Every week Congress is in session (usually on Sunday evening or Monday morning) I will recap the previous weeks important legislative and committee activity and look ahead to what Congress has planned for the coming week, with my 2 cents of opinion from time to time of course. Hope you find it both informative and worthy of discussion in the comments section.
Next Week in Congress: Here is your
C-Span Link where you can view some of next week’s events.
Here Are The Coming Week’s Headlines:
Senate/House To Consider Legislation To Aid Ukraine?
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Senate Judiciary Committee To Start SCOTUS Nominee Confirmation Process
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Jan. 6 Committee Plows On With Possible Cooperation from Rudy and Stonewalling by Don Jr’s Girlfriend
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House Oversight Committee Expands Probe Into Trump “Paper-Gate”
Legislative Activity —
House:
On the Legislative front, I don’t see much action in the House this week. Yes, aid to Ukraine and further sanctions on Russia will be on every House member’s lips, but it appears any such legislation in his vane will originate in the Senate, and may or may not reach the House before week’s end.
Senate:
Per the Senate's Web Site, the Senate will convene on Monday, February 28 at 3:00 pm.
All eyes will be on the Senate this week to see if they come up with anything in terms of a Bill to aid Ukraine and/or further sanction Putin/Russia. On that front, our own Joan McCarter has this Feb. 25 Post. Here are some excerpts:
That assistance at this point could come in the form of a supplement funding bill of at last $10 billion, “the majority of which would go toward humanitarian aid to address the impending refugee crisis in Europe” according to what Politico learned from Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE), chair of the State Department and foreign operations appropriations subcommittee.
Republicans agree, but are going to be more hawkish on the U.S. joining the war. “If we are not doing everything possible, we are not doing enough,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC). “Time is not on our side.”
Graham has one idea that Democrats actually should jump on: “the creation of a task force to target Russian oligarchs worldwide, many of whom have enriched themselves from their closeness with Putin.” Many of the Russian oligarchs have also dabbled in Republican politics in the U.S., funneling millions into supporting not just Donald Trump but a number of top Republican leaders.
Like that big investment from a sanctioned Russian oligarch—Oleg Deripaska—in Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s home state of Kentucky, an investment that was only possible thanks to sanctions against the company’s owner being lifted, with McConnell’s support.
Here’s more from POLITICO:
If the Biden administration asks for additional legislation, congressional leaders are prepared to move quickly. A senior Democratic House aide confirmed they’ve received no such formal request yet.
“We will work hand in hand with the administration. If they need something sooner, we’ll deliver something sooner,” House Intelligence Chair Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) said on Thursday. “But I’m very confident that both parties understand the importance of providing assistance to Ukraine and to our NATO allies. And we will do that as promptly as necessary.”
But some lawmakers don’t want to wait for Biden’s blessing before passing new legislation that could sanction Russia as punishment for its violent campaign while boosting Ukraine’s military and sending it needed humanitarian assistance.
Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.), who chairs the Appropriations subcommittee on the State Department and foreign operations, told reporters Friday morning that any supplemental funding bill would likely exceed $10 billion, the majority of which would go toward humanitarian aid to address the impending refugee crisis in Europe.
“If we are not doing everything possible, we are not doing enough,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.). “Time is not on our side.”
Graham said he has told the Biden administration an emergency spending bill for Ukraine would get “broad bipartisan support” and that the Senate should pass such a bill next week when members return to Washington. Sen. Jim Risch of Idaho, the top Republican on the Foreign Relations Committee, agreed that “what is appropriate won’t be hard to settle on under the current circumstances.”
There’s notable bipartisan agreement on going further than the Biden administration has so far. On Thursday, the U.S. ramped up its sanctions to include additional Russian banks and critical industries, but Senate Foreign Relations Chair Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) called for an escalation that would kick Russia out of the SWIFT global banking system — even as Biden said that such a proposal faces opposition from some European nations — while aiming to sanction Putin himself.
But when it comes to an emergency weapons resupply for Ukraine, some lawmakers are openly skeptical. Their concerns are compounded by Congress’ usual slow pace as well as the Senate’s inability to agree on a comprehensive deterrent sanctions package before Russia invaded — legislation that would have included a significant increase in lethal military aid.
Furnishing the Ukrainian military with more equipment may only go so far in the face of the Russian invasion that launched overnight, House Armed Services Chair Adam Smith (D-Wash.) cautioned Thursday on CNN.
“I don’t think it’s realistic to think that we’re going to be able to reinforce them enough in the short-term to repel the invasion,” Smith said. “We do need to try and help them as much as possible, and it is quite possible that what we’re looking at here is a more long-term insurgency.”
