial Counsel.
• 2 p.m. House Foreign Affairs Europe, Eurasia, Energy and the Environment Subcommittee  on accountability for atrocity crimes committed by Russia in Ukraine.
• 2 p.m. House Select Coronavirus Subcommittee  on the impact of the coronavirus on nursing homes.
• 2:15 p.m. Senate Foreign Relations Committee  on women leaders countering authoritarianism.
• 2:30 p.m. Senate Indian Affairs Committee  on promoting and supporting tribal access to spectrum and related benefits in Native communities.
• 2:30 p.m. Senate Intelligence Committee  on “Protecting American Innovation: Industry, Academia, and the National Counterintelligence and Security Center.”
• 2:30 p.m. Senate Small Business Committee  on SBA STEP oversight.
• 3:30 p.m. Senate Armed Services Personnel Subcommittee  on the status of military recruiting and retention efforts across DoD.

Thursday, Sept. 22

• 9 a.m. Senate Judiciary Committee����to consider S. 673, which would temporarily allow news organizations to band together and negotiate with the likes of Facebook and Google without breaking antitrust laws, and Kirk Taylor’s nomination to be a U.S. marshal for the District of Colorado.
• 9 a.m. House Financial Services Housing and Insurance Subcommittee����on the impact of growing wildfire risk on the insurance market.
• 9:30 a.m. Senate Banking Committee����on annual oversight of the U.S.’ largest banks. Several witnesses, including JPMorgan Chase & Co. Chairman and CEO Jamie Dimon, will testify.
• 10 a.m. House Homeland Security Oversight Subcommittee����on the risk assessment process with respect to federal building security.
• 10 a.m. House Natural Resources Committee����on oversight of PROMESA and LUMA Energy’s Contract.
• 10 a.m. Senate Aging Committee����on stopping senior scams and empowering communities to fight fraud.
• 10 a.m. Senate ENR Committee����on opportunities and challenges in deploying innovative battery and non-battery technologies for energy storage. 366 Dirksen.

The post This Week In Washington appeared first on С��ñֱ��app.

Latest news from Washington, D.C. produced by Total Spectrum/SGA exclusively for members of the Arizona С��ñֱ��app of Commerce & Industry

More Info: Michael DiMaria | Partner and Vice President of Business Development | 602-717-3891 | mdimaria@totalspectrumsga.com

Thanks for your interest in Washington, D.C., and thanks for reading This Week in Washington.

We try very hard to bring you news that’s both timely and accurate information, even if we need to adjust late into the night because of a changing story.

��is an outstanding lawyer, advocate, and political strategist. He sent us on Tuesday night his��Washington Whispers��column, where he reported on what was going to happen in the Senate and the House before their August recess and previewed some Congressional activity during the balance of the calendar year. But on Wednesday, Majority Leader Schumer and Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) surprised almost everyone and announced an agreement on a reconciliation package. Patrick worked on Thursday to update his column with both timely and accurate information. Tip of the hat to you Patrick, and many thanks.

Al  updates us on defense and defense appropriations issues.  monitored the July 26th hearing of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Criminal Justice and Counterterrorism on decriminalizing cannabis at the federal level, and we’ve included her report in this edition.

Help wanted signs are really a sign of the times. Unemployment rates are remarkably low, there are as many as 11 million open jobs, and there are only about six million unemployed people. The U.S. С��ñֱ��app of Commerce published a report last week entitled  which will lend insights to the length and breadth of the problem.

We are busy planning our schedule for the balance of the summer and the fall. We’ll share with you an interesting Spotlight interview with Kyle Zebley of the American Telemedicine Association on August 3, and then we will let our staff spend a little time with their families for a few weeks.

 is planning a number of very important interviews in the fall for Total Spectrum Spotlight, and we’ll start sending out special announcements on these interviews after Labor Day.Stay well. Stay cool, and we’ll be back after Labor Day with the next issue of This Week.

Steve Gordon

Total Spectrum Managing Partner

Washington Whispers

By Patrick Robertson, Total Spectrum Strategic Consultant

Congress is racing toward its annual August recess – a break that allows members to campaign in an election year, be home with their constituents, take a little family vacation, and spend time out of Washington, D.C.’s oppressive August heat and humidity. D.C. meteorologists remind us that the last two weeks of July are almost always the city’s hottest, and the action in Congress always reaches the same fever pitch just before the August break.

This year is no exception. Both the Senate and House passed a compromise bill to encourage the domestic manufacturing of computer processing chips. This bill started as a much larger package, including some anti-China measures, a tax title, and some other pro-American manufacturing pieces. The bill has very few tax provisions and limits the incentives to semiconductor makers, but the incentives will total about $52 billion.

This bill came together because the United States lags other countries in chip making and everything in our modern society uses chips – from cars to refrigerators and laptops to doorbells. The bill does not solve critical mineral shortages or other issues, but it will significantly increase the number of semiconductors made on U.S. soil and increase the component parts made here as well.

The House is scheduled to begin its August break at the end of this week while the Senate remains in session next week to wrap up its pre-Labor Day work. One item on Senate Democrat’s to-do list is to pass a reconciliation bill. 

Many words have been written in this column and elsewhere on reconciliation, and this week, Senators Joe Manchin and Chuck Schumer agreed on a reconciliation bill that includes deficit reduction, a corporate minimum tax, an increased tax rate on carried interest, the ability for the federal government to negotiate drug pricing, and a suite of energy and climate provisions. You can find a summary of the bill  as well as the full text. If the Senate passes this bill via reconciliation next week, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer has indicated that the House will return to Washington the week of August 8 to pass the bill and send it to the President’s desk in time to avoid increases in health care premiums.

This deal seemed impossible just a week ago, but it seems Senators Schumer and Manchin talked down the possibility of a deal after Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell suggested he would scuttle the semiconductor bill if Democrats moved forward with reconciliation. Once the chips bill passed, the Democrats announced their deal.

It is still not certain the bill will pass as all 50 Democrats in the Senate must be on board. The liberal wing of the party has wanted significantly more in climate change resources and less in subsidies to fossil fuels than are currently in the bill. In addition, Senator Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) has not said whether she will support the package. 

At this point, most experts see Republicans winning the five seats needed to gain control of the House. Even with dismal polling for President Biden, the Senate is closer to a toss-up than it has been in recent months due to the primary results and the localization of some of the Senate races. But an adage says that no one pays attention to midterm elections until after Labor Day at the earliest. That may be less true now with the barrage of television ads, but there are still 10 weeks or so until Election Day.

There will almost certainly be a lame duck session, where the members of this 117^th Congress return to Washington to finish their work before their successors in the 118^th Congress take the oath in January. During the lame duck session, Congress will pass a Fiscal Year 2023 spending package to fund the government, which will be extended by a continuing resolution at the end of September. There will also be a push for a package of tax bills that propose to change the rules around interest deductibility and the research and development credit – the leading priorities for businesses – while child tax credit will be important to others. There will also be other Members who will push their priorities during the lame duck.

One Democratic Congressman told me he thought as much as half of the legislating in this Congress could happen in the two months after the election. I think that is an overestimation, especially if this new reconciliation bill passes next week, but it does show how much action is possible. It is not yet clear beyond funding the government what proposed legislation will make the cut, but what legislators hear from their constituents in August and then in November will go a long way toward shaping the lame duck agenda.

Defense Update

By Al Jackson, Total Spectrum Strategic Consultant

The Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) released its annual defense policy bill, the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), for Fiscal Year 2023 earlier this month. It would authorize a $45 billion increase in defense spending over the budget request, to a total of $847 billion to counter the increase in inflation and the ever-increasing threat of both Russia and China. Additionally, the United States is shipping weapons to Ukraine amid Russia’s invasion of the country. The House version of NDAA, highlighted below, provided $839 billion in FY2023 authorized funding.

The legislation also provides $800 million in funding for the Ukraine Security Assistance Fund. The U.S. recently sent another $400 million of weapons, bringing total U.S. security aid for the Ukrainians to $8 billion since the start of the Russian invasion. In the Pacific region, due to the influence of both Russia and China, the Senate version of NDAA increased authorized funding for the Pacific Deterrence Initiative by $1.1 billion “for unfunded requirements identified by the Commander of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command.”

Hearing Report

By Ramona Lessen, Executive Director, Total Spectrum

Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Criminal Justice and Counterterrorism hearing on Decriminalizing Cannabis at the Federal Level: Necessary Steps to Address Past Harms

Tuesday, July 26, 2022; 02:30 PM

To view a livestream of the hearing please .

Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ)

Subcommittee Chairman

Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR)

Subcommittee Ranking Member

Witnesses:

Dr. Malik Burnett

Medical Director

Maryland Department of Health’s Center for Harm Reduction Services

Baltimore, MD

Edward Jackson

Chief

Annapolis Police Department

Annapolis, MD

Weldon Angelos

President And Co-Founder

The Weldon Project

Salt Lake City, UT

Steven H. Cook

Former Associate Deputy Attorney General

Knoxville, TN

Alex Berenson

Author

Former New York Times Reporter

Hudson Valley, NY

Congressional Calendar

All times ET

Monday, July 25

• 10 a.m. House Veterans’ Affairs Economic Opportunity Subcommittee on ensuring a successful military to civilian transition for service members in southern Alabama. Enterprise State Community College, Enterprise, AL.
• 10 a.m. Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on reviewing Michigan perspectives on the 2022 Census. Detroit, Mich.

Tuesday, July 26

• 10 a.m. Senate Foreign Relations Committee on diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility in U.S. diplomacy and development.
• 10 a.m. Senate HELP Committee on the federal response to fighting fentanyl. 
• 10 a.m. Senate Homeland Security Investigations Subcommittee on corruption, abuse and misconduct at U.S. Penitentiary Atlanta. Federal Bureau of Prisons Director Michael Carvajal testifies.
•  10 a.m. Senate Judiciary Committee on law enforcement officer safety.
• 10:15 a.m. Senate Banking Committee on racism and discrimination in banking POSTPONED.
• 2 p.m. House Rules Committee to consider two bills, including one that would extend Medicare telehealth flexibilities.
• 2:30 p.m. Senate Judiciary Criminal Justice and Counterterrorism Subcommittee on decriminalizing cannabis at the federal level.

