TODAY IN CONGRESS (TIC):
Your One Stop Shop For Learning What Our Congress Critters Are Up To!
Today’s Headlines:
House HEROES Act (CARES 4.0 ) Bill Goes To Rules Committee TODAY!
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Dr. Rick Bright to Blow Whistle on Trump at House Hearing TODAY!
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Judge Sullivan is Keeping Flynn in Limbo!
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House Rules Changes to Allow Proxy Voting Unveiled!
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Details below.
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.
Today’s Events:
House —
10:00 am — Dr. Rick Bright Testifies Before House Energy & Commerce Subcommittee (Rick Bright, the recent director of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) who says he was removed from his job, testifies before a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee.)
11:00 am — House Rules Committee Markup Session (The House Rules Committee meets to consider a $3 trillion coronavirus response bill as well as a resolution authorizing remote voting by proxy as well as remote committee proceedings.)
3:00 pm — House Pro Forma session.
Senate — Nothing on the schedule. Perhaps they have gone home for another long weekend?
Comments:
Today Events — Today’s recommended C-Span TV viewing picks are the popcorn worthy House Hearing with Dr. Bright and the Rules Committee markup of the HEROES Bill (CARES 4.0). Details below.
HEROES Bill (CARES 4.0) — The House Corona Virus Aid Bill unveiled yesterday is called the “Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions Act’’ or the ‘‘HEROES Act’’. Yes, another catchy acronym from Congress. This Bill, coming out at a total price of around $3 Trillion, is by far the biggest Corona Virus Bill thus far not only in $$, but in scope. It contains just about everything you can think of targeted to help the lower 99% through the pandemic. You can read the full 1800 pages of the Bill HERE. But If you don’t have time for all that reading, I have presented just the Bill’s Table of Contents below, to give you some idea of the scope of this HUGE Bill:
DIVISION A—CORONAVIRUS RECOVERY SUPPLEMENTAL APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2020
DIVISION B—REVENUE PROVISIONS
Title I—Economic stimulus
Title II—Additional relief for workers
Title III—Net operating losses
DIVISION C—HEALTH PROVISIONS
Title I—Medicaid Provisions
Title II—Medicare Provisions
Title III—Private Insurance Provisions
Title IV—Application to Other Health Programs
Title V—Public Health Policies
Title VI—Public Health Assistance
DIVISION D—RETIREMENT PROVISIONS
Title I—Relief for Multiemployer Pension Plans
Title II—Relief for Single Employer Pension Plans
Title III—Other Retirement Related Provisions
DIVISION E—CONTINUED ASSISTANCE TO UNEMPLOYEDWORKERS
DIVISION F—ASSISTANCE TO AGRICULTURAL PRODUCERS AND OTHER MATTERS RELATING TO AGRICULTURE
Title I—Livestock
Title II—Dairy
Title III—Specialty Crops and Other Commodities
Title IV—Commodity Credit Corporation
Title V—Conservation
Title VI—Nutrition
DIVISION G—ACCOUNTABILITY AND GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS
Title I—Accountability
Title II—Census Matters
Title III—Federal Workforce
Title IV—Federal Contracting Provisions
Title V—District of Columbia
Title VI—Other Matters
DIVISION H—VETERANS AND SERVICE MEMBERS PROVISIONS
DIVISION I—SMALL BUSINESS PROVISIONS
DIVISION J—SUPPORT FOR ESSENTIAL WORKERS, AT-RISK INDIVIDUALS, FAMILIES, AND COMMUNITIES
Title I—Family Care for Essential Workers
Title II—Pandemic Emergency Assistance and Services
Title III—Program flexibility during the pandemic
DIVISION K—COVID–19 HERO ACT
Title I—Providing Medical Equipment for First Responders and Essential Workers
Title II—Protecting Renters and Homeowners from Evictions and Foreclosures
Title III—Protecting People Experiencing Homelessness
Title IV—Suspending Negative Credit Reporting and Strengthening Consumer and Investor Protections
