TODAY IN CONGRESS (C-SPAN TV SCHEDULE):
I am posting the daily C-Span TV schedule, when I can, for those here who may be interested in tuning in to see what Congress is up to. Also, I have provided the results of yesterday’s votes on some significant Bills/Resolutions and important Committee action, when Congress was in session the previous day, as well as other Congressional Events of possible interest.
Here’s today’s schedule with the events I think may be the most interesting in bold. You can watch C-Span HERE. NOTE: Sometimes C-Span posts additional Congressional events not on my list, later in the day.
House:
9:54 am — House Judiciary Committee Hearing on Mueller Investigation (The House Judiciary Committee calls on former White House Counsel Don McGahn to testify on Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russia and the Trump campaign.)
10:00 am — House Homeland Security Subcommittee Hearing on TSA Workforce (The acting Homeland Security Department inspector general testifies on challenges facing the TSA workforce at a House Homeland Security subcommittee hearing.)
10:00 am — House Financial Services Committee Hearing on HUD Housing Policies (Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson testifies before the House Financial Services Committee on housing issues and his department’s policies.)
10:30 am — House Energy & Commerce Subcommittee Hearing on Prescription Drug Prices (A House Energy and Commerce subcommittee holds a hearing on prescription drug prices.)
2:00 pm — House Administration Committee Hearing on Election Security (Commissioners from the Election Assistance Commission testify before the House Administration Committee about election security and administration ahead of the 2020 elections.)
3:00 pm — House Ways & Means Hearing on Surprise Medical Bills (Medical experts and health policy officials testify on surprise medical bills at a House Ways and Means subcommittee hearing.)
Senate:
10:00 am — Senate Session (The Senate will continue debate on the nomination of Daniel Collins of California to be a U.S. Court of Appeals judge for the Ninth Circuit. Senators limited debate and advanced his nomination on a 51-43 party line vote during Monday’s session.)
10:00 am — Senate Banking Committee Hearing on Illicit Financing by Anonymous Shell Companies (The Senate Banking Committee holds a hearing on combating illicit financing by anonymous shell companies through the collection of beneficial ownership information.)
Yesterday’s (Friday’s) Voting Results:
House:
1. House Resolution 5 (H.R.5) On Passage — Vote on Passage of the Equality Act of 2019 (H.R.5, A bill that prohibits discrimination based on sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity in areas including public accommodations and facilities, education, federal funding, employment, housing, credit, and the jury system. Specifically, the bill defines and includes sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity among the prohibited categories of discrimination or segregation. The bill expands the definition of public accommodations to include places or establishments that provide (1) exhibitions, recreation, exercise, amusement, gatherings, or displays; (2) goods, services, or programs; and (3) transportation services. The bill allows the Department of Justice to intervene in equal protection actions in federal court on account of sexual orientation or gender identity. The bill prohibits an individual from being denied access to a shared facility, including a restroom, a locker room, and a dressing room, that is in accordance with the individual's gender identity.)
Democrats- 228 Yes 0 No 0 Present 7 Not Voting
Republicans- 8 Yes 173 No 0 Present 16 Not Voting
Totals- 236 Yes 173 No 0 Present 23 Not Voting
PASSED
Voting Details HERE.
Senate: Not in Session on Friday.
Comments:
Today’s Events –
House — Well today’s highlighted event will be has been the empty chair in the Judiciary Committee Hearing Room where former White House lawyer was supposed to sit in. I would guess Chairman Nadler will be asking his committee to vote on contempt of Congress this week or next.
Also, the Hearing at 2:00 pm on election security going into 2020 might be interesting, if not scary. I know I will be hugging my Teddy Bear tightly as I watch.
Senate — Just more judges.
Yesterday’s (Friday’s) Votes –
House — The House passed H.R.5, a Bill to extend anti-discrimination protections to the LGBT community. While some may be shocked that these protections don’t already exist, they don’t with respect to Federal law. On the vote itself, Democrats held together once again to support this legislation. On the Republican front, 8 decided to respect LGBT people, 173 decided that LGBT folks do not deserve to be protected, while 16 were conveniently absent. Yes, like many of the other Bills passed by the House this year, McConnell will make sure it never gets to the Senate floor. But, like many of the other Bills passed by the House, it will serve as another marker for 2020 as to what can be accomplished with a Democratic President and a Democratic Senate majority.
