While Congress is still in its summer break, I thought this would be a good time to review what they have been up to in the first half of this year (as I promised in my last TODAY IN CONGRESS post before the break). When I originally considered doing this, I thought it would be one simple diary. But as I started reviewing the events of the past 7 months, I soon found out that although I usually write long diaries, doing all of this in one diary would be just too much even for me to cover in one diary. So I have divided it up into two parts. Part One (which I will cover here) will be about the legislative activity so far this year. Part Two (which I will post in a diary in the near future) will be about the Committee Activity with respect to IMPEACHMENT & SUBPOENA WARS, where I will review the various Congressional investigations and bring you up to date.
WARNING — Shameless Diary Pimping: I don’t like to do this (self-promote my own work), but I think this diary contains a lot of important information for all us DK folks. So even if you don’t have the time to read much beyond this point, I would ask you to at least press the “recommend” button so that others might see and read this long, but I think worthwhile piece of writing.
So let’s get started with Part One.
Part One (below) provides: 1. a table listing what I consider to be the important pieces of legislation acted upon by the 116th Congress thus far; 2. totals and an overall summary of legislation passed by the House and/or Senate; and 3. a description of some of the legislative highlights and my comments on them.
Legislative List: Before you delve into the table below, here’s a little column by column explanation of what is presented —
- The first column presents the date the legislation was passed by the House and the legislative identifier/number of each piece of legislation (H = House origin, S = Senate origin, J = Joint & R or Res = Resolution). I have used each identifier/number as a link to a summary or text of each actual Bill/Resolution. So if you are interested in finding out more about a particular bill/resolution just click on the identifier number.
- The second column presents a sometimes shortened title of each bill/resolution.
- The third column contains my brief description of each bill/resolution.
- The fourth column presents the House action on each bill/resolution.
- The fifth column presents the Senate action (or inaction) on each bill/resolution. Where a “*” is presented after the word, it signifies that the Senate acted on a similar piece of legislation later on. Where “N/A” is presented, it signifies that the legislation was a resolution expressing the feeling of the House and as such was not given to the Senate.
- The sixth column presents the President’s action (or inaction) on each bill/resolution. Where a “*” is presented after the word, it signifies that the President acted on a similar piece of legislation later on. Where “N/A” is presented, it signifies that the legislation was a resolution expressing the feeling of the House and as such was not given to the President.
116th congress legislative activity
date |
Bill/res. # |
Bill/res. title
|
bill/Res. description |
House action |
senate action |
president’s action |
1/3 |
H J RES 1 |
DHS Appropriations |
Reopens DHS & Reimburses furloughed workers |
Passed |
None* |
None* |
1/3 |
H R 21 |
Appropriations for Agencies |
Funding to reopen all closed Agencies |
Passed |
None* |
None* |
1/9 |
H R 264 |
Consolidated Appropriations Act |
Funding to reopen the Treasury Dept. |
Passed |
None* |
None* |
1/10 |
H R 267 |
DOT & HUD Appropriations |
Funding to reopen DOT & HUD |
Passed |
None* |
None* |
1/10 |
H R 265 |
Agriculture & FDA Approp. |
Funding to reopen Dept. of Agriculture & FDA |
Passed |
None* |
None* |
1/11 |
H R 266 |
Interior & EPA Appropriations |
Funding to reopen Dept. of Interior & EPA |
Passed |
None* |
None* |
1/11 |
S. 24 |
Govn’t Employee Fair Treatment Act |