Title V—Forgiving Student Loan Debt and Protecting Student Borrowers
Title VI—Standing Up For Small Businesses, Minority-Owned Businesses, and Non-Profits
Title VII—Empowering Community Financial Institutions
Title VIII—Providing Assistance for State, Territory, Tribal, and Local Governments
Title IX—Providing Oversight and Protecting Taxpayers
DIVISION L—FAMILIES, WORKERS, AND COMMUNITY SUPPORT PROVISIONS
Title I—Amendments to Emergency Family and Medical Leave Expansion Act and Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act
Title II—COVID–19 Workforce Development Response Activities
Title III—COVID–19 Every Worker Protection Act of 2020
Title IV—Community and Family SupportTitle V—COVID–19 Protections under Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act
DIVISION M—CONSUMER PROTECTION AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS PROVISIONS
Title I—COVID–19 Price Gouging Prevention
Title II—E–Rate Support for Wi-Fi Hotspots, Other Equipment, and Connected Devices
Title III—Emergency Benefit for Broadband Service
Title IV—Continued Connectivity
Title V—Don’t Break Up the T–Band
Title VI—National Suicide Hotline Designation
Title VII—COVID–19 Compassion and Martha Wright Prison Phone Justice
Title VIII—Healthcare Broadband Expansion During COVID–19
DIVISION N—GIVING RETIREMENT OPTIONS TO WORKERS ACT
DIVISION O—EDUCATION PROVISIONS AND OTHER PROGRAMS
Title I—Higher Education Provisions
Title II—Other Programs
DIVISION P—ACCESS ACT
DIVISION Q—COVID–19 HEROES FUND
Title I—Provisions relating to State, Local, Tribal, and Private Sector Workers
Title II—Provisions relating to Federal employees and COVID–19
Title III—Coordination of benefits with other programs and laws
DIVISION R—CHILD NUTRITION AND RELATED PROGRAMS
DIVISION S—OTHER MATTERS
Title I—Health Care Access for Urban Native Veterans Act
Title II—Tribal School Federal Insurance Parity
Title III—PRC for Native Veterans Act
Title IV—Wildlife-Borne Disease Prevention
Title V—Pandemic Relief for Aviation Workers and Passengers
Title VI—Amtrak and Rail Workers
Title VII—Energy and Environment Provisions
Title VIII—Death and disability benefits for public safety officers impacted byCOVID–19
Title IX—Victims of Crime Act Amendments
Title X—Jabara-Heyer NO HATE Act
Title XI—Prisons and Jails
Title XII—Immigration Matters
Title XIII—Coronavirus Relief Fund Amendments
Title XIV—Rural Digital Opportunity
Title XV—Foreign Affairs Provisions
DIVISION T—ADDITIONAL OTHER MATTERS
Now that you are likely overwhelmed by the above scope of the HEROES Bill, here’s a summary of
of the highlights from NPR:
The more than 1,800-page bill marks a long wish list for Democrats, including nearly $1 trillion to state, local and tribal governments and another round of direct cash payments to Americans. It extends unemployment benefits to January, adds hazard pay for front-line workers and expands virus-testing efforts.
The new legislative proposal, released Tuesday, provides large sums for some of Democrats' top priorities, including $500 billion in direct, flexible aid for state governments and an additional $357 billion for local governments and counties. Many Senate Republicans have criticized the push for more state aid, arguing that any new money needs to be tied to the pandemic and not help address budget issues that predated the crisis.
Democrats set aside $3.6 billion to protect federal elections, $25 billion to support the U.S. Postal Service, $100 billion for low-income rent support, $75 billion for a homeowner assistance fund and $100 million for the Violence Against Women Prevention and Prosecution Programs.
The bill includes some changes to programs that were approved in the CARES Act, including an expansion of the IRS payment program. Democrats want more generous benefits for families, including a $1,200 payment for each dependent. The CARES Act limits payments to $500 per child; adults or other dependents do not currently qualify. The bill provides up to $6,000 per household.