Senate — Not in Session on Friday, as usual.
Other Events — SUBPOENA WARS —
House Judiciary Committee Barr Subpoena — AG William Barr continues to ignore the House Judiciary Committee’s subpoena for the un-redacted Mueller Report and all supporting documents, despite the contempt citation passed by the Committee. At present we are waiting for Pelosi to schedule a Contempt vote by the full House. She reportedly is waiting to see how things play out with respect to other subpoenas to possibly group them together into one or a series of votes.
House Judiciary Committee McGahn Subpoena — Don McGahn is supposed to appear before the House Judiciary Committee TODAY in response to his subpoena. His lawyers are saying he won’t appear due to White House direction that he defy the subpoena. The White House is saying:
““The Department of Justice has provided a legal opinion stating that, based on long-standing, bipartisan, and constitutional precedent, the former counsel to the president cannot be forced to give such testimony, and Mr. McGahn has been directed to act accordingly,” White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement. “This action has been taken in order to ensure that future presidents can effectively execute the responsibilities of the Office of the Presidency.”
So today we are likely to see Nadler convene the Hearing to an empty chair. Representative Jerrold Nadler of New York, the Committee’s chairman, said Monday night that his committee would vote soon to recommend the House hold Mr. McGahn in contempt of Congress.
House Judiciary Committee Mueller Testimony — Not much new on Mueller’s testimony. Nadler did say yesterday that talks are ongoing and alluded to the possibility that Mueller’s continued employment by the DoJ might be causing the delay, although publicly AG Barr says he is not opposed to Mueller testifying. Nadler also says he does not know why Mueller is still under the employment of the DoJ now that he has submitted his final report. It seems obvious to me that the White House has instructed DoJ to keep Mueller on so they can prevent/delay his testimony. Mueller may have to resign from the DoJ to testify. Also, there is the matter of what he can and can’t say due to the redacted portions of his report and the lack of underlying document being made available to Congress.
House Intelligence Committee Subpoena — Nothing really new on the House Intelligence Committee’s subpoena to AG Barr for “documents and materials related Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation, including all counterintelligence and foreign intelligence materials produced during the Special Counsel’s investigation, the full unredacted report, and the underlying evidence”. However, Chairman Adam Schiff said the Committee will meet next week to consider subpoena enforcement options. I smell a second Contempt of Congress vote for Barr. Also, yesterday the Intelligence Committee released about 600 pages of previously sealed testimony by Michael Cohen before the Committee. In it he told the Committee that Trump lawyers told him to lie to Congress about the timing of the Moscow Project and the Kushner’s (Jared & Ivanka) involvement in it.
House Oversight and Reform Committee Subpoena — Yesterday, Judge Amit Mehta ruled on the case involving the subpoena of Mazars, Trump’s former accounting firm, for Trump’s past financial records. In his ruling in favor of Congress, the Judge found that:
Democrats' subpoena fell within established congressional investigative and oversight powers, which generally only require that subpoenas serve some "valid legislative purpose." The judge noted that the probe could uncover conflicts of interest in the White House, as well as potential violations of the Foreign Emoluments Clause or the reporting requirements of The Ethics in Government Act of 1978.” Also, Mehta said he would not stay his ruling pending appeal, despite the risk of permanently compromising Trump's private financial information, in part because of the public's strong interest in Democrats obtaining the records. That means the subpoena will take effect within 7 days unless it is stayed by another court on appeal.
But based on his questioning during the Hearing its not a question of whether he will rule in Congress’s favor (that seems certain), it’s just a question of when.
An appeal by Trump is likely.
House Ways & Means Committee Subpoena (Trump’s Tax Returns) — On Friday Treasury Secretary Mnuchin defied the Committee’s a subpoena for 6 years of Trump’s tax returns, based on the Doj’s legal guidance (i.e., AG Barr, aka Trump’s Roy Cohn). Mnuchin said the matter should be for the courts t decide. Committee Chairman said he expects to quickly go to court to enforce the subpoena but gave no details.
Thanks for Reading!