Provides for furloughed Fed. Workers to receive back pay |
Passed |
Passed |
Signed |
1/15 |
H Res 41 |
Rejecting White Nationalism |
House only resolution condemning White Supremacy |
Passed |
N/A |
N/A |
1/16 |
H R 268 |
Supplemental Appropriations |
Provides Agencies funding for Disaster Relief |
Passed |
None* |
None* |
1/17 |
HJ Res 30 |
Disapproval of President on Sanctions |
Disapproval of lifting sanctions on Russian companies |
Passed |
None |
None |
1/23 |
HJ Res 28 |
Additional Continuing Appropriations |
CR reopening Certain Agencies thru Feb. 15 |
Passed |
Passed |
Signed |
1/23 |
H R 648 |
Consolidated Appropriations Act |
Provides funding for all Agencies thru FY 2019 |
Passed |
None |
None |
1/24 |
HJ Res 31 |
DHS Appropriations |
CR reopening DHS thru Feb. 15 |
Passed |
Passed |
Signed |
1/30 |
H R 790 |
Civilian Fed. Worker Pay Raise |
Raises all Fed. workers pay by 2.6% |
Passed |
None |
None |
2/13 |
HJ Res 37 |
Directs Removal of US Forces |
Directs removal of US Forces from Yemen in 30 days |
Passed |
None |
None |
2/26 |
HJ Res 46 |
National Emergency Declaration |
Terminates President’s Nat. Emer. Declaration along Southern Border |
Passed |
Passed |
Vetoed |
2/27 |
H R 8 |
Bipartisan Background Checks Act |
Prohibits gun transfers without a background check |
Passed |
None |
None |
2/28 |
HR 1112 |
Enhanced Background Checks Act |
Prevents gun transfers from a Licensed Dealer to an unlicensed person |
Passed |
None |
None |
3/7 |
H Res 183 |
Condemns Anti-Semitism & Anti-Muslim Descrim. |
Condemns Anti-Semitism & Anti-Muslim as Hateful Expressions |
Passed |
N/A |
N/A |
3/8 |
H R 1 |
For The People Act |
Election Security, Voter Access & Political Money |
Passed |
None |
None |
3/12 |
H R 596 |
Crimea Annex. Act |
Prevents any Agency from recognizing Russia’s annexation of Crimea |
Passed |
None |
None |
3/14 |
HC Res 24 |
Public Release of Mueller Report |
Calls for public release of the Mueller Report |
Passed |
None |
N/A |
3/27 |
H R 7 |
Paycheck Fairness Act |
Enhances prohibitions against wage descrim. on basis of sex |
Passed |
None |
None |
3/28 |
H Res 124 |
Transgender Military Ban |
Expresses opposition to Military Transgender Ban |
Passed |
N/A |
N/A |
4/4 |
SJ Res 7 |
Removal of US from Yemen |
Requires removal of all US Troops from Yemen |
Passed |
Passed |
Vetoed |
4/4 |
H R 1585 |
Violence Against Women Act |
Reauthorizes the Violence Against Women Act |
Passed |
None |
None |
5/2 |
H R 9 |
Climate Change Now Act |
Requires a Plan for the US to meet its Paris Accord obligations |
Passed |
None |
None |
5/9 |
H R 986 |
Pre-Existing Conditions Act |
Protects Americans with pre-existing conditions |
Passed |
None |
None |
5/10 |
H R 2157 |
Disaster Relief Act |
Provides $17.2 billion for natural disaster victims |
Passed |
Passed |
Signed |
5/16 |
H R 987 |
MORE Health Education Act |
Requires DHHS to conduct outreach regarding Health Insurance Exchanges |
Passed |
None |
None |
5/17 |
H R 5 |
Equality Act |
Prohibits discrimination based on sex, sexual orientation & identity |
Passed |
None |
None |
5/22 |
H R 1500 |
Consumers First Act |
Strengthens requirements for the CFPB to help consumers |
Passed |
None |
None |
5/23 |
H R 1994 |
Retirement Enhancement Act |
Enhances requirements for retirement plans & IRAs |
Passed |
None |
None |
6/4 |
H R 6 |
American Dream Act |
Prohibits removal proceedings against certain aliens & provides a path towards citizenship |
Passed |
None |
None |
6/18 |
H R 3253 |
Sustaining Medicaid Act |
Makes improvements in Medicaid programs & funding |
Passed |
Passed |
Signed |
6/19 |
H R 2740 |
2020 Appropriations Act |
Provides funding for a number of Agencies for FY2020 |
Passed |
None |
None |
6/25 |
H R 3055 |
2020 Appropriations Act |
Provides funding for a number of Agencies for FY2020 |
Passed |
None |
None |
6/25 |
H R 3401 |
Emergency Appropriations for Border Aid |
Provides $4.5 billion for migrant humanitarian aid at Southern Border |
Passed |
Passed |
Signed |
6/26 |
H R 3351 |