It also expands funding for small-business loans, enhances an employee-retention tax credit program and boosts worker protections.
The Bill will be taken up by the House Rules Committee today to set the rules for debating and voting on the Bill which is expected to be on the House Floor on Friday. Also, in an unexpected but welcome coincidence, Trump’s hand picked head of the Federal Reserve, Jerome Powell, made an announcement yesterday stating that Congress needs to provide more economic assistance to whether the pandemic. Definitely not what “enrich the rich, screw the rest” McConnell wanted to hear.
House Rules Changes — After several weeks of hemming and hawing, the House is finally getting around to change their rules to allow proxy voting by its Members, so as to avoid the COVID-19 health risks associated with flying back and forth to Washington and convening in large groups. Here are some details from The Hill:
House Democrats on Wednesday unveiled a measure that would allow for a form of remote voting and virtual committee work as a way to ensure that lawmakers can proceed with legislative business while away from the Capitol during the coronavirus pandemic.
The proposed changes would allow proxy voting, in which absent lawmakers could authorize colleagues physically present in the House chamber to cast floor votes on their behalf.
It would also allow committees to conduct hearings, depositions and markups of legislation remotely. Such committee meetings could be done with proceedings conducted in a committee room with some members participating remotely — a "hybrid" format the Senate has also recently implemented — or with everyone participating from remote locations.
Such changes would only be allowed for the duration of the coronavirus pandemic.
All I can say is AMEN! Such rules changes seem like “no brainers” to me. I can’t for the life of me figure out why it took so long to get this done? Maybe it was being opposed by Republicans with “no brains”. Anyway, the House Rules Committee will meet today to markup the Rule Change Bill to send it to the House Floor by Friday.
COMMITTEE ACTIVITY:
Introduction:
NOTE #s1 — 4: To keep this diary as short as possible while still providing a means for new readers to obtain a chronological history on each Committee Activity topic/event below, I have squirreled away the Background information on these topics in other previously posted diaries. So each topic’s Background section below will include links to my September 26, 2019 Diary for Background prior to November 22, my November 22, 2019, 2019 Diary for Background between November 22, 2019 and January 30, 2020, and my January 30, 2020 Diary for Background from January 30, 2020 until today. This and other regular TIC diaries will only include Recent Developments (stuff that happened the day before) and New Developments on each Committee topic/event. Also, I will discontinue posting Committee topics/events that have been inactive for weeks, but their histories will remain in the Background Diaries. If something new happens on these discontinued topics/events, I will bring them back from the dead and post it in the regular TIC.
Now on with the show. (New and Important stuff in bold)
House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis (NEW) —
Background — This Committee was born on the same day that the House passed CARES 3.5, by passage of H.Res. 938. As the name implies it will provide and coordinate oversight of the Trump Administration with regard to the Coronavirus Crisis.
Recent Developments — None
New Developments — The House Select Subcommittee on the Corona Crisis, lead by Representative Jim Clyburn (D-SC), held its first Hearing yesterday. While Democrats attended remotely via video link, the all male GOP Committee members lead by Steve Scalise did not. According to CBS News:
Congressman Steve Scalise, the ranking member of the panel, revealed that all the Republican members of the committee were in one room together, to show that social distancing could be accomplished if the House returned to the Capitol. Other members of the committee and the panelists in the hearing were patched in remotely.
Yes, the all male GOP contingent crammed into what did not appear to be very large conference room without masks. I don’t know if they were informed that the Medical Experts have concluded that high levels of testosterone do not make you immune to the Corona virus.
After the GOP Members finished with their political stunt, the Hearing only got more rancorous, as described by POLITICO:
But the stark divide between the parties extended to the substance of the briefing as well. Democrats — echoing the predictions of public health experts — described a crisis that could linger for year longer until a vaccine is developed. They worried about shortages of medical equipment, coronavirus tests and the prospect of renewed outbreaks that could erupt if the country reopens too quickly. They also repeatedly laid the crisis at the feet of a slow-going federal response that has at times left states to fend for themselves.
