TODAY IN CONGRESS (TIC):
Your One Stop Shop For Learning What Our Congress Critters Are Up To!
Here Are The Post-Recess Headlines:
GOP Still In Disarray Over COVID Economic Relief Bill!
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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.
Sorry for the late post, but stuff happens! So put this one in the category of Better Late Than Never!
Today’s Events:
House —
9:00 am — House Morning Session (General Speeches)
9:30 am — House Foreign Affairs Committee holds Hearing on President's 2021 Foreign Aid Budget Request (The House Foreign Affairs Committee holds a hearing to examine the president’s 2021 foreign aid budget request.)
10:00 am — House Session (The House will consider the first package of FY2021 appropriations bills: State & Foreign Operations; Military Construction & Veterans Affairs; Agriculture; and Interior & Environment.)
10:20 am — House Education Committee Hearing on Reopening Schools During a Pandemic (The House Education Committee convened a hearing to examine reopening schools during the coronavirus pandemic.)
10:30 am — House Financial Services Committee Hearing on Economic Recovery During Coronavirus Pandemic (The House Financial Services Committee holds a hearing to discuss how to achieve a strong economic recovery during the coronavirus pandemic.)
2:00 pm — House subcommittee Hearing on Coronavirus Pandemic & Critical Supply Chains (A House subcommittee examines lessons learned from the coronavirus pandemic and critical supply chains.)
Senate —
9:30 am — Senate Session (U.S. Senate plans to complete work on 2021 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), the annual defense programs and policy bill.)
Wednesday Votes:
House —
1. House Resolution 7573 (H.R. 7573): Vote on Motion to Suspend the Rules ans Pass (as amended) H.R.7573 - To direct the Joint Committee on the Library to replace the bust of Roger Brooke Taney in the Old Supreme Court Chamber of the United States Capitol with a bust of Thurgood Marshall to be obtained by the Joint Committee on the Library and to remove certain statues from areas of the United States Capitol which are accessible to the public, to remove all statues of individuals who voluntarily served the Confederate States of America from display in the United States Capitol, and for other purposes. (Full Text of H.R. 7375 can be read HERE.)
Democrats- 232 Yes 0 No 0 Present 0 Not Voting
Republicans- 72 Yes 113 No 0 Present 13 Not Voting
Independents- 1 Yes 0 No 0 Present 0 Not Voting
Totals- 305 Yes 113 No 0 Present 13 Not Voting
PASSED
Voting Details HERE.
Senate —
1. Senate Amendment 2301 (S.Amdt. 2301) to Senate 4049 (S. 4049): Vote on Cloture Motion to limit debate on Substitute Amendment S.Amdt. 2301 to S.4049 - National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 (This bill authorizes FY2021 appropriations and sets forth policies for Department of Defense (DOD) programs and activities, including military personnel strengths. It does not provide budget authority, which is provided in subsequent appropriations legislation.) (Amendments constituting Substitute Amendment S.Amdt. 2301 can be accessed HERE.)
Democrats- 37 Yes 8 No 0 Present 0 Not Voting
Republicans- 49 Yes 4 No 0 Present 13 Not Voting
Independents- 1 Yes 1 No 0 Present 0 Not Voting
Totals- 87 Yes 13 No 0 Present 0 Not Voting
PASSED
Voting Details HERE.
Comments:
Legislative (IN-) Action —
H.R.6800 - HEROES Act — Well here we are at Day 72 (by my count) since the House passed the HEROES Act (a comprehensive Bill to provide additional Federal Aid related to the health and economic hardships caused by COVID-19) and the disarray among Senate Republicans over what to do about COVID Relief legislation continues. As captured in this Pennyfarthing Post McConnell is not optimistic about getting anything done before the end of the month when certain CARES Act benefits expire. In fact for some strange reason he chuckled when responding to the question. Maybe it’s because differences among the Trump White House, Republican Fiscal Conservatives and those Republican Senators up for re-election who are desperate to pass something rather than go home empty handed make McConnell’s job harder than herding cats, and he has given up on the whole thing, much like Trump gave up any appearance of tackling the Corona virus.
Wednesday’s Votes —
House — A fairly Bipartisan vote in the House yesterday to remove the statute of Brooke Taney from the Capital and replace it with a bust of Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, and to remove all other Confederate Statutes. Of course there were 113 RACIST Republicans who voted against this Bill, but at least we know definitively, who the Republican racists are now. Beyond their racism, they also have a warped historic perspective on the “heroes” of the Confederacy. In their day, these Confederates were viewed (appropriately so IMO) as TRAITORS to the United States. So why do they deserve to be honored with statues in the Capital? They Don’t! What,if anything, the Senate will do with this is anybodies guess.
Senate — The Senate yesterday voted to limit debate (Cloture Motion) on a Substitute Amendment to their version of the National Defense Authorization Act to fund the military through 2021. The Substitute Amendment is a compilation of many individual amendments which replace the base Bill (S. 4049) in its entirety. I have no idea if one of these amendments contains a provision to rename Military Bases named after Confederates and have no time to look at each one to find out, But you can look through the bunch HERE if you have time.
Today’s C-Span TV Picks — I would recommend viewing any of the 3 House Hearings on the Corona virus, especially the one on opening schools for those with school aged children.
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)
Senate Judiciary Committee — Police Reform Legislation —
Background — See my June 8, 18 & 23 TICs.
Recent Developments — None.
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 , 19, 20, June 5 & July 21 TICs.
Recent Developments — None.
New Developments — None.
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 SCOTUS.
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, June 5, 8, 11, 15 & July 22 TICs.
Recent Developments — None.
New Developments — None.
House Judiciary Committee Barr Whistleblowers (Berman & Others) —
Background — See my June 24, 25, 29, July 21 & 22 TICs.
Recent Developments — None.
New Developments — None.
House Judiciary & 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 , 14 , 15 , 19, 20, 27, June 3, 5, 8, 11, 15, 18, 23, 29 & July 22 TICs.
Recent Developments — None.
New Developments — None.
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, 14 & July 22 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 denies House Democrats request to “fast-track” the Congressional Cases 1 & 2. According to this story from The Hill:
The Supreme Court on Monday denied a request by House Democrats to accelerate the timeline of remaining court battles over congressional subpoenas for President Trump’s tax returns.
The bid by lawmakers came in response to the court’s landmark 7-2 ruling earlier this month to shield a trove of Trump’s financial records from several Democratic-led House committees and return the dispute to lower courts for further litigation.
Under regular Supreme Court procedure, the ruling would reach the lower courts no earlier than Aug. 3, a delay Democrats sought to avoid by asking the justices to expedite the process.
But the conservative-majority court rejected that request Monday in an unsigned order. Justice Sonia Sotomayor, one of the more liberal justices, said she would have granted it.
Not a surprise really. It was Roberts’ intention to slow walk these cases to prevent any public release of Trump’s taxes until after the election.
New Developments — None.
THAT’S IT FOR TODAY!