2020 Appropriations Act |
Provides funding for a number of Agencies for FY 2020 |
Passed |
None |
None |
6/27 |
H R 2722 |
SAFE Act |
Provides requirements for Election Security & paper ballots |
Passed |
None |
None |
7/9 |
H R 2515 |
Whistleblower Protection Act |
Expands whistleblower protections for SEC employees |
Passed |
None |
None |
7/10 |
H R 1044 |
Fairness for High Skilled Immigrants |
Increases the per country cap on immigrant visas from 7% to 15% & eliminates cap on work visas |
Passed |
None |
None |
7/12 |
H R 2500 |
National Defense Authorization Act |
Provides funding for DoD for FY2020 |
Passed |
None |
None |
7/12 |
H R 1327 |
911 Victims Compensation Fund Act |
Provides permanent funding for 911 1st Responders & Victims compensation |
Passed |
Passed |
Signed |
7/15 |
H R 2037 |
Saudi Arabia Accountability Act |
Requires action to provide accountability for the murder of Jamal Khashoggi |
Passed |
None |
None |
7/17 |
H Res 489 |
Condemning President’s Racist Remarks |
Condemns President’s racist comments against members of Congress |
Passed |
N/A |
N/A |
7/17 |
SJ Res 36 |
Disapproval of Transfer of Military Articles |
Prevents transfer of military hardware to Saudi Arabia, the UK & other countries |
Passed |
Passed |
Vetoed |
7/17 |
SJ Res. 37 |
Disapproval of Export of Military Articles |
Prevents export of military hardware & services to UAE & other countries |
Passed |
Passed |
Vetoed |
7/17 |
SJ Res 38 |
Disapproval of Export of Military Articles |
Prevents export of military hardware & services to Saudi Arabia & other countries |
Passed |
Passed |
Vetoed |
7/18 |
H R 582 |
Raise Wages Act |
Raises the federal minimum wage for regular & tipped employees over 7 years |
Passed |
None |
None |
7/24 |
H R 3375 |
Stopping Bad Robocalls |
To protect consumers from receiving unwanted robo- calls & texts |
Passed |
None |
None |
7/24 |
H R 3239 |
Humanitarian Standards for CPB Officials |
Imposes standards on CPB personnel for the humane treatment of immigrants |
Passed |
None |
None |
7/25 |
H R 3877 |
2019 Bipartisan Budget Act |
Increases discretionary spending limits & suspends the debt limit for FY2020 & 2021 |
Passed |
Passed |
Signed |
7/25 |
H R 549 |
Venezuela TPS Act |
Provides Venezuelan migrants with Temporary Protective Status within US |
Passed |
None |
None |
Legislative Totals & Overall Summary:
So here are the totals from the table above on what I considered to be the “important” legislation acted on during the first half of the 2019 year —
Important Bills/Resolutions Passed By The House = 54 (50 without House only resolutions)
Important Bills/Resolutions Passed By The Senate = 13
Important Bills/Resolutions Signed By The President = 8
Important Bills/Resolutions Vetoed By The President = 5
Now here are the totals of ALL Bills/Resolutions passed by the House during the first half of the 2019 year and how many were also passed by the Senate and signed by the President:
Total Bills/Resolutions Passed By The House = 127
Total Bills/Resolutions Passed By The Senate = 29
Total Bills/Resolutions Signed By The President = 15
The first thing I thought when I saw the above totals was WOW! Even I, who follows Congress very closely, was amazed to see the huge disparity between the number of bills/resolutions passed by the House so far and the number passed by the Senate and the fewer number signed into law by the President. The Senate only managed to pass 26% of the “important” bills/resolutions sent over from the House and only about 23% of the total # of bills/resolutions passed by the House. To look at it another way, McConnell blocked 37 of the “important” bills/resolutions sent over from the House and about 98 of the total # of bills/resolutions passed by the House. Of those that made it through the Senate, only 8 out of the 13 important bills/resolutions were signed into law by the President and only 15 of the 29 total # of bills/resolutions passed by both Houses of Congress. AMAZING numbers aren’t they?