Wednesday, July 27

• 9:30 a.m. Senate Foreign Relations Committee on ensuring U.S. global leadership for the 21st century.
• 10 a.m. House Administration Elections Subcommittee on foreign and domestic sources of growing disinformation.
• 10 a.m. House Foreign Affairs Committee on challenges facing global food security.
• 10 a.m. House Oversight and Reform Committee on “the practices and profits” of gun manufacturers.
• 10 a.m. House Small Business Committee on the role of the Small Business Administration’s bond guarantee program. 
• 10 a.m. House Education and Labor Committee on pending legislation.
• 10 a.m. House Transportation Coast Guard Subcommittee on enhancing personnel resources to support the Coast Guard.
• 10 a.m. House Veterans’ Affairs Technology Modernization Subcommittee on patient safety and an electronic health record modernization program.
• 10 a.m. Senate Judiciary Committee on pending nominations.
• 10 a.m. House Financial Services Committee of various measures.
• 10 a.m. House Judiciary Committee of five measures, including a bill that would provide benefits for noncitizen U.S. Armed Forces members.
• 11:30 a.m. Senate Foreign Relations Committee on three nominations, including Puneet Talwar’s nomination to be the ambassador to Morocco.
• 2 p.m. House Homeland Security Border Security and Operations Subcommittee on assessing the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol’s use of facial recognition technology.
• 2:30 p.m. Senate Foreign Relations Africa and Global Health Policy Subcommittee on the fiscal 2023 budget request for Africa.
• 3 p.m. Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee on pending nominations.

Thursday, July 28

• 9 a.m. Senate Judiciary Committee of a bill, S. 4430 , that would establish an interagency task force for patent coordination between the United States Patent and Trademark Office and the Food and Drug Administration, and three nominations, and three judicial nominations, including Ana Reyes’ to be a U.S. district judge for the District of Columbia. 
• 9 a.m. House Select Modernization of Congress Committee on innovative approaches to fixing Congress.
• 9 a.m. House Foreign Affairs Committee on Iran negotiations.
• 9:30 a.m. House Foreign Affairs Asia, the Pacific and Nonproliferation Subcommittee on countering Gray Zone coercion in the Indo-Pacific.
• 9:30 a.m. House Oversight Government Operations Committee on the Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act, 14.0.
• 9:30 a.m. Senate Armed Services Committee on four nominations, including Milancy Harris’ nomination to be a deputy under secretary of Defense for intelligence and security.
• 10 a.m. House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations – Preventing Polluters from Getting Government Contracts – Bureau of Land Management’s Corporate Exclusions List.
• 10 a.m. Senate Banking Committee – Protecting Investors and Savers: Understanding Scams and Risks in Crypto and Securities Markets.
• 10 a.m. House Agriculture Biotechnology and Horticulture Subcommittee on the USDA hemp production program.
• 10 a.m. House Judiciary Committee on oversight of the DOJ National Security Division.
• 10 a.m. House Science Space Subcommittee on cybersecurity issues for civil and commercial space systems.
• 10 a.m. House Veterans’ Affairs Oversight Subcommittee on ending sexual harassment at the VA. 
• 10 a.m. Senate Finance Committee , re: pending nominations.
• 10 a.m. House Select Economic Disparity and Fairness in Growth Committee on economic security programs supporting American livelihood.
• 10 a.m. Senate Aging Committee on accessible federal technology for people with disabilities, older Americans and veterans.
• 10 a.m. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee to consider pending legislation.
• 10 a.m. Senate Foreign Relations Committee on four ambassador nominations, including Heide Fulton’s nomination to be the ambassador to Uruguay.
• 10:15 a.m. House Education and Labor Subcommittee on Workforce Protections on domestic worker workplace protections.
• 10:15 a.m. Senate Finance Committee on Douglas McKalip ’s nomination to be the chief agricultural negotiator within the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative.
• Noon. House Administration Committee on the independent state legislature theory and its potential to disrupt U.S. democracy.
• 12:30 p.m. House Foreign Affairs Committee of six measures, including a resolution that would condemn the use of hunger as a weapon of war and would recognize the effect of conflict on global food security and famine.
• 1 p.m. House Natural Resources Indigenous Peoples Subcommittee hearing on H.R. 5549 , which would authorize advance appropriations for the Indian Health Service by providing two-fiscal-year budget authority.
• 2 p.m. House Oversight Environment Subcommittee on how leaded aviation fuel is “poisoning America’s children.”
• 2 p.m. Senate Foreign Relations Committee on four ambassador nominations, including Shefali Razdan Duggal’s nomination to be the ambassador to the Netherlands.

The post This Week In Washington appeared first on С��ñֱ��app.

Latest news from Washington, D.C. produced by Total Spectrum/SGA exclusively for members of the Arizona С��ñֱ��app of Commerce & Industry

More Info: Michael DiMaria | Partner and Vice President of Business Development | 602-717-3891 | mdimaria@totalspectrumsga.com

Thanks for your interest in Washington, and thanks for reading This Week in Washington.

Congress is on their Easter in-state work period. Staff has been preparing throughout this recess for what must get done during the balance of the year and before the November elections.  has written an excellent article on that subject, highlighting the internal frustrations among Democrats and the choices that Democratic leadership will need to make very soon. 

Now I want to make a REALLY SPECIAL announcement.

We started Total Spectrum Spotlight in the fall of 2020 so we could highlight for you news makers, news shapers, and people who fairly interpret the news. We overcame COVID, the work restrictions placed on us during the pandemic, we ironed out the wrinkles that are bound to be in any new product – and we produced some very good short interviews.

Now it is time to take Total Spectrum Spotlight to the next level, so I am very pleased to announce Total Spectrum Spotlight 2.0. 

 will continue to bring you timely and topical discussions with both national leaders and individuals who can help us understand the news. But you’ll see and hear the difference immediately, as we are now partnering with Big Whig Media in Washington, D.C. to really sharpen the final product we deliver to you, our viewers. 

The first interview in Spotlight 2.0 will be with Kevin Hassett, who was the Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors in the Trump Administration. Dr. Hassett was the economic advisor to President George W. Bush’s 2004 campaign, Senator John McCain’s 2008 Presidential campaign, and Mitt Romney’s 2012 Presidential campaign. He is currently the Distinguished Visiting Scholar at the Hoover Institution.  

The second interview in Spotlight 2.0 will be with Charlie Cook, the founder of The Cook Political Report. Charlie Cook is widely considered to be one of the nation’s most respected and influential analysts of American politics, elections, and political trends. The Wall Street Journal even called him “the Picasso of election analysis.” Charlie is now a contributor to The Cook Political Report with Amy Walter and is a political analyst with National Journal. 

We’ll let you know the date for the release of the first two interviews in Total Spectrum Spotlight 2.0. I am absolutely sure you will find them both interesting and enjoyable. 

As always, thanks again for your interest in Washington, D.C. We’ll be back in two weeks with the next issue of This Week. Stay well.

Total Spectrum Managing Director

Washington Whispers

By Patrick Robertson, Total Spectrum Managing Partner

Congress has left town for its traditional spring recess to celebrate Easter, Passover, Ramadan, or another spring holiday of their choosing. Before they left, the Senate confirmed Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, the House passed relief for restaurants and other small businesses, and a few other odds and ends. Congress also appointed almost 100 conferees to a conference committee that will resolve the differences between the House and the Senate versions of the China competition bill.

But Congress still has not moved forward on a reconciliation bill to replace the Build Back Better proposal.

Much of President Biden’s approval problems can be traced back to the expectations the White House set for trillions in spending on liberal priorities on top of trillions more spent on the pandemic. The President did nominate and move a liberal Supreme Court Justice through the Senate – albeit with a lot of threats and promises about the next potential nominee – and some of the President’s agenda has moved through the House of Representatives.  But it’s fair to say that many Americans look at what was promised and then look what has been delivered, and are greatly disappointed. The President’s approval is as low as 35% over large swaths of the country.

There is also historically high inflation, high gasoline prices, seemingly perpetual issues at the southern border, continued friction on COVID policies, and the regular wedge issues that crop up in the mid to late stages of an election year.

Some experts will tell you that Congress has finished legislating for the year because paralysis will kick in as we approach the November elections. These observers point to historic precedent along with the strong predilection of this Congress toward inaction on bipartisan issues. Maybe they will be proven right.

But there are many others who believe that Congress has no choice but to act. They hold that Congress should act on domestic energy, climate change, the China competition bill, even on social programs. Act on anything they can get done.

Those who hold this view believe that Democrats – as they now stand – will lose in November. They contend that Democrats don’t have a cohesive message, and if they don’t do anything else and don’t have anything to run on, voters will say no to Democrats in November.

Some Democrats say that President Biden and Congress cannot afford to do any more, because what they have done has gotten them stuck in this spot.  Other Democrats say that if they don’t do more they will lose in November – so by all means they should do more to energize their base and deliver on some long unfulfilled promises while they have control over both Houses of Congress and the Administration. It’s true that this path is fraught with peril and difficulty, but it still may be the path Democrats take to change the election dynamics heading into the fall.

There is some good news for Democrats. Political pundits from both parties widely agree that Democrats have outperformed expectations on redistricting and Republicans have underperformed expectations in recruiting.  Either one or both could help Democrats retain control of at least the Senate and keep the House close.  If they can get some enthusiasm going, they may just give themselves a chance.

Enthusiasm would start if they could get a reconciliation bill moving in the Senate. But a path to a reconciliation bill has been blocked all along by Senators Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ), with Senator Manchin saying he can no longer support the social programs and Senator Sinema saying she cannot support corporate and individual tax rate increases.

Senator Manchin has honed his message recently, saying that he wants climate policy, domestic energy production incentives, and a fix in the tax code in a reconciliation bill. This would leave out social programs but could be a path to a deal. Senator Sinema has said she is in the same place on taxes as she was last year – no personal or business rate increases.

There are 48 liberal Democrats in the Senate who have all but said they would vote for pretty much anything the Senate can move with 50 votes. Only time will tell if Democrats can square the circle. We still have many days to go until the election, but very few days for Democrats to decide how they want to move forward between now and then.  