Details & Commentary — First up, the POLITICO article is a little out of date. The Biden Administration, together with our UK and EU allies have already taken action over the weekend to kick a number of Russian Banks out of the SWIFT global banking system. So that action advocated for by a number of Democrats and Republicans has already been done. In terms of sanctions on Russia, there is a draft Bill that has been stuck in the Senate Foreign Relations since January. From remarks made by Senator Mark Warner, the stalemate on the Bill has not been about the sanctions in the Bill, but mainly arguments over when to impose some or all of those sanctions, as in before or after Russia invades Ukraine. Those arguments are of course moot at this point. Also, a lot of the sanctions in the draft Bill have already been imposed by the Biden administration, again making some or all of the Bill moot.
There of course is still the question of humanitarian and/or military aid to Ukraine that will likely be bounced around this week in speech after speech on the Senate Floor. But whether all that talking will lead to a Senate Bill this week remains an open question. But there will likely be some sort of Ukraine aid Bill at some point.
What I find the most interesting, and if you will pardon my enthusiasm, most exciting, is how vastly divided the GOP is on the issue of the Ukraine/Russia conflict war. You have the traditional hawk side of the Party either supporting Biden on his actions against Putin/Russia or criticizing him for not being nearly tough enough on Russia for its incursion into Ukraine (e.g., Graham, McConnell, etc.). Then you have the MAGA side of the Party (e.g., Trump and his Cultist followers in Congress) saying Putin is smart and we should just let him do as he pleases with Ukraine. There is virtually no Republican in between these polar opposite views. Now most of the Senate GOP is on the anti-Russia side of the Party, so their only criticism of a Ukraine Aid Bill, if any, is likely that it doesn’t do enough. However, it will be interesting to see what MTG, Gaetz and the other Trump Cultist, Putin Loving, MAGA crazies have to say about a Ukraine Aid Bill when it gets on the House floor.
Finally, my gymnastics award for once again the most impressive political back flip, goes to Senator Lindsey Graham. Remember, how Graham was a total Trump loyalist and fully onboard with Trump’s friendly to Russia, friendly to Putin policies. Now in the very week Trump once again announces his admiration and love for Putin, Graham goes on the air advocating for throwing everything including the kitchen sink against Russia and Putin for their/his actions in Ukraine. AMAZING!
Committee Activity:
House:
The following are links to the House Calendar of Floor and Committee Activity for February 28 thru March 3 (there are no scheduled activities for March 4):
Committee Activity —
Feb. 28 House Schedule
Mar. 1 House Schedule
Mar. 2 House Schedule
Mar. 3 House Schedule
Looking at the above House Schedule for this coming week, there are a few Committee Meetings/Hearings that might be interesting.
The first is a Mar. 1 Hearing on "HOLDING BIG TECH ACCOUNTABLE: LEGISLATION TO PROTECT ONLINE USERS" conducted by the House Committee on Energy & Commerce. It should gives us some clues as to what kind of legislation is being considered to regulate the out-of-control social media industry. I’m sure Zuckerberg will be watching.
For you Space Geeks out there (I mean that affectionately, as I am one), the Committee on Space, Science & Technology will hold a Mar. 1 Hearing on KEEPING OUR SIGHTS ON MARS PART 3: A STATUS UPDATE AND REVIEW OF NASA’S ARTEMIS INITIATIVE.
Also, there will be a Mar. 1 House Armed Services Committee Hearing on Strategic Forces Hearing: “Fiscal Year 2023 Strategic Forces Posture Hearing”. Whatever this Hearing was originally supposed to discuss, I have to believe the readiness of our NATO forces will come up with the rapidly changing Russia/Ukraine conflict.
There are a number of topical and interesting Hearings on Wednesday, March 2.
First up is the House Committee on Financial Service's Hearing on Monetary Policy and the State of the Economy. Sure to be a lot of talk about inflation and future Federal Reserve action on interest rates.
Next up is the House Committee on Energy & Commerce Hearing on "LESSONS FROM THE FRONTLINE: COVID-19'S IMPACT ON AMERICAN HEALTH CARE". We all know what the problems were. Hopefully, we will hear some solutions for the future.
Lastly, the Committee on Homeland Security will hold a Hearing EXAMINING THE COURT-ORDERED REIMPLEMENTATION OF THE REMAIN IN MEXICO POLICY. Perhaps during this Hearing, someone can explain to me how a Court can force the current President (Biden) to abide by the Executive Orders of a former President (Trump) when that has never been the case in the past 200+ years of our Republic?
House Jan. 6 Select Committee: According to the Committee's Official Schedule there are no Hearings or Meetings this coming week. But a lot continues to happen behind the scenes. Here are the most current developments.
- Giuliani Cooperating? — The on again, off again cooperation of Rudy Giuliani with the Jan. 6 Committee, appears on again. According to The Guardian:
Donald Trump’s former attorney Rudy Giuliani is expected to cooperate with the House select committee investigating January 6, and potentially reveal his contacts with Republican members of Congress involved in the former president’s effort to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
The move by Giuliani to appear before the panel – in a cooperation deal that could be agreed within weeks, according to two sources briefed on negotiations – could mark a breakthrough moment for the inquiry as it seeks to interview key members of Trump’s inner circle.