To be somewhat fair to the Republican controlled Senate, its not that they weren’t busy during the first half of this year, its that they were busy doing the wrong thing from our Progressive point of view. That is they were busy confirming record numbers of Trump’s cabinet and judicial appointees. By my count, the Senate took about 192 votes to confirm about 96 Trump Appointees (assuming that each appointee received both a Cloture Vote to end debate and a Consent Vote to confirm the nomination), most of which were unfortunately lifetime appointments to the federal judiciary.
The second thing that astonished me about the bills/resolutions passed by the House was the Progressive nature of most of them. While I will go into a little more detail on the important ones in my “Description & Comment” section below, suffice it to say that Pelosi is right on the mark. These are (for the most part) FABULOUS pieces of progressive legislation for the American people that are getting far too little attention. While I expect the mainstream media to ignore them due to their non-salacious nature, I would hope that we in the Progressive Community and Democrats running in 2020 will do a better job of touting the Progressive nature of the bills/resolutions passed by the House which have been blocked by the Senate and this disgusting President. I think these numbers show in dramatic fashion what can be accomplished in terms of Progressive legislation if we can win the Presidency and take control of the Senate.
BTW, if you want to see how the breakdown of the House Vote on any legislation just click on this link and on the roll call # in the far left column. Also, if you want to see how the Senate voted on bills/resolutions/nominations just click here.
Description & Comments on Some Important Legislation:
So here’s a bullet point summary of some of the more important legislation from the table above passed by the 116th House thus far by topic and in chronological order. Please note how much of it has been blocked by the REAL power in Washington, Mitch McConnell.
- Reopening Government — As some of you might remember, the year started out with one-third of our government shutdown by Trump’s refusal to sign appropriations bills that did not include adequate funding for his Southern Border Wall. So on the first day of the 116th Congress (1/3/19), our new Democratically controlled House passed legislation to fund all closed Agencies through the end of FY2019 and reimburse all furloughed Federal workers. Of course McConnell, on Trump’s behalf, refused to bring this legislation to the Senate floor, as well as 4 other Bills providing funding for specific closed Agencies passed by the House during January, all because they did not include what Trump asked for in Border Wall funding. Finally, on January 25, Trump cried “UNCLE” and signed appropriations bills (HJ Res 28 & HJ Res 31) reopening DHS and other closed Agencies for less “Wall” money than allocated in previous Bills passed by the House. A HUGE WIN for us and the vast majority of the American people who opposed his wall money being tied to reopening government. Trump was also forced into signing a Bill (S. 24) to reimburse all furloughed Federal employees.
- Equality & Anti-Discrimination Legislation — On January 15, the House passed a resolution (H Res 41) denouncing White Nationalism and White Supremacy. On March 7, the House passed a resolution (H Res 183) condemning anti-Semitic and anti-Muslim remarks as hateful expressions of intolerance. On March 27, the House passed the “Paycheck Fairness Act (H R 7) to enhance protections against wage discrimination on the basis of sex (add this to the list of needed legislation that Mitch is sitting on). On March 28, the House passed a resolution (H Res 124) expressing its objection to the President’s ban on transgender individuals serving in the military. On April 4, the House passed legislation (H R 1585) to re-authorize the “Violence Against Women Act” (Still awaiting action by the Senate?). On May 17, the House passed the “Equality Act” (H R 5) a bill to add sex, sexual orientation and gender identity to the list of prohibited categories of discrimination or segregation (blocked by McConnell). On July 17, the House passed a resolution (H Res 489) condemning the President’s racist remarks aimed at members of Congress.
- Disaster Relief — On January 16, the House passed a Bill (H R 268) providing $14.2 billion in additional spending for Disaster Relief for those impacted by recent hurricanes (including PR), wildfires and other natural disasters. However, this Bill never made it to the Senate floor thanks to you-know-who, Mitch McConnell. Then almost 4 months later, the House passed a Disaster Relief Bill (H R 2157) for $17.2 billion that Mitch allowed the Senate to vote on and which the President signed. Why the delay? Beats me, ask Mitch.