Republicans, meanwhile, emphasized the skyrocketing unemployment rate and suggested the ills of mass unemployment could outweigh the efforts to guard against the virus through stay-at-home orders.
"The key to all of this is perspective," said Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-Mo.), describing suicides and postponed health procedures as a grave threat. "I don't minimize [coronavirus] risk at all. It's there. The problem is, the rest of society has certainly got a health problem as well."
You can read more about the meeting in the POLITICO Story.
House Energy & Commerce Committee COVID-19 Hearings —
Background — See my May 12 TIC.
Recent Developments — None.
New Developments — Whistle-blower and Doctor Rick Bright will appear before the House Committee today to testify about the Federal Corona virus response, or lack of response. But before we get to that a little background on Dr. Bright which you may already be aware of from CBS News:
Bright's whistleblower complaint, filed earlier this month, says he was removed as director of BARDA soon after the publication of an article about chloroquine for which Bright admits he was a source.
Government officials, he said in his complaint, "refused to listen," so Bright opted to talk to a journalist. He said he believed that he had a moral obligation to do what he could to protect the public "from drugs which he believed constituted a substantial and specific danger to public health and safety."
The federal Office of Special Counsel last week determined his removal was retaliatory and said that Bright should be reinstated as director of BARDA while the matter is investigated.
President Trump has referred to hydroxychloroquine as a potential "game-changer" in treating COVID-19 and has recommended the use of the antimalarial drug as a potential treatment, despite limited evidence of the drug's efficacy.
In mid-April, the Trump administration granted chloroquine an Emergency Use Authorization, an FDA authority that allows unapproved medical products to be used in medical emergencies. The FDA on April 24 cautioned against the use of hydroxychloroquine or chloroquine "outside of the hospital setting or a clinical trial."
Bright claims his persistent warnings caused tension with his bosses at the Department of Health and Human Services. He says it reached a breaking point when he raised concerns over the administration's embrace of hydroxychloroquine, what Bright called a drug unproven to treat COVID-19 patients.
"You believe you were retaliated against because you raised concerns about hydroxychloroquine?" CBS News' Norah O'Donnell asked Bright in a "60 Minutes" interview that will air May 17.
"Yes. I do," Bright replied.
So what’s in store at today’s Hearing? Here’s a taste of Dr. Bright’s just released opening statement from ABC News:
Rick Bright, the former head of the federal agency charged with overseeing the rapid production of a vaccine to fight the novel coronavirus, will warn of the "darkest winter in modern history" if the United States -- in his words -- does not develop a coordinated approach based in science to combat the virus.
"Our window of opportunity is closing. If we fail to develop a national coordinated response, based in science, I fear the pandemic will get far worse and be prolonged, causing unprecedented illness and fatalities. While it is terrifying to acknowledge the extent of the challenge that we currently confront, the undeniable fact is there will be a resurgence of the COVID19 this fall, greatly compounding the challenges of seasonal influenza and putting an unprecedented strain on our health care system," Bright’s opening statement to the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health reads.
"Without clear planning and implementation of the steps that I and other experts have outlined, 2020 will be darkest winter in modern history," Bright plans to say.
Have your popcorn ready! This will be fun to watch.
Senate Health Committee to Hold COVID-19 Hearing —
Background — See my May 12 & 13 TICs.
Recent Developments — Well Dr. Fauci did not disappoint. Here’s the highlighted Fauci quote from CNN:
"My concern that if some areas -- cities, states or what have you -- jump over those various checkpoints and prematurely open up, without having the capability of being able to respond effectively and efficiently, my concern is we will start to see little spikes that might turn into outbreaks," Fauci said in testimony before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.
"There is a real risk that you will trigger an outbreak that you may not be able to control, which in fact, paradoxically, will set you back, not only leading to some suffering and death that could be avoided but could even set you back on the road to try to get economic recovery," Fauci later added.
Will Trump fire Fauci? Probably not. It seems the new Trump plan is to move on to the economy only model, and sideline Fauci and the other medical experts.