Congressional Calendar

All times ET

Wednesday, April 20

• ·12:00 p.m. House Financial Services Subcommittee on Housing, Communication, Development and Insurance : A Matter of Life and Death: Improving Fire Safety in Federally Assisted Housing.

Thursday, April 21

• 10:00 a.m. House Oversight and Reform Subcommittee on Government Operations  – IRS Readiness.
• 11:00 a.m. House Science Space, and Technology Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight  – Electric Vehicle Batteries/Critical Minerals Supply.

Gasoline drives March CPI increase

2022 primaries calendar

What you need to know about tax policy and the midterms

31 states report uptick in Covid cases during first week of April as BA-2 spreads

What you need to know about Biden’s new defense budget

The post This Week in Washington appeared first on С��ñֱ��app.

Latest news from Washington, D.C. produced by Total Spectrum/SGA exclusively for members of the Arizona С��ñֱ��app of Commerce & Industry

More Info: Michael DiMaria | Partner and Vice President of Business Development | 602-717-3891 | mdimaria@totalspectrumsga.com

Thanks for your interest in Washington, and thanks for reading This Week in Washington.

Today’s&�Բ�����;Heard on the Hill leads with the Leader – Senator Mitch McConnell. I was a consultant to him in his first campaign, and we reconnected recently at a series of events. I summarized his comments on key issues, and I think you’ll find this look into the Leader both informative and interesting. I also summarized the most current information on Rule 42, which could drastically change the number of illegal border crossings, and also the pending legislation that would provide additional funding for COVID tests and medications.

 helped write the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act as a member of the House Ways & Means Committee. He has written an excellent article about the reasons why Congress should make the 2017 tax cuts permanent.

 brings us up to date on defense and defense appropriations happenings, while  reports on the House Homeland Security Committee’s April 5 hearing on mobilizing our cyber defenses.

Members of the Senate and the House will be back in the states and districts for the next two weeks, but This Week in Washington will be back on April 20th.

Stay well and stay happy.

Total Spectrum Managing Director

Heard on the Hill
By��Steve Gordon, Total Spectrum Managing Partner

THE Leader

I first met Mitch McConnell in the summer of 1984. He was the judge-executive of Jefferson County and was running for the U.S. Senate against Senator Walter “Dee” Huddleston, who was first elected to the Senate in 1973. Few national observers gave McConnell much of a chance in the 1984 election – but they were wrong. Mitch McConnell is strategic, calculating, focused, bright, knows his mind, and he knows what it takes to win.

Sometime in 2023, Senator Mitch McConnell will eclipse Senator Mike Mansfield (D-MT) to become the longest serving party leader in the history of the U.S. Senate.  He wants to lead his party back into the Senate majority in 2023, and non-partisan political newsletters like the Cook Report and Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales each conclude that a new Republican Senate Majority is the most likely outcome.

I’ve been with Senator McConnell at two small events over the past few weeks, and he also sat for a long interview last week. His message was consistent in all three gatherings. The answers shown below are not intended to be his exact words but do reflect my recollection of his thoughts.

• On the nomination of Federal Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to be the next Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court:

MM:  The nominee is well qualified and exactly the kind of nominee you would expect from a liberal president.  Those of us who aren’t supporting her are troubled by two things.  In my case, it was not asking too much of her to agree with the late Justice Ginsburg and others that packing the Supreme Court is a bad idea.  Her refusal to answer that question is an issue.  Her attitude with the Committee regarding sentencing guidelines is also an issue.  However, she will be confirmed this week by the Senate.

• What are the major issues in this November’s election?

MM:  Inflation and gas prices.  Democrats need to stop their spending, but they don’t want to quit doing what they are doing.  They have done all the wrong things.  They own this.  It will take the Federal Reserve to squeeze inflation out of our economy.  On COVID, we are insistent that new appropriations be handled by offsetting new costs with the cost of unspent COVID spending from past appropriation bills. We want to pay for new appropriations with old appropriations that have not already been spent.

• What will the November elections be about?

MM:  The fall election will be a mid-term report card on Democratic government and President Biden’s approval rating will drive it. It is going to be a very good environment for Republicans. I have seen a generic Republican vote in past years that was plus-3 or 4. This year the generic Republican vote is around plus-9 or 10. But can we mess it up? You bet – by nominating people that can’t win in November. You have to nominate electable candidates, and I think we will have fully electable candidates that can and will win in November.

• On the Russian-Ukrainian War:

MM:  We want the Ukrainians to win.  From the beginning, the President has been pulling his punches and acting late from a sort of fear that he would provoke the Russians. Let’s be clear. The Russians are the ones who provoked this war. To be fair, the Administration has been picking up the pace somewhat and they are getting weapons and ammunition out more rapidly.  But our goal must be to help the Ukrainians win. My current favorite line is from Senator Sasse of Nebraska, who says that we should give the Ukrainians anything that shoots. That works for me.

Immigration:  Rule 42

Rule 42 expulsions refer to the removal of people by the U.S. Government who have been in this country when a communicable disease was present. It was initiated during the Trump Administration, and it has been carried forward by the Biden Administration – until now.

Secretary of Homeland Security Mayorkas said last week that Rule 42 would be rescinded on May 23, 2022, but expulsions would continue until then.

Three states – Arizona, Missouri, and Louisiana – announced that they will be suing the Biden Administration. They said that ending this restriction would cause “unprecedented crisis on the United States’ Southern border.”

Senator Mark Kelly (D-AZ) called it a “wrong decision.”  Senator Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) called it “lacking of understanding about the crisis on the border.”

President Biden responded to pro-immigration people and announced that the rule would be rescinded. But Majority Leader Schumer can count at least seven Senate Democrats who oppose the Administration’s action. This is a hot potato for the Administration and moderate Democrats in the Senate. 

Additional COVID Bill

Senator Romney was point for Republicans on a COVID bill. The Administration wanted $10 billion for domestic use and $5 billion for international use. The negotiated terms would provide $10 billion for therapeutics, tests/testing, and other supplies, but would not provide any funding for international use. The negotiated bill was paid for by repurposing unused funds from previous COVID relief bills – just as Leader McConnell had predicted.

This compromise proposal is being delayed by discussions on Rule 42. Expect that the compromise COVID bill will be considered by the Senate after the Easter recess.

Make the 2017 Tax Cuts Permanent
By��Erik Paulsen, Total Spectrum Strategic Consultant

Four years ago, Congress passed and the President signed into law the first major tax reform in a generation. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) cut taxes and lowered rates for families, small businesses, and large employers, and as a result, our economy grew. Unemployment reached historic lows, business optimism soared, investment in American manufacturing and research and development strengthened, and many employees saw their wages rise so they had more money in their pockets.

The TCJA kept the same number of individual tax brackets at seven but reduced each bracket by an average of around 3%.  On the corporate side, it sharply reduced the tax rate from 35% to 21% so that the United States could compete with our trading partners and other economies around the world.

Additionally, tax revenues collected by the federal government came in at their highest levels ever. In fact, tax receipts for Fiscal Year 2021 saw their biggest one-year increase since 1977.  Receipts topped $4.04 trillion, up by $627 billion from the $3.32 trillion that the government received in FY2020, according to the Congressional Budget Office.  The CBO said the change reflected “the general strength of the economy over the past year.”

Corporate taxes saw the biggest jump, increasing by 75% over the same period in FY 2020.  Individual income taxes and payroll taxes rose by a collective 15%.  Individual income taxes alone saw a 27.5%increase, while payroll taxes saw a slight decline.   The CBO found that higher income workers were paying a much higher share of the total revenues collected than in previous years.  

The Gross National Product for FY2020 contracted by 3.5% due to the severe lockdown imposed in the spring by the federal government to combat the spread of the coronavirus.  Once the lockdown was lifted, the economy began to recover rapidly.  The fourth quarter of 2020 actually saw a 4% increase in the U.S. economy.   Federal government spending played a significant role in keeping the economy afloat, particularly for businesses who were without workers and for workers who were prevented from working.  However, the corporate and individual tax rate cuts enacted in 2017 clearly played a major role in stimulating the economy at the height of the pandemic. 

While the Gross Domestic Product in FY2021 grew by almost 7%, it was not the banner year for America’s economy that many experts expected. 

The slower economic growth can be attributed to: 

• the Administration’s push to raise taxes on individuals, small businesses, and large employers; 
• the highest inflationary price increases in 40 years after trillions of dollars in government stimulus spending; 
• a resurgence of the Delta and Omicron variants with new government mandates; and 
• what many argue was a slow response by the Federal Reserve addressing monetary policy.

Today, our nation and economy face a more uncertain future. Small business optimism continues to fall.  American households are paying $5,200 extra this year to purchase the same basket of goods as last year due to inflation, and some economists are predicting a looming recession.

One of the best things Congress could do today to regain confidence across the entire spectrum of our economy would be to make the TCJA tax cuts permanent right now, rather than wait until 2024 or 2025. 

While Federal Reserve Chairman Jay Powell “hopes” to get the rate of inflation down to 2% by the end of 2025, the cost of doing business or taking care of one’s family will continue to increase. ��Ensuring families and small businesses have more disposable income and additional money in their pockets to meet these challenges is an important step to take.

Defense Update
By��Al Jackson, Total Spectrum Strategic Consultant

On March 28, 2022, the administration submitted to Congress its $5.8 trillion Fiscal Year 2023 budget.  The proposed budget for the Department of Defense is $773 billion, which Republicans have already attacked as insufficient.  The total spending plan translates to an increase of more than $30 billion, or 4%, over the FY2022 enacted level.  Last year, White House officials sought a boost of less than 3%.  Eventually, Republicans along with moderate Democrats added more to the Pentagon’s spending totals.