- Russian Sanctions — On January 17, the House passed legislation disapproving of Trump’s Treasury Department announced lifting of sanctions on Russian aluminum company Rusal owned by Russian Oligarch Oleg Deripaska who was allegedly involved in Russia’s meddling with our 2016 election. But of course “#MoscowMitch” refused to bring this joint resolution to the Senate floor killing it and allowing the sanctions to be lifted. Besides pleasing Trump, McConnell apparently had another reason to block this legislation for his Oligarch “friend” Deripaska. This recent POLITICO story explains why. To make matters worse, McConnell has also blocked legislation passed by the House on March 12 (H R 596) that would prevent any Agency from lending assistance in any way that would imply recognition of Russia’s annexation of Crimea.
- Saudi Arabia & the Khashoggi Murder — On February 13, the House passed their first in a series of joint resolutions to require ending US military support for Saudi Arabia’s war in Yemen (HJ Res 37). This was both to stop the genocide of the Yemeni people being conducted by Saudi forces and as condemnation for Saudi Prince MBS’s killing of the WP journalist Khashoggi. While this never got to the Senate floor, both the House and Senate did pass a similar joint resolution in April (SJ Res 7) which was vetoed by Trump and which failed a veto override vote attempt. Not to be deterred, the House passed another Bill (H R 2037) on July 15 that would require the DNI to investigate the Khashoggi killing and issue a report to Congress, which has not been taken up by the Senate. Then on July 17, the House passed a series of Senate passed joint resolutions (SJ Res 36, 37 & 38) halting sales of US military hardware to Saudi Arabia and certain other countries which were all vetoed by Trump and failed override votes. So we can’t say that Congress didn’t try to do the right thing in response to MBS’s brutal murder of Khashoggi and his Yemeni genocide. But I guess money means more to Trump, and certain other Congressional Republicans, than human life. Sad!
- Southern Border & Immigration — To begin with, on February 26, the House passed a joint resolution (HR Res 46) to terminate the (phoney) “National Emergency” Trump declared to inappropriately shift appropriations around (i.e., mis-appropriate funds) to pay for construction of his Border Wall. Although passed by the Senate, Trump obviously vetoed the legislation and it failed an override vote. The good news is that the Courts have, for the most part, delayed Trump’s use of unauthorized funds for his wall while a number of cases wind their way through the Court system. On June 4, the House passed the American Dream & Promise Act (H R 6), a bill to protect “Dreamers” which cancels and prohibits removal proceedings against certain aliens and provides such aliens with a path toward permanent resident status. This is of course being blocked from Senate consideration by McConnell. On June 25, the House passed legislation (H R 3401) to provide $4.5 billion in supplemental emergency funding to Agencies to provide humanitarian relief assistance to immigrants being held in US custody along our southern border. This Bill was subsequently passed by the Senate and signed into law, but it was less specific in terms of what the funds could be spent on than an earlier House version, unfortunately leaving Trump some discretion. Then on July 10, the House passed a Bill (H R 1044) to increase the per-country cap on family-based immigrant visas from 7% to 15%, and to eliminate the 7% cap for employment-based immigrant visas, in order to increase legal immigration of highly skilled workers needed for US businesses and industry. Of course, since all immigration is bad in Trump’s eyes, he had his personal toad McConnell blocked it. And lastly, on July 24, the House passed a bill requiring the establishment of humanitarian standards with regard to immigrants held in CPB custody. This was of course also blocked by McConnell because why on earth would he be for treating undocumented immigrants like human beings.
- Gun Control — On February 27 & 28, the House passed a couple great pieces of gun control legislation. The first (H R 8) requires all gun transfers (except gifts to a spouse) to go through a licensed dealer so as to provide for a background check, closing the “Gun Show Loophole” and preventing gun transfers between individuals without a background check. The second (H R 1112) strengthening and tightening up current background check procedures. At that time, McConnell blocked both of these logical gun control measures from coming to the Senate floor since neither he, Trump nor the NRA wanted to see any such measures ever become law. However, fast forward to after El Paso and Dayton, and now Trump and McConnell want you to believe that they are now and have always been in favor of “meaningful background checks”. But as of this writing, Trump is backpedaling (as he has done in the past) and McConnell has gone silent on the topic. We will have to wait until September to see what they do, but I don’t expect it to be a sudden embrace of these two bills passed by the House and presently sitting on McConnell’s desk.