New Developments — None.
House Judiciary Committee Barr Subpoena for Mueller Grand Jury Materials —
Background — Pre-Nov. 22 CLICK HERE. Nov. 22 to Jan. 30 CLICK HERE. Post Jan 30 CLICK HERE. Also, see my May 11 TIC.
Recent Developments — None.
New Developments — None. Since I haven’t heard any Breaking News that the Grand Jury Materials were handed to Congress yesterday, I have to assume that SCOTUS granted at least a 7 day stay, while they decide whether to hear the DoJ’s appeal. If anyone else knows more, please comment.
House Judiciary Committee McGahn Subpoena —
Background — Pre-Nov. 22 CLICK HERE. Nov. 22 to Jan. 30 CLICK HERE. Post Jan 30 CLICK HERE. Also, see my May 5 TIC for details on the April 28 DC Circuit Court (virtual) Hearing in this case.
Recent Developments — None.
New Developments — None, awaiting Court Ruling.
House Judiciary & Intelligence Committee News —
NOTE #1: This used to be the “House Intelligence Committee’s Whistleblower Investigation”. Then it was titled the “House Intelligence, & Judiciary Committees’ Impeachment Investigation”. Then it was titled the “House & Senate Impeachment Proceedings.” But since Trump’s first impeachment is over, I have changed the heading again.
Background — Pre-Nov. 22 CLICK HERE. Nov. 22 to Jan. 30 CLICK HERE. Post Jan 30 CLICK HERE. Also, see my May 11 TIC.
Recent Developments — None.
New Developments — None.
House Intelligence Committee Flynn Subpoena —
Background — Pre-Nov. 22 CLICK HERE. Nov. 22 to Jan. 30 CLICK HERE. Post Jan 30 CLICK HERE. Also, see my May 11 , 12 & 13 TICs.
Recent Developments — Well Judge Sullivan has (partly) broken his silence on the Flynn case. According to this TPM Report:
After days of silence, the federal judge overseeing Michael Flynn’s criminal case made his first public move since the Justice Department announced its controversial request to drop the prosecution.
U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan issued a lengthy, yet also cryptic, order Thursday that announced he would, “at an appropriate time,” lay out a schedule for him to consider friend-of-the-court briefs.
It is unclear whether Sullivan publicly laid out this guidance because he anticipated outside parties would want to file amicus briefs, because he wanted to encourage the filing of amicus briefs or because someone had already tried to file an amicus brief. (CNN noted earlier Tuesday that there is a docket entry in the Flynn case for which the underlying filing has not been made public.)
But regardless, the order suggests that Sullivan is not going to be wrapping up the case up ASAP, as he intends to provide an opportunity for the filing of friend-of-the-court briefs.
This case is far from over. So don’t give up hope!
New Developments — Well Judge Sullivan has taken it to a whole new level today with regard to Barr’s motion to dismiss the charges against Michael Flynn. According to POLITICO:
Sullivan’s order also directed the retired judge, John Gleeson, to recommend whether Flynn should face a criminal contempt charge for perjury — apparently for declaring under oath at two different court proceedings that he was guilty of lying to the FBI, before he reversed course in January and claimed he had never lied.
Sullivan’s announcement appears to shatter the hopes of Flynn’s defense team that the court case will quickly fade away. Instead, the retired general who spent a little more than three weeks as national security adviser before being fired by Trump faces a legal brawl that could drag on for months.
Gleeson, who was appointed to the federal bench in New York by President Bill Clinton and retired to enter private practice in 2016, has already staked out a position deeply skeptical of Attorney General William Barr’s decision to abandon the Flynn prosecution. The ex-judge co-authored an op-ed earlier this week that decried the move.
“Government motions to dismiss at this stage are virtually unheard of,” Gleeson and his co-authors wrote in The Washington Post. “There has been nothing regular about the department’s effort to dismiss the Flynn case. The record reeks of improper political influence.”
