TODAY IN CONGRESS (TIC):
Your One Stop Shop For Learning What Our Congress Critters Are Up To!
Today’s Headlines:
House Passes $1.5 Trillion Infrastructure Bill!
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Senate Passes Extension To Small Business PPP Program By Unanimous Consent!
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SCOTUS Agrees To Hear Mueller Grand Jury Documents Case!
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Former SDNY Deputy AG To Testify & Barr Replacing Another!
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DAY 49 Since the House Passed the HEROES Bill and Not A Peep From Mitch!
NOTE TO ALL — Well I was planning on not posting another TIC until after the Congress’s Fourth of July recess, but stuff happened. You would think that after years of watching Congress closely I would have learned by now that often important legislation gets passed at the last minute before a recess and sometimes totally unexpectedly. And that’s what’s happened this week (Details Below). So I’m back with this special TIC post for you.
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 — Not in session.
Senate — Not in session.
Wednesday & Thursday Votes:
House —
1. House Resolution 2 (H.R. 2) — Vote on Passage of H.R.2 - INVEST in America Act (This bill addresses provisions related to federal-aid highway, transit, highway safety, motor carrier, research, hazardous materials, and rail programs of the Department of Transportation (DOT).
Among other provisions, the bill
- extends FY2020 enacted levels through FY2021 for federal-aid highway, transit, and safety programs;
- reauthorizes for FY2022-FY2025 several surface transportation programs, including the federal-aid highway program, transit programs, highway safety, motor carrier safety, and rail programs;
- addresses climate change, including strategies to reduce the climate change impacts of the surface transportation system and conduct a vulnerability assessment to identify opportunities to enhance the resilience of the surface transportation system and ensure the efficient use of federal resources;
- revises Buy America procurement requirements for highways, mass transit, and rail;
- establishes a rebuild rural grant program to improve the safety, state of good repair, and connectivity of transportation infrastructure in rural communities;
- implements new safety requirements across all transportation modes; and
- directs DOT to establish a pilot program to demonstrate a national motor vehicle per-mile user fee to restore and maintain the long-term solvency of the Highway Trust Fund and achieve and maintain a state of good repair in the surface transportation system.)
(You can read the Full Text of the Bill HERE.)
Democrats- 230 Yes 2 No 0 Present 1 Not Voting
Republicans- 3 Yes 185 No 0 Present 9 Not Voting
Independents - 0 Yes 1 No 0 Present 0 Not Voting
Totals- 233 Yes 188 No 0 Present 10 Not Voting
PASSED
Voting Details HERE.
Senate — Senate passes extension to CARES Act PPP Small Business Loan Program by Unanimous Consent.
Comments:
Wednesday & Thursday Votes —
House — With little or no mention by the Mainstream Media (MSM), the House passed H.R.2, the INVEST in America Act, providing $1.5 Trillion in Federal Aid to repair, replace and enhance the Nation’s much deteriorated INFRASTRUCTURE. As you can see by the low Bill number (H.R.2), this Bill was introduced in the House way back in 2019 at the beginning this 116th Congress and has been put on the back burner until now. I am not sure why Pelosi waited to just before the 2020 July 4th recess to finally bring this Bill to the floor for a vote, but it was long overdue. Maybe with all the Trump related crap that the House has to deal with on a daily basis, this may have been the first chance to vote on the Bill. Anyway, it’s interesting how little the MSM has had to say about this Bill’s passing. During “normal” times this would have been front page news. But I guess during “abnormal” Trump times it doesn’t rise to the level of newsworthy with all the other Trump caused chaos. Still as I ranted in my last TIC post, the next time you hear the MSM portray this as a “Do Nothing Congress”, remember this Infrastructure Bill vote as yet another example of House Democrats getting things done while the GOP Senate does nothing (i.e., Don’t Swallow the “Bothsiderism” Myth).
In terms of the voting on this Bill, the outliers were Democrats McAdams and Peterson who voted “no” (for reasons?) and Republicans Fitzpatrick, Smith (NJ) and VanDrew who voted “yes”. Still what is somewhat amazing was the vast majority of Republicans who voted against this Bill, including many who have been touting “infrastructure aid” as being one of the few Bipartisan topics of agreement on Capital Hill. Probably, their objections are with the details or the fact that they did not get to include any of their unnecessary “pet” projects in the Bill. Still voting against any Bill on infrastructure which has overwhelming public support in general, is not a good look for Republicans going into an election.
Going forward I would guess that this Bill will be added to the HUGE pile on Mitch’s Desk of Bills that are going nowhere in the Senate. Still stranger things have happened and it is infrastructure, which is something the GOP has said they are willing to work with Democrats on, so who knows?