Emphasizing the threat of both China and Russia, the administration proposes the Pentagon’s largest research and development budget yet, at $130 billion for new weapons like hypersonic missiles.  It would retire systems like the Littoral Combat Ship, citing the expense to maintain it, and the A-10 Warthog aircraft, which defense officials argue isn’t relevant to modern conflict.  (The A-10 is relevant to Air Force bases in Arizona.)  The proposal also funds $4.2 billion for the European Deterrence Initiative, an increase of $360 million, with new funds to aid Ukraine in its efforts to thwart invasion from Russia.  According to the administration, these new funds will adequately counter “persistent threats including those posed by North Korea, Iran, and violent extremist organizations.”  The Pentagon, with China still its “pacing challenge,” seeks $6.1 billion for the Indo-Pacific Deterrence Initiative.

In estimating future spending, the Pentagon, the White House, and the Congressional Budget Office have for years assumed a 2% inflation rate for budget growth. This year, the CBO updated its 2021 inflation forecast to 5.4%.  A recent McKinsey & Company report estimated the Defense Department “could have $692 billion in buying power in 2026 [at FY23 spending levels].”  Moreover, should 7% inflation continue, the purchasing power of $732 billion shrinks to $578 billion.

Ranking Members of both Armed Services Committees, Representative Mike Rogers (R-MS) and Senator Jim Inhofe (R-OK), expressed concerns about the proposed funding level in a letter to the administration.  The letter asks Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and the Armed Services secretaries to explain how they determined their inflation rate, noting the Labor Department’s calculation of the Consumer Price Index at 7.9%, a 40-year high.  Both are among several Republicans who have called for a 5% increase of funding above inflation.  “[P]ut simply, the inflation we are experiencing is effectively a 5 to 8 percent cut to the department’s buying power, which could amount to between $20-$30 billion in unfunded costs in fiscal year 2022 alone, not to mention lost buying power in fiscal 2021 and potential lost buying power in fiscal year 2023,” Rogers and Inhofe noted in their letter. 

Below is a breakdown by Armed Service of the FY2023 request vs. FY2022 appropriations.

The budget again this year emphasizes research, development, test, and evaluation funding, requesting $130.1 billion; this 9.5% increase is the “largest ever.”  Included in this request are $4.7 billion for hypersonic weapons, $3.3 billion for microelectronics and 5G networking, and $1.3 billion for biotechnology.

Despite being rebuffed by Congress last year, the Pentagon continued attempts in FY 2023 to divest from older legacy systems by reprioritizing $2.7 billion in spending.  The Air Force would retire 150 aircraft and transfer 100 MQ-9s to another government agency, while the Navy would decommission 24 ships, 16 before the end of their service lives.  Some of those 100 MQ-9 aircraft will be transferred to Customs & Border Patrol, Office of Air & Marine Operations.   From the administration’s budget statement: “[T]he department had some success last year making progress in some of these areas, and the reason the department keeps asking is it’s something that needs to happen.”

It also includes full funding for modernizing all three aspects of the nuclear triad, with $34.4 billion for the nuclear enterprise.  That includes $6.3 billion for the Columbia-class submarine, $5 billion for the B-21 bomber, $3.6 billion for the next-generation intercontinental ballistic missile known as the Ground Based Strategic Deterrent, and $4.8 billion for nuclear command-and-control systems.

The Air Force’s budget for FY2023 calls for divesting 150 aircraft, including older A-10 Warthogs, F-22A Raptors, T-1 Jayhawks, and KC-135 Stratotankers.  The Department of the Air Force’s budget (encompassing both the Air Force and Space Force) would grow to $194 billion, nearly a 7% increase from the approximately $182 billion approved for FY2022.  The Air Force’s portion of that budget would be about $169.5 billion.  The requested Research and Development funding would increase by $9 billion, including funding for the Ground Based Strategic Deterrent, NGAD, and the B-21 family of systems.  

Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall indicated the Air Force had to make “hard choices” about cutting down its aircraft fleet, although the proposed retirements are not as dramatic as the 200+ retirements proposed in the FY2022 budget proposal.  “We have to get rid of, what I’ll call legacy equipment in order to have the resources to modernize,” Kendall said.

The Air Force will once again try to retire some A-10 Thunderbolt II attack planes.  The proposed FY2023 budget targets cuts of 21 Air National Guard A-10s at Fort Wayne, Indiana, and plans to transition that squadron to the same number of F-16s.  The service sought to cut 42 A-10s in 2022, but Congress ultimately blocked those retirements in the National Defense Authorization Act, while allowing all other retirements the Air Force sought.

While some have called for transferring A-10s, originally designed to destroy columns of Russian tanks invading Europe during the Cold War, to Ukraine, Secretary Kendall indicated that war has indirectly shown how the Warthog is outdated and due for retirement.  As reported in the Defense News, “Ukraine’s ground-based tactical air defenses have proven to be devastatingly effective against Russia, Kendall said, keeping them from achieving air superiority and conducting aerial operations. The A-10, while rugged, is slow and vulnerable to those types of defenses. While the A-10, from a point of view of delivering munitions, would be terrific for killing Russian tanks, etc., its survivability would be in question,” Kendall said. “That’s one of the reasons that we need to move beyond the A-10, because we’re worried about high-end threats now.  We’re not worried about the same threats we were worried about, at least to the same degree, when we were doing counterinsurgencies or counterterrorism.”  

Resistance of that logic from Representatives and Senators from states where the A-10 resides remains to be seen.  Posture hearings from Armed Services Committees in both the House and Senate begin in earnest this week, as FY2022 ends on September 30, 2022. 

The steepest cuts to individual fleets, as a percentage, will come to the aging E-8 Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System, or JSTARS, and E-3 Sentry. ��The Air Force would retire eight of its JSTARS in 2023, and the final four FY2024, completing the fleet’s divestment. ��The first four JSTARS retirements are planned for FY 2022.

Hearing Report
By��Ramona Lessen, Executive Director, Total Spectrum

House Homeland Security Committee hearing on Mobilizing our Cyber Defenses: Securing Critical Infrastructure Against Russian Cyber Threats

Tuesday, April 5, 2022; 10:00 a.m.

To view a livestream of the hearing please .

Representative Ritchie Torres (D-15th-NY), Majority Vice Chair

Representative John Katko (R-24th-NY), Ranking Member

Witnesses:

Mr. Adam Meyers

Senior Vice President for Intelligence

Crowdstrike

Mr. Steve Silberstein

Chief Executive Officer

Financial Services Information Sharing and Analysis Center

Mr. Kevin M. Morley, PhD

Manager, Federal Relations

American Water Works Association

Mr. Amit Yoran

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

Tenable, Inc.

Congressional Calendar

Monday, April 4

• 10 a.m. Senate Judiciary Committee  to consider Jackson’s nomination, as well as six other nominees.
• 3 p.m. House Rules Committee  on a resolution recommending that former Trump administration officials Peter Navarro and Dan Scavino be held in contempt of Congress for refusing subpoenas issued by the Jan. 6 Committee to investigate the attack on the Capitol.

Tuesday, April 5

• 9:30 a.m. House Armed Services Committee hybrid  on the fiscal 2023 budget request for defense.
• 9:30 a.m. Senate Armed Services Committee  on the fiscal 2023 budget request for the U.S. Special Operations Command and Cyber Command.
• 10 a.m. House Agriculture Committee hybrid  on renewable energy opportunities in the farm bill.
• 10 a.m. House Appropriations Interior-Environment Subcommittee  on the fiscal 2023 budget request for tribal organizations.
• 10 a.m. House Appropriations Legislative Branch Subcommittee  on the 2023 budget request for the Government Accountability Office.
• 10 a.m. House Homeland Security Committee  on securing critical infrastructure against Russian cyber threats.
• 10 a.m. House Foreign Affairs Committee hybrid  of five measures, including one that would require the U.S. to develop a strategy to counter Russian influence.
• 10 a.m. House Science Committee hybrid  of five bills, including one that would strengthen the chief scientist of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s role.
• 10 a.m. House Judiciary Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Subcommittee  on enhancing the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938.
• 10 a.m. House Natural Resources National Parks, Forests and Public Lands Subcommittee hybrid  on investing in wildfire management, ecosystem restoration and resilient communities.
• 10 a.m. House Natural Resources Oversight Subcommittee virtual  on the opioid crisis in tribal communities.
• 10 a.m. House Oversight Committee  on developing electric postal service vehicles.
• 10 a.m. House Transportation Economic Development and Emergency Management Subcommittee hybrid  on FEMA’s priorities for the 2022-2026 strategic plan.
• 10 a.m. Senate Banking Committee  on insider trading legislation.
• 10 a.m. Senate Commerce Committee  on transparency in petroleum markets.
• 10 a.m. Senate Environment Fisheries, Water and Wildlife Subcommittee  on the implementation of S. 914, the Drinking Water and Wastewater Infrastructure Act of 2021.
• 10 a.m. Senate Finance Committee  on the fiscal 2023 budget for the Health and Human Services Department.
• 10 a.m. Senate HELP Committee  on Food and Drug Administration user fee agreements. 430 Dirksen.
• 10:15 a.m. House Education and Labor Committee hybrid  of two measures, including H.R. 7309, which would overhaul the workforce development system.
• 10:15 a.m. House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee hybrid  on legislation to support communities’ mental health.
• 11 a.m. Senate Budget Committee  on corporate fuel profiteering on price inflation.
• 1 p.m. House Appropriations Legislative Branch Subcommittee  on the 2023 budget request for the Congressional Budget Office.
• 1:30 p.m. House Rules Committee  to consider a bill that would increase appropriations for the Restaurant Revitalization Fund.
• 2 p.m. House Financial Services Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations  – The Role of Financial Institutions in the Horrors of Slavery and the Need for Atonement.
• 2 p.m. House Judiciary Committee  of eight bills, including one that would seek to prevent domestic terrorism and another that would eliminate the per-country numerical limitation for employment-based immigrants.
• 2 p.m. House Ways and Means Committee hybrid  on the fiscal 2023 budget. HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra testifies.
• 2:30 p.m. Senate Armed Services Committee CLOSED  to receive testimony on training the next generation of cyber operators
• 3 p.m. House Armed Services Subcommittee on Cyber, Innovative Technologies, and Information Systems : “Operations in Cyberspace and Building Cyber Capabilities Across the Department of Defense”.
• 3 p.m. House Appropriations Legislative Branch Subcommittee  on the 2023 budget request for the Office of Congressional Workplace Rights.