More on the perjury question from
CNN:
Regarding Sullivan's perjury question, Flynn has under oath told the judge he is both guilty and innocent of lying to the FBI about his contacts with Russia during the Trump transition.
So Flynn’s either guilty of lying to the FBI or he’s guilty of lying to the Court. As I see it the Judge has not only signaled an inclination to deny the DoJ’s Motion to Dismiss the original charges, he has taken up a notch to appoint a third party (can’t trust the DoJ to do it) to investigate new charges of perjury against Flynn. This is going to be a HUGE fight that could result in a HUGE slap down of Barr and his corrupt DoJ accomplices.
House Committees Subpoenas/Requests for Trump Banking/Financial Records & Taxes:
Background — Pre-Nov. 22 CLICK HERE. Nov. 22 to Jan. 30 CLICK HERE. Post Jan 30 CLICK HERE. Also, see my May 11 , 12 & 13 TICs.
NOTE: In previous TICs, there were 3 separate topic threads (1. Deutsche/Capital One Bank Subpoenas, 2. Mazars’ Subpoena, and 3. Trump Taxes) covering 5 different court cases. Since they are all dealing with the same general topic (Trump’s hidden financial history) and were starting to get intertwined in my brain, I have rolled them all under the single header above to hopefully make things less confusing.
Also, to further help keep things organized, below are the five (5) ongoing court cases dealing with Trump’s Banking/Financial Records and tax returns.
1. Trump vs. Deutsche Bank and Capital One — Case brought by Trump against the the two banks in an effort to block a subpoena from the House Financial Services and Intelligence Committees for the Trump Organization’s banking records, including tax returns.
2. Trump vs. Mazars (Congressional Case) — Congressional Mazar’s case brought by Trump against Mazars (the Trump Organization’s former Accounting Firm) in an effort to block a subpoena from the House Oversight and Reform Committee for the Trump Organization’s financial records, including tax returns.
3. Trump vs. Mazars (Criminal Case) — Case brought by Trump against against Mazars (the Trump Organization’s former Accounting Firm) in an effort to block a subpoena from the Manhattan DA for Trump’s tax returns. The DA has subpoenaed these takes returns in conjunction with his criminal investigation of Trump’s hush money pay off to Stormy Daniels.
4. Congress vs. the IRS & Treasury Department (Trump’s Federal Tax Returns) — This case is a lawsuit brought by the House Ways & Means Committee against the IRS and Treasury Department for their failure to turn over Trump’s tax returns upon the Committee’s request as required BY LAW.
5. Trump vs. NYS Tax Department (Trump’s State Tax Returns) — This case is a lawsuit brought by Trump to block NYS from turning over his State tax returns to Congress.
I will use these case #s below to help keep things organized.
Recent Developments — SCOTUS hears oral arguments (virtually) on Trump Financial Records (including Tax Returns). SCOTUS heard arguments in combined Cases 1 & 2 above (the Congressional Cases) in a single session, and later in the day heard arguments in Case 3 above (Manhattan CA Criminal Case) in a separate session.
Bottom Line — First, here is a good summary of both sessions on all 3 cases from CNN. So if you pin me down, here is my reading of the “tea leaves” for what it’s worth. I think Congress either loses Cases 1 & 2 or at best there is some sort of convoluted ruling that somehow doesn’t allow either side to claim victory. However, on Case 3, I do see a 5 to 4 decision in favor of upholding the Manhattan DA’s subpoena. My speculation is based on the theory that Roberts wants to do his best to keep the court from either withholding or releasing documents of such huge political significance. By only allowing the Manhattan DA to access these documents, Roberts avoids having his court be the one who releases Trump’s financial records, since the Grand Jury proceedings are secret unless and until an indictment is issued. This would effectively punt the decision on the public release of these records to the Grand Jury and out of his court, which seems to be his #1 objective. Feel free to agree or disagree in the comments.
New Developments — None, awaiting SCOTUS rulings.
THAT’S IT FOR TODAY! Stay Healthy All!