Senate — In the category of AMAZING, the Senate passed extension to the PPP Small Business Loan program by Unanimous Consent. As you may have already read in this previous post by Joan McCarter, it was an extension negotiated between Chuck Schumer, Marco Rubio and Sue Collins, and was brought up with a gang of other Bills under unanimous consent requests. The amazing part is not a single Republican objected, not even Mitch. My guess is that not a single Senate Republican wants to be branded as the one who killed aid to “SMALL” Businesses, which not only looks bad, it also kills aid to some if their Corporate donors who are only small in terms of how the GOP defines “SMALL” Business. It also means the Senate GOP gets to jam the House who my guess did not see this coming with only a day left in session before the recess.
UPDATE — According to this CNN Report, the House has passed the PPP Extension Bill by Unanimous Consent sending it on to Trump’s Desk for signature. As in the post by Joan McCarter, some were suggesting that House Dems. should add on extension to enhanced unemployment benefits which expires at the end of July and other goodies, and punt the amended Bill back to the Senate. But the chances McConnell would have cancelled plans for the Senate to bug out of town on Thursday so as to allow Pelosi to jam the GOP Senate with an amendment they generally oppose, was likely slim to none. So Pelosi was smart to take what the Senate gave her and allow it to pass the House as is (IMO). The PPP program with $130 billion remaining in the fund expired on June 30, but is now extended by this Bill until August 8.
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 TICs.
Recent Developments — None.
New Developments — SCOTUS Agrees to hear Mueller Grand Jury Documents case, likely delaying Congress getting these documents until after the election. According to this CNN Report:
The move means the documents won't likely be released before the November election, even if the Democrats win the case.
The court's move is a victory for the Justice Department, which is seeking to prevent the release of the information, which includes portions of Mueller's report that were redacted to protect grand jury information and underlying grand jury testimony and exhibits that relate to certain individuals and events.
The grand jury materials in question could shed considerable light on
Russian election-meddling and Trump's response in 2016. Dozens of witnesses testified before Mueller's grand jury, according to CNN reporting, including Trump's former campaign chairman Paul Manafort and at least two people who attended the Trump Tower meeting in summer 2016.
House Democrats told the justices that any delay would threaten the committee's ability to complete its investigation during the current Congress.
The timeline could effectively kill the effort to get the documents, said Steve Vladeck, CNN Supreme Court analyst and professor at the University of Texas School of Law.
"Even if the court hears arguments in November, it's unlikely it would render a decision before January 3, 202 -- when this Congress ends and this case along with it," Vladeck said.
Looks like DoJ succeeded in running out the clock. I searched for a silver lining to this, but couldn’t find any of significance. The only hope left is that a Biden DoJ will hand over the documents and also pursue the cases behind these documents.
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, June 5, 8, 11 & 15 TICs.
House Judiciary Committee Barr Whistleblowers (New) —
Background — See my June 24, 25 & 29 TICs.
Recent Developments — None.
New Developments — Barr ousted SDNY top prosecutor Geoffrey Berman will testify before House Judiciary Committee. According to POLITICO:
The former top federal prosecutor in Manhattan, who resigned last month under pressure from Attorney General William Barr, will testify to the House Judiciary Committee next week about the circumstances of his departure, according to a congressional aide.
The July 9 closed-door interview will be Congress' first foray into allegations that Barr sought to remove Geoffrey Berman as U.S. attorney to assert more control over investigations that touch closely on President Donald Trump‘s associates and personal interests.
Damn, it will be behind closed doors. So I will have to hold off on the popcorn for now.
UPDATE — Although the details are still sketchy, it was reported on last night’s Maddow Show that the top prosecutor for the Eastern District of New York (EDNY) was leaving to take on another post in DoJ. According to this report from The Hill:
U.S. Attorney Richard Donoghue announced Thursday he would leave the Eastern District to serve as the Justice Department’s principal associate deputy attorney general, a spokesman told CNN. His predecessor in the Washington-based role, Seth DuCharme, is a favorite to replace him in New York, according to the network.
DuCharme, before assuming the deputy position last year, had served as a counselor to Barr on criminal and national security measures, although he also spent years as a prosecutor in the Brooklyn U.S. Attorney’s office, according to CNN.
The Justice Department put Donoghue in charge of agency investigations involving Ukraine in February, although it remains unclear whether DuCharme would continue them, CNN reported.
So the fact that the outgoing EDNY prosecutor was handling all the Ukraine investigations involving Trump and is apparently being by a Barr buddy shouldn’t be of any concern, should it? (SNARK)
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 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 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 — None.
New Developments — None, awaiting SCOTUS rulings.
THAT’S IT FOR TODAY! Have a Safe and Happy July 4th and Stay Healthy All!