Wednesday, April 6

• 9 a.m. House Congress Modernization Committee  on the legislative branch’s preparedness for a crisis.
• 9 a.m. House Education and Labor Committee hybrid  examining HHS policies.
• 9:30 a.m. House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee closed  on United States Africa Command
• 10 a.m. House Agriculture Committee hybrid  on international trade and food assistance programs in the 2022 farm bill.
• 10 a.m. House Appropriations Homeland Security Subcommittee  on the 2023 budget request for Citizenship and Immigration Services.
• 10 a.m. House Appropriations Labor-HHS-Education Subcommittee  on social and emotional learning and whole child approaches in K-12 education.
• 10 a.m. House Appropriations State-Foreign Operations Subcommittee  on international assistance to combat narcotics trafficking.
• 10 a.m. House Financial Services Committee hybrid  to receive annual testimony from Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on the International Financial System.
• 10 a.m. House Foreign Affairs Committee hybrid  on restoring American leadership in the Indo-Pacific.
• 10 a.m. House Homeland Security Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Protection Subcommittee  on public-private partnerships to secure critical infrastructure.
• 10 a.m. House Science Research and Technology Subcommittee hybrid  on evaluating support for small businesses.
• 10 a.m. House Small Business Rural Development, Agriculture and Trade Subcommittee hybrid  on the Small Business Administration advocacy Office.
• 10 a.m. House Transportation Committee hybrid  on reauthorizing the National Transportation Safety Board.
• 10 a.m. House Ways and Means Committee hybrid  on racism and economic opportunity.
• 10 a.m. Senate Appropriations Energy-Water Subcommittee  on the fiscal 2023 budget request for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Bureau of Reclamation.
• 10 a.m. Senate Armed Services Personnel Subcommittee  on suicide prevention and behavioral health interventions in the Department of Defense.
• 10 a.m. Senate Banking Committee  on two Treasury Department nominations.
• 10 a.m. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee  on the fiscal 2023 budget request for the Environmental Protection Agency.
• 10:30 a.m. House Appropriations Military Construction-VA Subcommittee  on the fiscal 2023 budget request for the Veteran Affairs Department.
• 10:30 a.m. House Energy and Commerce Oversight Subcommittee hybrid  on gas price gouging and inflation.
• 10:30 a.m. House Oversight Committee  of eight measures, including one that would target deceptive practices in relation to the census, as well as several postal naming bills.
• 11:15 a.m. Senate Homeland Security  to consider Derek Kan and Daniel Tangherlini to be governors of the U.S. Postal Service.
• House Economic Disparity Committee  on the impact of corporate power on workers and consumers.
• 1 p.m. House Appropriations Interior-Environment Subcommittee  on the fiscal 2023 budget request for regional tribal organizations.
• 1:30 p.m. House Appropriations Homeland Security Subcommittee  on the fiscal 2023 budget for the DHS inspector general.
• 2 p.m. House Appropriations Legislative Branch Subcommittee  on the fiscal 2023 budget for the House of Representatives.
• 2 p.m. House Armed Services Strategic Forces Subcommittee hybrid  on the fiscal 2023 budget for national security space programs.
• 2 p.m. House Homeland Security Border Security and Operations Subcommittee  on Title 42 and restoring asylum at the border.
• 2:30 p.m. House Budget Committee hybrid  on the fiscal 2023 budget request for HHS.
• 2:30 p.m. Senate Armed Services Emerging Threats and Capabilities Subcommittee  on the DoD’s posture for supporting innovation.
• 2:30 p.m. Senate Banking Transportation-HUD Subcommittee  on advancing public transportation in urban and rural areas.
• 2:30 p.m. Senate Environment Clean Air Subcommittee  on nominations to the Tennessee Valley Authority.
• 2:30 p.m. Senate Foreign Relations Committee hybrid  on three treaties.3:15 p.m. Senate Rules Committee hearing on Dara Lindenbaum’s nomination to be a member of the Federal Election Commission.

Thursday, April 7

• 9 a.m. House Administration Committee hybrid����on stock trade reforms for Congress.
• 9 a.m. House Climate Crisis Committee����on investing in energy efficiency to cut energy bills.
• 9:30 a.m. House Appropriations Interior-Environment Subcommittee����for fiscal 2023 Member Day.
• 9:30 a.m. Senate Armed Services Committee����on the fiscal 2023 budget request for defense.
• 10 a.m. House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee closed����– United States Special Operations Command
• 10 a.m. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee����on pending calendar business.
• 10 a.m. House Oversight Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Subcommittee����on book bans and academic censorship.
• 10 a.m. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee����on critical mineral demand and recycling.
• 10 a.m. Senate Finance Committee����on the fiscal 2023 budget request for the IRS as well as the 2022 filing season.
• 10 a.m. Senate Foreign Relations Committee hybrid����on several ambassador nominations.
• 10 a.m. House Committee on Economic Disparity and Fairness in Growth����with Native American Leaders.
• 1 p.m. House Natural Resources Water Subcommittee hybrid����on banning Russian seafood imports.

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What you need to know about Biden’s science agenda

The post This Week In Washington appeared first on С��ñֱ��app.

Latest news from Washington, D.C. produced by Total Spectrum/SGA exclusively for members of the Arizona С��ñֱ��app of Commerce & Industry

More Info: Michael DiMaria | Partner and Vice President of Business Development | 602-717-3891 | mdimaria@totalspectrumsga.com

Many thanks for your interest in Washington, D.C., and for reading This Week in Washington.

Winter is waning, and we’re approaching cherry blossom time. Congress will pretty much be focused on the midterm elections after July 31^st, so Administration and Congressional leaders are feverishly putting together a list of legislative things that must get done – and can get done – in the next few months.

’s&�Բ�����;Washington Whispers is an important guide to possible legislative activity.  reviewed two hearings – Monday’s Senate Judiciary Hearing on the nomination of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to be an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, and Tuesday’s Senate Banking Housing and Urban Affairs Committee Hearing entitled “Building a Resilient Economy by Shoring up Supply”.

A great number of industries were hurt during the pandemic, but the restaurant industry is at or near the top of the list.  interviewed Dwayne Allen for Total Spectrum Spotlight. Mr. Allen is the Co-Founder and owner of the Breadfruit and Rum Bar in Phoenix, and he is a member of the Independent Restaurant Coalition. He describes the rewards and the challenges he and many other local restaurants are facing. It’s a great interview and I hope you’ll watch it.

We started Total Spectrum Spotlight last fall at the request of the Arizona С��ñֱ��app, and the response has been excellent. Congressman Paulsen has lined up some excellent interviews to share with you over the next couple of months, so stay tuned.

Thanks again for reading This Week in Washington and watching Total Spectrum Spotlight. We’ll be back in two weeks for the next issue of This Week

Total Spectrum Managing Director

Total Spectrum Spotlight

In this week’s��Total Spectrum Spotlight,����talks with Dwayne Allen, Co-Founder and Owner of����and member of the��.��Listen to Dwayne share his personal experience as a restauranteur during the pandemic and the heavy toll it has placed on those in the hospitality and independent restaurant industry.

Washington Whispers

By Patrick Robertson, Total Spectrum Managing Partner

Last week, Congress passed its last must-pass piece of legislation until the fall – the Fiscal Year 2022 appropriations bill, known in Washington, D.C. simply as the omnibus. This $1.5 trillion bill funds the government until the end of the fiscal year on September 30, and if history is any guide, that will begin the process of a series of continuing resolutions until Congress passes another omnibus when the snow flies and the election is long settled.

As we enter the opening phase of the 2022 midterm Congressional elections, the prevailing question in Washington is what else Congress might do. To set the table, all 435 House seats are up for election in November, most of them in updated congressional districts after the states drew new district lines following the results of the once-a-decade census. At the same time, a third of the Senate will be up for grabs.

As you may know, most seats are expected to remain in the hands of the incumbent, but with 47 House members (31 Democrats and 16 Republicans) and six Senators (five Republicans and one Democrat) not seeking reelection, there are plenty of changes to come. While many of those seats may not change control just by virtue of not having an incumbent, with a 50-50 Senate and a five-vote margin in the House, very few seats need to switch sides to change control of Washington.

This election is called a midterm because President Biden is not on the ballot; it is the middle of his term. Historically, a new president’s party performs poorly in midterm elections. This would seem to bode poorly for Democrats, especially with the President’s improving yet still poor polling numbers. However, the swings in political power are getting shorter and shorter in American politics and there are still eight months until the first Tuesday in November.

So, what will Congress do between now and the November election? The first midterm primary is already behind us.  Texas held its primary on March 1 and a runoff is slated for May 24 for those races where no one candidate gained more than 50% of the vote.

This week the Senate is focused on the nomination of Ketanji Brown Jackson to be an Associate Justice on the Supreme Court. The hearings will end this week, members will submit written questions, and if all goes according to plan, the Senate will confirm Judge Brown before its mid-April recess. This will consume most of the Senate’s time while it also continues to confirm nominations for posts in the Administration and other judicial positions. Meanwhile, the House is looking for ways to pass COVID relief that was dropped at the last minute from the omnibus. The Biden Administration reported this week that it does not have the money to buy a fourth round of vaccinations for a potential second booster if approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). 

At the end of March, the Administration is expected to release its delayed Fiscal Year 2023 budget. This will kick off the budget process on the Hill and open the debate on next year’s appropriations bills. Generally, it is expected the subcommittee work on these bills may begin in April and May.

Later this spring the House and the Senate are slated to hold a formal conference on the China Competes/CHIPS bill that would change the way the U.S. competes in the microprocessor and semiconductor world. Both bodies have passed their own version of the bill and now need to work out their differences. In the Schoolhouse Rock version of Washington, most bills go to conference, but when I asked a Senator who has been in his seat for 10 years about a conference committee last week, he told me he has never been on one. Conferences have become a rarity in Washington, and it remains to be seen if this 117^th Congress will have a real conference committee that results in something being signed into law.

