Civic Register
| 1.9.22
House Returns From Recess for GI Bill Vote, Senate to Consider Nominations & Possible Filibuster Change
How do you feel about this week’s congressional schedule?
What’s happening in Congress?
- Congress will be operating at full capacity this week as House lawmakers will return to the Capitol this week from recess for their first floor business of 2022.
SENATE SCHEDULE
- The Senate convenes Monday when it’s expected to resume consideration of nominees after last week’s session was cut short due to inclement weather.
- At a time to be announced, the Senate will vote on the confirmation of Judge Gabriel Sanchez, who currently sits on a California state appellate court, and Judge Holly Thomas, who currently sits on the Los Angeles County Superior Court, to be federal judges on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
- The Senate is also expected to consider legislation to impose sanctions on companies involved in Russia’s Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline to Germany. Additionally, a vote on changing Senate rules to eliminate the legislative filibuster may occur, although it's unlikely to succeed. It’s unclear when either of these votes will be held.
- Committees will hold hearings on the federal COVID-19 response with a focus on new variants; the domestic terrorism threat one year after January 6th; and Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s renomination.
HOUSE SCHEDULE
- The House starts its week Monday with a roll call vote to establish a quorum for the Second Session of the 117th Congress, which will begin with the chamber’s first official day in session of the year.
- The rest of the week will feature votes on a bill to expand eligibility for post-9/11 G.I. bill educational benefits to members of the National Guard and Reserves, in addition to a bill to extend NASA’s authority to lease its unused properties for up to 10 years.
- Committees will hold hearings on Capitol security since January 6th; the implications of electric vehicle investments for agriculture and rural America; and the impact of continuing resolutions on the Dept. of Defense.
Check below throughout the week to see the vote results and updates to the schedule.
Schedule subject to change. All times Eastern.
HOUSE
Monday after 6:30pm
- Establishing a quorum for the Second Session of the 117th Congress
Tuesday or Wednesday after 12pm, or Thursday after 9am
- House Amendment to Senate Amendment to H.R. 5746: NASA Enhanced Use Leasing Extension Act of 2021
- H.R. 1836: Guard and Reserve GI Bill Parity Act of 2021
- Additional legislative items are possible.
SENATE
Monday after 5:30pm
- Confirmation of Alan Davidson to be Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information
Rest of the Week (TBA)
- Confirmation of Gabriel Sanchez to be U.S. Circuit Judge for the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals
- Confirmation of Holly Thomas to be U.S. Circuit Judge for the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals
- Cloture motion on the nomination of Amitabha Bose to be Administrator of the Federal Railroad Administration
- (If cloture is invoked) Confirmation of Amitabha Bose to be Administrator of the Federal Railroad Administration
- Possible consideration of Nord Stream 2 sanctions legislation.
- Possible consideration of changes to the Senate’s legislative filibuster.
- Additional nominations or legislation may be considered.
Tell your reps how to vote on this week's bills and share your thoughts below!
— Eric Revell
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Congress is supposed to be our most deliberative body. It’s FAILED! It’s not supposed to be a one-sided stand on party line, and damn what people want institution.
This is one of the stupidest questions posed by Causes. The House and Senate are laughable in their "work"!
I hope there is more attention to the needs and welfare of the people.
Sounds ok as long as they actually get something done! I am losing faith in our congress.
We must get rid of the filibuster so we have a democracy. We must pass a law to help citizens vote because now it is nearly impossible for some citizens to vote.
so far all right we will see how the republicans do their job for everyone or just for their personal beliefs and agendas and pockets
Better,but more needs to be done. Get cracking folks.
50-50 is the best we can hope for. That way neither side screws us!
Mitch McConnell blasts Biden as being profoundly unpresidential, rage and false hysteria? Trump administration attack, lied, rage and had hysteria on a daily basis. Where were you during Trumps administration? What a bunch of republican hypocrites. Now Mitch McConnell is doing what he is accusing Biden of doing. The difference is Biden is speaking the truth !!!!!!!! About voting rights and BBB. Mitch McConnell, Lindsey Graham, Ted Cruz and other republicans are suppressing the votes, of people of color and the poor! Wanting you to run down the rabbit hole! They committed fraud, forge documents they are nothing but the communist party!
These people do not serve their people. They make me sick. They are mostly all criminals!
PRORITY # 1 remove filibuster and pass right to vote. The House and Senate MUST focus on these issues.