- Election Security, Voter Access & Political Contributions — On March 8, the House passed H R 1, — the “For The People Act, its first docketed and probably most important piece of legislation passed so far this year. The bill enhances voter access (i.e., makes it easier to register to vote and harder to suppress the vote), improves election integrity (e.g., requires States to establish redistricting commissions to draw District lines), tightens election security (e.g., provides assistance to States to defend against cyber attacks on their voting and registration systems), restricts political spending (e.g., puts in place new campaign donation restrictions), and puts in place new ethics rules for the three branches of government (e.g., prohibits members of Congress from serving on boards of For-Profit companies and requires all Presidential and VP candidates to disclose at least 10 years of tax returns). Then on June 27, the House passed the SAFE Act (H R 2722), a bill requiring that all voting systems used by States for federal elections to be backed up by durable paper ballots and puts in place other measures to insure verifiable election results. But, of course “#MoscowMitch” McConnell has blocked both these measures from consideration by the Senate because after all the American people really don’t want the right to vote, open and fair elections, and they especially don’t want to put in provisions making it tougher for Russia to interfere in our elections.
- Environment — On May 2, the House passed H R 9 — the “Climate Change Now Act” (no, they are not advocating for the climate to change now) to meet its previously agreed to obligations and goals as determined under the 2015 International Paris Climate Change Agreement. Of course if you haven’t noticed the trend, McConnell has blocked this Bill from getting to the Senate floor.
- Health Care — On May 9, the House passed H R 986 — the “Protecting Americans with Preexisting Conditions Act”, a bill that nullifies the Trump administration's recent guidance pertaining to waivers which would allow states to forego certain requirements of the ACA in order to implement experimental plans for health care coverage (i.e., Junk Plans). On May 16, the House passed H R 987 — the “MORE Health Education Act”, a bill implementing requirements and programs aimed at lowering the cost of prescription drugs, and requiring the administration to enhance public outreach and education programs designed to increase enrollment under the ACA. And yes, you guessed it, the man who really controls all the legislation in Washington, Mitch McConnell, has blocked both of these bills. Then on June 18, the House passed the “Sustaining Excellence in Medicaid Act” (H R 3253) making certain changes to extend and alter administration of Medicaid. I am not sure what these changes are but since the House passed this Bill which also passed the Senate and was signed by the President (God knows what they told Trump about the Bill so he would sign it), it is a good bet its a mixed bag of good and bad changes to Medicaid.
- Consumer Protection — On May 22, the House passed H R 1500 — the “Consumers First Act”, a bill that increases the staffing levels, establishes mandated consumer protection requirements and enhances the authority of the CFPB (Elizabeth Warren’s Agency) to protect consumers. On July 9, the House passed the “Whistleblower Protection Act” (H R 2515), a bill that expands whistleblower protections to SEC employees involved in investigating Securities violations. Of course McConnell has blocked both of these (Sorry, I know you are getting tired of hearing about the McConnell roadblock). Then on July 24, the House passed H R 3375 — the “Stopping Bad Robocalls Act”, a bill as the name implies, designed to stop annoying cell phone robocalls. So who likes receiving robocalls on their cell phone? I give you one guess. Give up? It must be Mitch McConnell because he is blocking this bill on behalf of the Robocall industry.
- Income Inequality — On July 18, the House passed the “Raise the Wage Act” (H R 582), a bill to increase the federal minimum wage for regular employees over a 7-year period, for tipped employees, and for newly hired employees who are less than 20 years old. Of course McConnell did not let anything to do with increasing wages of hard working Americans who are scraping by see the Senate floor.