From there, the multi trillion-dollar question is whether Democrats can get back to work on a reconciliation package. Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) said he was willing to make tax changes and tackle energy policy, so long as it made the U.S. energy independent and gave it a reliable energy supply, while he wants to leave social programs out. It is unclear if liberal Senators and Members of Congress will be willing to do something that narrow. The height of summer in June or July seems to be the most likely time for this work if it is going to happen.

From there, Congress usually leaves for much of August, September, and October to prepare for the November election. However, they will need to return for some of the fall to fund the government.

The one caveat to this timeline is the Ukrainian situation. I would not have anticipated sending $15 billion in aid to Ukraine as the U.S. did last week due to a European war that was not on most of Washington’s proverbial radar at the end of last year. Case in point that world events and politics can scramble timelines in an instant.

There remain persistent rumors of a tax extenders/larger tax package either before the election or in a lame duck Congress. None of those are confirmed but they come up most days, so keep an eye out for a potential tax vehicle later in the year.

Finally, the Administration is close to concluding that its only domestic accomplishments may well be the American Rescue Plan and the bipartisan infrastructure bill. The Administration and Congressional leadership are refocusing a lot of their messaging around touting these wins. Democrats and Republicans alike are already taking credit for the infrastructure spending and cabinet officials are crisscrossing the country talking about it.����

Hearing Report

By Ramona Lessen, Executive Director, Total Spectrum

Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing on the nomination of Ketanji Brown Jackson to be an Associate Justice on the Supreme Court of the United States

Monday, March 21, 2022; 11:00 a.m. 

To view a livestream of the hearing please .

Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chairman

Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Ranking Member

Witness:

Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson

Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee Hearing on Building a Resilient Economy: Shoring Up Supply

Tuesday, March 22, 2022; 10:15 AM

To view a livestream of the hearing please .

Sherrod Brown (D – OH), Chairman

Patrick J. Toomey (R – PA), Ranking Member

Witnesses:

The Honorable William E. Spriggs

Professor Of Economics and Chief Economist

Howard University and AFL-CIO

Dr. Betsey Stevenson

Professor Of Public Policy and Economics

University of Michigan

Dr. Erica R.H. Fuchs

Professor Of Engineering and Public Policy

Carnegie Mellon University

Dr. Veronique de RugyGeorge Gibbs Chair In Political Economy at the Mercatus Center

George Mason University

Dr. Phil Levy

Chief Economist

Flexport

Congressional Calendar

Monday, March 21

• 10 a.m. House Transportation Coast Guard Subcommittee  to explore small passenger vessel safety in light of recent maritime casualties. City Hall, Santa Barbara, Calif.
• 11 a.m. Senate Judiciary Committee  on Ketanji Brown Jackson’s nomination to be a Supreme Court Associate Justice.

Tuesday, March 22

• 9 a.m. Senate Judiciary Committee on Jackson’s nomination.
• 9:30 a.m. Senate Armed Services Committee  on four defense-related nominations.
• 10 a.m. Senate Agriculture Committee  on challenges to the rural care economy.
• 10 a.m. Senate HELP Committee  on cutting childcare and preschool costs for working families.
• 10 a.m. Senate Commerce Committee  of 13 bills, including the Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 2022, which would boost exporter’s access to cargo containers.
• 10:15 a.m. Senate Banking Committee  – Shoring up Supply to Build a Resilient Economy.
• 2:15 p.m. Senate Foreign Relations Committee closed : Update on the Iran Nuclear Negotiations.

Wednesday, March 23

• 9 a.m. Senate Judiciary Committee  on Jackson’s nomination.
• 10 a.m. Senate Foreign Relations Committee  on 19 bills, including one that would require reports on the adoption of a cryptocurrency as legal tender in El Salvador, as well as five nominations and a treaty with Chile.
• 10 a.m. Senate Aging Committee  on home-based services.
• 10 a.m. Senate Commerce Committee  on American competitiveness and semiconductor provisions in the China competitiveness bill.
• 10 a.m. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee  on promoting energy security through climate investments.
• 10 a.m. Senate HELP Committee  on federal mental health and substance abuse disorder programs.
• 2:30 p.m. Senate Indian Affairs Committee  on six measures, including one that would overhaul tribes’ collection and availability of health data.
• 2:30 p.m. Senate Armed Services Emerging Threats Subcommittee  on security cooperation in the Western Hemisphere.
•  3 p.m. Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee  on improving the VA’s assistance program for family caregivers.

Thursday, March 24

• 9 a.m. Senate Judiciary Committee on Jackson’s nomination.
• 9:30 a.m. Senate Armed Services Committee  on U.S. Northern Command and Southern Command.
• 10:00 a.m. Senate Banking Committee  on Strengthening Oversight and Equity in the Appraisal Process. 
• 11:00 a.m. Senate Foreign Relations Committee : Update on U.S.-Taiwan Policy

Covid-19 vaccine gap between countries persists as pandemic enters 3rd year

Indoor masks no longer required in 94% of counties

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The post This Week In Washington appeared first on С��ñֱ��app.

Latest news from Washington, D.C. produced by Total Spectrum/SGA exclusively for members of the Arizona С��ñֱ��app of Commerce & Industry

More Info: Michael DiMaria | Partner and Vice President of Business Development | 602-717-3891 | mdimaria@totalspectrumsga.com

Thanks for your interest in Washington, D.C., and thanks for reading This Week in Washington.

The lead story this week was the passing of the omnibus appropriations bill, first in the House of Representatives on Wednesday and then in the Senate yesterday.  There were a series of twists and turns, especially in the House. , my colleague who has spent years working and understanding the appropriations process, summarizes it all in his update article.

Heard on the Hill covers Washington’s reaction to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, a possible new legislative agenda for Senate Democrats, final passage of postal reform in the Senate, and a few parting words about the end of the worst part of COVID. 

 served on the House Ways and Means Committee and as Chairman of the Joint Economic Committee. He is concerned about the impact of our ever-growing national debt on each of us, and I think you will be concerned too when you read his article.

 monitored two hearings for This Week. The first is timely, given this weekend’s shift to Daylight Savings Time.  You can see her coverage of a hearing before the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Consumer Protection and Commerce entitled, “Changing Times: Revisiting Spring Forward and Fall Back.” The second hearing was before the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee on examining mandatory arbitration in financial services products.

We’ll be back in two weeks for the next issue of This Week. Stay well. 

Total Spectrum Managing Director

Heard on the Hill

By Steve Gordon, Total Spectrum Managing Partner

“History doesn’t repeat itself, but it often rhymes.” ~Mark Twain

George W. Bush ran for President in 2000 as a compassionate conservative, and he began his administration in 2001 determined to fulfill that vision. Then 9-11 permanently changed his presidency.

Joe Biden represented Delaware – a very pro-business state – in the U.S. Senate and was viewed as a moderate. Candidate Joe Biden was considered an electable compromise in the 2020 Democratic primaries and the person who could bring progressives, moderates, and independents together. But President Joe Biden created a domestic legislative agenda last year that was attuned primarily to the goals of progressives. 

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has changed President Biden’s presidency too – and perhaps permanently. Both George W. Bush and Joe Biden unexpectedly became war-time presidents.

President Biden seems to have – at least for now – bipartisan support in Congress for his response to the Russian invasion. His approach to both our allies and Putin’s savage attack has united NATO nations like never before.

President Biden announced Tuesday that he had signed an executive order that banned the import of Russian oil, liquified natural gas, and coal.  Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell announced Tuesday that there would be around $14 billion for Ukraine in the appropriations bill currently working its way through Congress. (The final number is $13.6 billion).

The Russian invasion is over two weeks old, and the messaging from the President and his administration is that the war will not be over any time soon. Russia has a significant size of force advantage, but their logistics and morale of their troops are poor. Ukraine has home field advantage, and the courage and morale of Ukrainians is off the charts. This is not the easy win Putin thought he would have, but he feels he can’t afford to lose the war. The administration expects Putin to double down with unimaginable brutality and bluster over the next few weeks.

The view of our defense experts is that Russia may be able to take control of key cities. But they also expect that the leadership of Ukraine’s government, the courageous response of their citizens, and the generous support of democracies throughout the world will make it difficult for Russia to occupy the country. 

Polls released this week show that Americans are responding to the President’s handling of this crisis, and that his popularity has bounced up a few points. But the administration clearly understands that Americans will be impacted by the war, and that pain is starting at the gas pump.  Gas prices on average have gone up about 70 cents per gallon in the past few weeks and will undoubtedly continue to rise. The President is blaming the price spike on “Putin’s War” as a way of shielding resentment from voters this November.

Senate Democrats talk about changing their agenda.

The Senate Majority is clearly in play this year and Build Back Better, the President’s signature legislative proposal, is going nowhere. That’s primarily because Senators Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) oppose the bill as currently written and won’t vote to change the Senate’s filibuster rule.

Democratic Senators who are up for reelection this year are talking about gutting the present Build Back Better proposal, suggesting it be repackaged as a cost-cutting bill that will help Americans deal with rising inflation starting with a plan to lower prescription drugs. Meanwhile, Senator Manchin has his own plan designed to reduce the deficit, lower prescription drugs, combat climate change, and reform the tax code. Democrats want to see if they can work with Senator Manchin to repackage and repurpose Build Back Better.

Democrats could pass a new Build Back Better plan using the budget reconciliation process, but that would require that all 50 Democrats stick together, and it is hard to imagine progressive Democrats jumping on that bandwagon.

Put a stamp on it – it’s done.

The Senate passed this week the long overdue postal reform bill which had previously passed the House of Representatives. The $107 billion bill had wide bipartisan support and passed the Senate 79 to 19. It now goes to the President for signing.

The bill removes financial liabilities and payments that have put great financial burdens on the USPS. It also mandates timely delivery requirements, encourages the purchase of new mail handling equipment, and encourages the push into package handling.

The worst of COVID is FINALLY behind us – at least for now.

Hawaii will lift its mask mandate at the end of March, becoming the last state to drop their indoor mask mandate. Twenty-six months ago – on January 20, 2020 – the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced the first U.S. laboratory-confirmed case of COVID-19 in the U.S.  COVID has impacted almost all of us in some way and it has taken the lives of 964,847 Americans as of March 8, 2022.