:)
The filibuster generally and specifically as it is has been modified in recent years, is unconstitutional. The filibuster was added as a talking filibuster after the Civil War to give the Confederate states a forum to raise their issues as part of re-building our government. It was never intended to be a tool for the minority to constantly overrule the majority - that is not how a democracy works. The framers specifically called out those particularly critical Senate votes where they felt that a super-majority vote was warranted. There was no provision made nor intended that any super-majority vote should be required for anything else; in particular general legislative processes. … … … Given that we now have a Supreme Court dominated by ‘originalists’ hung up on the specific wording of the Constitution and that there was no legislation passed to authorize the filibuster - I would presume, that if they are truly honorable principled Justices and not just political hacks, they would have to agree that the filibuster, as practiced today, is unconstitutional because it gives undue influence to the minority to overturn the will of the majority. This is not consistent with a functional democracy nor the ideals enshrined in the Constitution. … … … The original filibuster, where a single Senator had to hold the floor by talking could certainly tie things up. But, this practice was not a ‘one and done’ proposition that any Senator can initiate with just a phone call. … … … As practiced today, the filibuster does nothing to cause further debate or indeed, any debate at all. It allows Senators to simply block legislation that is popular with the electorate but not their political dark-money benefactors. There is absolutely no accountability to the people that elected them. They are given the means to support their benefactors secretly and with no accountability to the people they supposedly represent and who granted the Senators the privilege to represent them. … … … Certainly, the minority needs tools to prevent their views to be simply ignored by the majority. But, the minority should not have tools to simply disregard the will of the majority. To be clear, every Senator’s oath of office is to protect the Constitution and the Country, which is the all of us. They have no charter to just work for their base, just their constituents, their benefactors, their political party and especially not just for themselves. … … … I am tired of Manchin’s very ‘principled’ arguments ginned up to support the needs of his political donors. I would remind him that the value of his ‘principles’ is not measured by the amount of dark-money donated - in fact, it would seem that ‘principles’ would best be measured by how little dark-money one receives.
Lets get to work for the country, not for party affiliation. We the people are demanding less grandstanding and more listening to our constituents. Discussion, compromise! Remember those?That filibuster needs to go like years ago. Sen. McConnell's bluster needs to be ignored. He's afraid of losing any of his power and control. We're watching.
PASS VOTING RIGHTS, PASS VOTING RIGHTS, PASS VOTING RIGHTS, PASS VOTING RIGHTS..............................
Unacceptable! Priority needs to be on securing democracy. All else is meaningless in the face of the GOP's drive to autocracy. The two bills to insure voter rights and access must be approved. And a bill must be created to define vote-counting integrity. The GOP wants to subvert the vote count when the democratic (general voting public) results don't favor the GOP preference.
For making future threats against Senator’s Joe McCarthy should be immediately removed from any and all Committee posts. This is not the way America is supposed to run you don’t threaten people with what you’re going to do in the future to them this man has proven himself to be untrustworthy and un-American and undemocratic. It’s time for this bullshit antics to stop threatening other people to achieve what you want out with McCarthy now! Who the hell this is idiot think he is? Remove him.
McConnell claims that the concern about the danger of destroying our democratic republic is just a big lie put forth by the Democrats are deliberately ignoring the fact that an international organization for the first time put America on its list of countries whose democracies are sliding toward autocracy and oligarchy. He is also ignoring the numerous experts, global and domestic, academic and journalistic, that are increasingly piling up to warn that our democratic republic is in danger. He is also ignoring the fact that at least 3 countries, including Canada, Australia, and the UK appear to be considering how they might respond should our democratic republic become an autocracy/oligarchy (some would argue that it’s already an oligarchy due to the political influence of the very rich). McConnell is a proven liar. McConnell will do and say anything (he’s proven that, too by his words and actions) to keep and grow his power. He is not worthy of the office he holds and has over and over again violated the oath he took when he accepted that office.
Hearing Republicans with their ad hominem attacks on Dr. Fauci and others gives me little hope for those hearings. Actually, the only things Repubs seem to want heard are their spins of and away from reality. Isn't it time to put a muzzle on that kind of grandstanding? We all know the fictions they purport to believe because it suits their grab for power.
CAUSES ASKS: "How do you feel about this week’s congressional schedule?" ME: So what? I'd be mighty happy EXCEPT for the reality that it is highly unlikely that the GOP and/or Man-Sen will let any of it pass, or even go forward. So much for any good coming to Americans.