- 2020 Budget, Appropriations & Debt Limit — Before I get started on the legislative accomplishments in managing our money, I should probably explain the difference between a budget, an appropriation and the debt limit, in governmental terms. A Budget is a framework that sets guidelines on how much the government intends to give to each agency or spend on each governmental function in a fiscal year. An Appropriation provides the details of how money can be spent by an agency and actually authorizes each such agency to spend the money as prescribed in the appropriation bill. The debt limit is the government’s self-imposed limit on how much debt it allows itself to accumulate. So now that that’s clear, lets go over the legislative activity. From June 19 through July 12, the House passed 4 separate Appropriations Bills (H R 2740, H R 3055, H R 3351 & H R 2500) to fund various government agencies through FY2020 which begins on October 1, 2019. However, the Senate has not yet taken up any of these bills yet. However, the House was able to pass the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2019 (H R 3877), get it passed by the Senate and signed into law. This bill increases discretionary spending limits, suspends the debt limit, and modifies budget enforcement procedures for FY2020 & FY2021. What is amazing about this bill and its passage is how spendedly Pelosi and House Democrats played the game. First they crafted a bill containing stuff both sides wanted. For instance, it raises limits on domestic spending that Democrats wanted and raises limits on Defense spending that Republicans wanted, removing what was known as “sequestration” limiting all such spending. It also suspends the debt limit something both sides wanted. Then Pelosi negotiated directly with Treasury Secretary Mnuchin to get his buy-in before bringing it to the floor, bypassing both the McConnell and Trump roadblocks. Brilliant legislative maneuvering on Pelosi’s part if you ask me.
- 911 Heroes Compensation Fund — On July 12, the House passed the “September 11 Victims Compensation Fund Act (H R 1327), a bill that funds the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 through FY2092, or effectively the lifetimes of all the 911 heroes. While this bill was passed by the Senate and signed into law, it is important to note that McConnell did not bring this bill to the Senate floor until July 23, a full eleven (11) days after it had cleared the House. So what could be more important to Mitch McConnell than the lives of our 911 heroes? Oh Yeah, confirming more unqualified Trump appointees of course. DESPICABLE!
CONCLUSION: In conclusion, (I know some of you are saying “FINALLY”) I would like to just make a couple of important points:
1. While the media likes to portray Congress as dysfunctional and unable to get anything done, that’s unfair because its only half true. The fact of the matter is (as can be easily discerned from the above) that while the Senate has done the absolute minimum legislatively (just enough to keep the country from collapsing), the House has passed a ton of legislation that a majority of the American people want. And a lot of it is the Progressive legislation we have always wanted to see passed. However, as Pelosi has frustratedly expressed in the past, the media (and frankly us Democrats too) have paid far little attention to what the House has been doing legislatively. While the media has been wrapped up in the day-to-day Trump tweets and whether or not there is an ongoing impeachment inquiry, it gives little or no coverage to the House passed legislation. While there is not much we can do about what the media puts out, we here at DKos need to appreciate what House Dems. are doing and how they have stuck together, both Moderates and Progressives, as a single caucus to pass a ton of needed and meaningful legislation. We should tout their accomplishments here on DK and if you have time, send a little thank you note to your favorite Dem. Representative and tell him or her to keep up the good work. We need to bring the Dem. Progressive legislative accomplishments as much into the public’s eye as we can going into 2020.
2. While we all like to bash Trump (who doesn’t), the real roadblock to our Progressive legislative agenda is another man, Mitch McConnell — Ruler of the Senate, as can be easily discerned from the above. He, with the support or silence of most of the other Senate Republicans, has blocked most of the 98 Bills/Resolutions that passed the House but failed to get past the Senate. While many of us get caught up in the Presidential Primary race trying to decide who we should run against Trump, it is important to keep in mind who is really blocking our Progressive agenda. I would argue that as long as our candidate can beat Trump, pretty much any of them will support and sign all of the Progressive legislation being passed by the House as President. While some of you may differ with me on that point, I think we would all agree that if we don’t take away Mitch’s power by winning a majority of seats in the Senate, it won’t matter which Dem. candidate gets elected President, our Progressive legislative agenda will be dead in the water if Turtle Boy still controls the Senate. Taking back the Senate by supporting and campaigning for our Senate candidates has to be a priority going into 2020, no matter who you are supporting in the Presidential Primary.
That’s it for now! Please Rec. and stay tuned for Part Two — IMPEACHMENT & SUBPOENA WARS.