Appropriations Update

By Steve Ruhlen, Total Spectrum Partner

Once again, Congress punted on its annual duty to produce the twelve appropriations bills that fund the U.S. Government.  And, as usual, after marathon negotiating sessions pushed by a looming government shutdown and the urgency of the Ukraine war, they wrapped these dozen bills along with other bipartisan supported measures into a $1.5 trillion omnibus funding bill. The government has been operating under a continuing resolution (CR) – legislation that buys time by keeping the government running at the prior fiscal year’s levels – since last October.  The current CR expires tonight (March 11) at midnight.  

Last night, the Senate passed the omnibus 68-31.  The House had approved the funding bill late Wednesday night.

The omnibus increases defense spending by 5.6% to $782 billion and domestic or social spending by 6.7% to $730 billion.  The defense number is over $40 billion more than congressional leaders and the administration had agreed to late last year and is a victory for congressional Republicans who railed against President Biden’s initial proposals to slash defense to $715 billion.  

Because of the slim five vote majority Democrats hold in the House, passing the omni was a tightrope walk between the left and right.  Republicans opposed the domestic spending increases in the bill, while many Democrats opposed the increase in defense spending. To appease both groups – and most importantly, assure passage of the bill – Democratic leadership set up separate votes on the defense and domestic spending portions of the omnibus, allowing dissenters to register their votes while still ensuring passage of each element. Both parts were then combined into a final bill and sent to the Senate. 

The deal includes a bipartisan provision providing an additional $13.6 billion for humanitarian, economic, and military aid to Ukraine and NATO countries such as Poland who are assisting Ukraine. The Biden administration had requested $10 billion.

The House had been preparing to pass a separate set of sanctions against Russia that included a ban on imports of Russian oil and the raising of tariffs of products from Russia.  However, the tariff provision has been dropped per an administration request that the U.S. first discuss the measure with our allies.  The oil ban is essentially moot, as President Biden announced the ban earlier in the week – to the consternation of some congressional Democrats that he had pre-empted their legislation – and it is not likely that the Senate will vote on the measure. Nonetheless, on Wednesday the House overwhelmingly passed the oil ban.

The omnibus bill was to include $15.6 billion for domestic and international efforts to address COVID. True to Senate Minority Whip John Thune’s prediction in a recent , Republican and Democratic negotiators agreed to pay for it using funds that had been assigned but not yet transferred to many states.  Members from the affected states protested the provision and put in doubt House passage of the omnibus.  Speaker Pelosi pulled the provision from the bill and the COVID funding will proceed as separate legislation.  The House will vote on the COVID funding next week, though it faces an uncertain future in the evenly-divided Senate. 

The COVID funding represents a dramatic reduction of the Administration’s initial request of $35 billion and is regarded as another victory for Republicans. House and Senate Republicans opposed spending additional money on pandemic relief, questioning the need and demanding an accounting of previously appropriated COVID funds.

Not appearing in the omnibus are dollars to replenish the Restaurant Revitalization Fund. Many restaurants qualified for the grants last year but did not receive any funds before the available pot of dollars ran dry.  Also absent from the legislation are extensions for popular tax breaks, such as the full expensing of research and development costs and the COVID-era employee retention tax credit for small business.

Why the National Debt Impacts Each of Us

By Congressman Erik Paulsen, Total Spectrum Strategic Consultant

America’s debt recently surpassed $30 trillion, which compares to just under $12 trillion a decade ago. The federal government is currently spending $1 billion a day on interest payments alone. Over the next ten years, interest on the debt at current rates will total $5.4 trillion. But interest rates are going to rise to confront inflation, so the federal government will soon be making even larger interest payments on our debt. 

Most Americans agree that Congress should control or even start to pay down the national debt, but that agreement stops when Americans are asked what programs warrant support and what programs should be cut. Many Americans support increased spending on domestic programs. Many Americans understand that the nation must have a strong defense, particularly with rising threats from Russia and China. Also, many Americans support increased spending on defense, but only if it doesn’t dilute the available funds for domestic programs. 

In 2019, major entitlement programs—Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Obamacare, and other health care programs—consumed 51 percent of all federal spending, larger than the portion of spending for all other national priorities (such as national defense) combined. Add the cost of interest on the debt to the cost of entitlement programs and the problem becomes crystal clear. 

We have been putting the cost of many programs on the national credit card, and it hasn’t been as noticeable in times of low interest rates. But now inflation is at a 40-year high and interest rates are going up. Many in Congress are proposing more government spending, as well as tax increases, which would drive inflation even further. 

Here’s an example of how the costs of the rising debt will ultimately come out of your pocket – and mine.

Mr. and Mrs. Brown earn very good salaries and have a combined annual adjusted gross income of $400,000. They have two children near college age. They work hard to balance the family budget, and keep an eye on mortgage payments, groceries, gasoline, healthcare, utilities, automobile loans, and credit cards.  

While the Browns were focusing on their own expenses this past year and a half, Congress passed six major spending bills that provided relief to Americans from the pandemic. As a result, the annual budget deficit of the United States will be over $1 trillion for the foreseeable future. Even though the Browns have worked hard to balance their own family budget, the federal government now has to deal with the effects of the COVID epidemic. But more borrowing and higher government spending is not sustainable. 

The Browns currently pay around $110,000 in federal taxes on their adjusted gross income of $400,000.  The Biden Administration and Congress are proposing tax increases, and the Browns could expect their taxes to increase by at least $25,000 if those changes become law.  

These higher taxes would be used to fund additional government spending, not pay down our existing national debt. Does this sound fiscally responsible? 

A higher national debt will eventually result in the reluctance of investors and foreign governments to purchase our Treasury bonds, thereby forcing interest rates to rise. The result will be that the Browns will have to pay more for their mortgage, auto loans, credit cards, and any other lending products they may have.  

Some economists would propose that the federal government allow the value of the dollar to plummet so it can repay our debt with cheaper dollars. The Browns would surely have to contend with even higher inflation rates if our policy makers decided to go down that rabbit hole. 

Inflation is here. Interest rate increases are coming. How we deal with our national debt will soon impact each of us in ever more significant ways. 

Reducing the national debt – and its impact on each of us – will require American voters to demand action. Hopefully, Americans will demand action when they feel the impact that the national debt has on their personal finances. 

Hearing Report

By Ramona Lessen, Executive Director, Total Spectrum

House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Consumer Protection and Commerce hearing on “CHANGING TIMES: REVISITING SPRING FORWARD, FALL BACK”

Wednesday, March 9, 2022 – 9:30am

To view a livestream of the hearing please .

Representative Frank Pallone (D-6^th-NJ), Committee Chairman

Representative Jan Schakowsky (D-9^th-IL), Subcommittee Chairperson

Representative Gus Bilirakis (R-12^th-FL), Ranking Member

Witnesses:

Steve Calandrillo

Jeffrey and Susan Brotman Professor of Law

University of Washington School of Law

Beth Malow, M.D.

Professor of Neurology and Pediatrics, Director, Vanderbilt Sleep Division

Vanderbilt University Medical Center

Lyle Beckwith

Sr. Vice President, Government Relations

National Association of Convenience Stores

Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee hearing on Examining Mandatory Arbitration in Financial Service Products

Tuesday, March 8, 2022; 10:00 a.m.

To view a livestream of the hearing please . 

Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Chairman

Senator Patrick J. Toomey (R-PA), Ranking Member

Witnesses:

Mr. Paul Bland

Executive Director

Public Justice

Mr. Remington A. Gregg

Counsel For Civil Justice and Consumer Rights

Public Citizen

Professor Todd J. Zywicki

George Mason University Foundation Professor of Law

George Mason University Antonin Scalia School of Law

Mr. Steven Lehotsky

Lehotsky Keller LLP

On Behalf of the U.S. С��ñֱ��app of Commerce

Professor Myriam Gilles

Paul R. Verkuil Research Chair and Professor of Law

Congressional Calendar

Monday, March 7

• 6:15 p.m. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Closed/TS/SCI : Update on the Russian Invasion of Ukraine.

Tuesday, March 8

• 9:00 a.m. House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Europe, Energy, the Environment and Cyber  – Celebrating International Women’s Day: Updates from the Women-Led Democratic Movement in Belarus.
• 9:30 a.m. Senate Armed Services Committee  on reviewing testimony from the U.S. Strategic Command and Space Command for the fiscal 2023 defense authorization request.
• 10 a.m. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee to consider five energy and science nominations.
• 10 a.m. House Agriculture Farm Commodities Subcommittee virtual on rural development and the farm bill.
• 10 a.m. House Financial Services Committee hybrid  on the key causes of inflation. 2128 Rayburn.
• 10 a.m. House Judiciary Crime and Terrorism Subcommittee virtual on public safety in the Covid-19 era.
• 10 a.m. House Natural Resources Committee virtual  on examining the development of tribal co-management.
• 10 a.m. House Science Committee virtual  on climate adaptation and resilience.
• 10 a.m. House Small Business Committee  on the Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer programs. 
• 10 a.m. House Transportation Railroads and Pipelines Subcommittee  on the Surface Transportation Board’s reauthorization.
• 10 a.m. Senate Banking Committee  on mandatory arbitration in financial services products.
• 10 a.m. Senate Judiciary Committee  on combating hate crimes.
• 10 a.m. Senate Veterans’ Affairs Joint Committee hybrid  on various Veterans Service Organizations presentations.
• 10:15 a.m. House Energy and Commerce Energy Subcommittee hybrid  on American manufacturing and the future of electric vehicles.
• 2 p.m. House Foreign Affairs International Development Subcommittee hybrid  on USAID’s efforts to support locally-led development.
• 2 p.m. House Natural Resources Water Subcommittee virtual  on the conditions of the Klamath River Basin.
• 2:15 p.m Senate Foreign Relations Committee  to consider 11 State Department and ambassador nominations as well as routine lists in the Foreign Service.
• 2:30 p.m. Senate Foreign Relations Committee  – Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine: Assessing the US & International Response.

Wednesday, March 9

• 9:00 a.m. House Armed Services Committee  – US Military Activity in Indo-Pacific Region.
• 9:30 a.m. House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Consumer Protection and Commerce  – Revisiting Daylight Savings Time.
• 9:30 a.m. House hearing – Select Climate Crisis Committee  – Equitable Adaptation/Resilience to Climate Impacts.
• 10 a.m. House Small Business Committee  – New Investments in Workforce Development.
• 2:30 p.m. Senate Select Intelligence Committee closed  – Intelligence Matters.

Thursday, March 10

• 9:00 a.m. Senate Judiciary Committee  – pending nominations.
• 9:30 a.m. Senate Armed Services Committee  – US Military Posture in Indo-Pacific Region.
• 9:30 a.m. Senate Foreign Relations Committee  – US Security Cooperation/Assistance.
• 10:00 a.m. Senate Select Intelligence Committee  – Worldwide Threats.
• 10:00 a.m. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee  – Energy Security US and its Allies.
• 10:15 a.m. Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee  – pending nominations.

The post This Week In Washington appeared first on С��ñֱ��app.

Latest news from Washington, D.C. produced by Total Spectrum/SGA exclusively for members of the Arizona С��ñֱ��app of Commerce & Industry

More Info: Michael DiMaria | Partner and Vice President of Business Development | 602-717-3891 | mdimaria@totalspectrumsga.com

Thank you for your interest in Washington, D.C., and thanks for reading This Week in Washington.

In this edition, our friend and colleague brings us a summary of Democrats’ legislative must-dolist. brings us up to date on defense and related appropriations issues.

Washington is quiet – in fact, it’s beyond quiet. Both the Senate and the House are on a state or district work week. Congressional staff, folks involved in partisan politics, and people in the advocacy world are taking a few days to catch their breath. Add in the thousands of folks who have not yet returned to their offices, and you get a real sense why both Capitol Hill and downtown Washington are listless. Restaurants are near-empty (except for on Valentine’s Day), retail stores are holding on, and cabs are virtually non-existent.

But it is a very eerie quiet because there are a lot of things happening below the surface and across the ocean.

Democrats and Republicans are both mindful that this November’s midterm election will almost assuredly bring major changes to Congress. Both sides are working feverishly on candidate selection, fundraising, and messaging, and in normal recess weeks a political story would hold our focus. But there were two big events this week.

The first big story was President Biden’s selection today of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to be his nominee to replace Associate Justice Stephen Breyer on the U.S. Supreme Court. Ms. Jackson was previously confirmed by the U.S. Senate and currently serves on Washington’s federal appellate court. If confirmed, she would become the first Black female on the U.S. Supreme Court.

The second big story this week was Russia’s invasion Wednesday evening of Ukraine, which did unite Republicans and Democrats. Here’s a sampling of legislators’ responses to Russia’s invasion.

• “Vladimir Putin’s invasion into Ukraine is reckless and evil. The United States stands with the people of Ukraine and prays for their safety and resolve. Putin’s actions must be met with serious consequence.”  Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy
• “If there’s any authority [Biden] doesn’t have that he does need to increase sanctions on Russia, he’ll get it from Congress.” Congressman Adam Schiff (D-CA), Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee
• “Ratchet the sanctions all the way up. Don’t hold any back. Every single available tough sanction should be employed and should be employed now.” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell
• “The entire post World War international order sits on a knife’s edge. If Putin does not pay a devastating price for this transgression, then our own security will soon be at risk.” Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee

President Biden announced Thursday a series of on Russian companies and Russian individuals. These included a series of that are intended to severely impact Russian banks and financial institutions, Russian elites and their family members, and state-owned entities. The White House also announced a series of that will severely impact the exporting of technologies used by the Russian defense sector.

Whether Putin will be deterred by sanctions, no matter how severe, is yet to be seen. But it’s clear that the battle for Ukraine is really the first battle between the United States, Russia, and China for dominance in a rapidly changing world.

Former Senator Phil Gramm (R-TX) was elected to Congress as a Democrat and served in the U.S. Senate as a Republican until he retired in 2002.  Phil Gramm has a doctorate in economics and was a leader in the Senate for a strong defense. He often remarked to me and many others that “I don’t believe there will ever be a time when the lion will lay down with the lamb. Just don’t believe it. But if I am wrong, I surely would prefer to be the lion.”

We will be back in two weeks for the next issue of This Week. Stay well.

Total Spectrum Managing Director

Washington Whispers

By Patrick Robertson, Total Spectrum Strategic Consultant

In government as in business, the best laid plans do not last very long. Just six or seven weeks ago, Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) told everyone that he could not support the reconciliation package passed by the House known as Build Back Better (BBB). At the time, Democrats took this as a serious setback, but not the end of the effort. They said publicly that they would go back to the drawing board and work to get Sen. Manchin’s support.  

Since then, Supreme Court Associate Justice Stephen Breyer announced his retirement, setting off the confirmation process for his successor. In addition, the smoke was still rising off the Olympic Torch when Russia began its move into Ukraine. These two seismic events have scrambled the calendar and consumed Washington, and in the case of Russian aggression, the world.  

Shortly after the Russian action, President Biden released a list of sanctions and restrictions on the two breakaway regions in the Ukraine, two Russian banks, and some wealthy Russian families. He also announced other economic sanctions. The most severe penalties, like export controls, have been reserved for use if Putin and Russia decide to wage war. Congress was not able to agree on a list of potential sanctions before it left town for the recess last weekend, so the President was left to act alone with a Joint Resolution condemning potential Russian action against Ukraine.

Many said that the Build Back Better proposal would be back on track or at least headed in the right direction by this time. But the reality is that publicly, and by all reports privately, no real progress has been achieved on a new bill or discussions toward one. Labor negotiations between baseball owners and baseball players seem to be going better than talks on Build Back Better.

Senator Manchin has indicated he is not going to support the Build Back Better bill that the House of Representatives passed, and he does not seem inclined to provide an alternative. 

Opponents of Build Back Better say that this bill was too large, and supporters of the package should have waited to take inflation, world events, and pandemic recovery into consideration. They now contend that these things have stacked up to make the provisions of the Build Back Better no longer necessary.

While Build Back Better languishes without a clear path forward, Congress is working toward a final agreement to fund the federal government for Fiscal Year 2022, which began more than four months ago. Congress passed last week another stopgap bill funding the government at last year’s levels through March 11. Appropriators and leadership on both sides of the Capitol have agreed on a total funding number as well as allocations for each of the spending groups. They are now furiously writing the language of the bills and agreeing on individual programs.  

Most expect Congress will meet this March 11 deadline and will fund the government, crossing off one of the remaining items on it’s&�Բ�����;must get done to-do list before the mid-term election. A Supreme Court nomination and a few other miscellaneous items remain.

Primaries in Congressional and Senate races will begin in the coming weeks, although some states, like Ohio, are still finalizing their Congressional district maps. As these primaries and the general election begin in earnest shortly thereafter, Members of Congress will spend less time in Washington and more time at home.  

However, much like the plans for Build Back Better and so many other items, Congressional plans are subject to shifts in events and the whims of the world.

Defense Update

By Al Jackson, Total Spectrum Strategic Consultant

Congress recently passed another short-term continuing resolution (CR) to keep the government funded until March 11, 2022. All signs point to an agreement sometime in early March on a Fiscal Year 2022 funding package that will fund the government, including the Department of Defense, through September 30, 2022.  

In the interim, the administration is putting the finishing touches on a Fiscal Year 2023 funding package to send to Capitol Hill for consideration. It’s expected the budget request for the Pentagon will fall somewhere between $770 and $780 billion. This number does appear high compared to the FY22 budget request of $715 billion for defense, considering the administration has in the past signaled flat or decreasing budgets for defense. 

However, three consecutive CRs passed by the Congress have resulted in a decline in the military’s purchasing power, record breaking inflation this year, and a nearly six-month freeze in spending. The administration had little choice but to increase their funding request. The likely budget request for FY23 is an 8% increase over the previous forecast and 5% higher than the recently passed FY22 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). Additional concerns about the situation between Russia and Ukraine may shift the budget upwards.  

Various reports indicate that the defense budget will likely once again focus on greater investment in Research and Development (R&D) due to competition with China. Heidi Shyu, Under Secretary of Defense for R&D, recently indicated the FY23 R&D budget request would again be historically high. Recent comments from Pentagon leaders indicate the budget will favor R&D programs that are ready to move into production and procurement as opposed to those with a lower terminal readiness level (TRL), which is a measurement used by the military to estimate technology maturity. Army Secretary Christine Wormuth recently said key modernization programs are being scrutinized for cuts. Those that will survive are prototypes that are affordable and ready to scale. “If they’re not primed for this, they are vulnerable in the FY23 budget request.”

It is expected that most of the $60 billion increase in funding will be allocated to service members. The FY22 NDAA, even with its planned increase, does not track with the inflation impact on service members, and a 7.5% increase in costs with only a 2.7% increase in pay will severely impoverish our lowest ranking troops. For FY23, the NDAA called for a pay raise of 4.7%, well short of the 7.5% increase in inflation. As a result, OMB may direct DoD to submit a military pay raise of at least 7% for FY23, which will result in a price tag of $12 billion.  

Another $20 billion would be added to the Pentagon’s procurement and research accounts to help match up to congressional additions in the FY22 budget which were not part of the administration’s FY22 request. Current readiness costs are also increasing. The Air Force recently reported that it is cutting its flying hours to cover increased sustainment costs. The Army is forced to cut back training to pay for the deployments to Europe, and the Navy indicated they would have to reduce training exercises due to the lack of a timely FY22 budget.  

The rise in sustainment costs is a result of fuel price increases, deployments to Europe to counter Russian threats, and increases in the costs of spare parts. Additional readiness needed to offset these increased costs is about $20 billion. After the areas of pay for our service members, readiness, and sustainment, there remains $8 billion of the $60 billion to fund advanced weapons such as hypersonic, space, and cyber. 

Getting a FY23 budget approved will be a monumental challenge.��First, the administration will deliver a budget late to Congress, as it was supposed to be delivered in February but will not likely make it to the Hill until after the March 1 State of the Union address.��Budget negotiations for FY22 haven’t been completed, hence the passage of another CR until March 11.��Finally, as mid-term elections draw near, the prospects for starting FY23 under a long-term CR become more likely.

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