That is the case because even though Trump’s allies and Republican members of Congress already known to have been involved in such efforts have refused to help the panel, Giuliani is now in a position to inform House investigators about any possible culpability.
Broadly, Giuliani has indicated through his lawyer to the select committee that he will produce documents and answer questions about Trump’s schemes to return himself to office on 6 January that House investigators had outlined in a subpoena issued to him last month.
- Former Trump Advisor Kimberly Guilfoyle Ends Cooperation With Committee — According to CBS News:
A tense confrontation between the House select committee investigating the January 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol and Kimberly Guilfoyle unfolded privately on Friday morning, with Guilfoyle and her lawyers abruptly ending her conversation with the committee over concerns about its ground rules, according to four people familiar with the exchange.
Guilfoyle, a longtime adviser to former President Donald Trump, was scheduled to meet virtually with the committee on February 25, following discussions between the committee and her lawyers.
Guilfoyle is engaged to Donald Trump Jr., the former president's eldest son, and is one of the most high-profile confidants of the Trump family to meet with the committee.
She also spoke at the January 6, 2021, rally at the Ellipse near the White House and was backstage that day with the Trump family and administration officials.
The four people familiar with Friday's exchange requested anonymity, since they were not authorized to discuss the deliberations.
But, they said, when Guilfoyle appeared on Friday's virtual meeting, she and her lawyers grew immediately concerned when they saw who else was on the call, including lawmakers on the committee such as Representatives Adam Schiff of California and Jamie Raskin of Maryland, both Democrats.
Guilfoyle spoke up and asked why members — and not just lawyers and committee staff — were on the call, three of the people said.
"Kim balked and said this isn't my understanding," one of the people said. A second person described her as "outraged," since she believed this conversation was going to be more informative and not a formal deposition.
"This is not my understanding," Guilfoyle told the committee, and then said she would cease to continue the conversation until her lawyers had further discussions with the committee about the format, the people said.
As a result, Guilfoyle earns herself a subpoena. More from CNN:
The House select committee investigating the January 6 Capitol Hill riot tells CNN it will issue a subpoena to compel testimony from Kimberly Guilfoyle after she ended a virtual interview on Friday.
Guilfoyle, who is engaged to Donald Trump Jr. and worked on his father's presidential campaign, "has information of interest to the Select Committee and has provided documents germane to our investigation," committee spokesman Tim Mulvey said in a statement.
"The Select Committee had hoped she would do as dozens of other witnesses have done: participate in a voluntary transcribed interview with staff and committee members," Mulvey said. "Ms. Guilfoyle has now declined to do so, forcing the Select Committee to compel her testimony at an upcoming deposition."
Details & Commentary — First with regard to the report that Giuliani intends to cooperate with the Committee, put me in the group of skeptics saying I’ll believe it when I see it. Even if he does end up cooperating to some degree, I have to wonder what he will say and how much it will be worth. It’s like putting your Crazy Uncle on the stand that has little or no credibility left. On the other hand if Rudy decides to fully throw the Trump Crime Family under the bus (the same Crime Family that refuses to pay him), his documents and testimony could be devastating. Time will tell.
With regard to Don Trump Jr’s. soon to be ex-girlfriend, Kimberly Guilfoyle, it will be interesting to see how she responds to her subpoena after her tantrum. It will also be interesting to hear Don Jr’s. reaction if she decides to honor the subpoena or if she decides to join Bannon and Meadows in a contempt of Congress citation and legal referral.
House Oversight Committee:
- Investigation of Trump’s Violations of the Presidential Records Act — The investigation is expanding. From ABC News:
The House Oversight and Reform Committee on Friday expanded its investigation into former President Donald Trump's White House records, requesting new information from the National Archives about the classified materials Trump took to his Mar-a-Lago Club in Florida after leaving office -- as well as those records Trump is alleged to have ripped up in the White House.
In a new letter to National Archivist David Ferriero, committee chairwoman Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., requested a "detailed" inventory of the 15 boxes of White House records the National Archives retrieved from Mar-a-Lago, as well as "all presidential records" that the agency discovered Trump had "torn up, destroyed, mutilated, or attempted to tear up, destroy, or mutilate" while in office.
"I am deeply concerned that former President Trump may have violated the law through his intentional efforts to remove and destroy records that belong to the American people," Rep. Maloney wrote in a letter obtained by ABC News. "This Committee plans to get to the bottom of what happened and assess whether further action is needed to prevent the destruction of additional presidential records and recover those records that are still missing."
Details & Commentary — Another obvious Trump crime that, to date, is going unpunished. What more is there to say. I sure hope that someone in DoJ is doing their job.
Senate:
Here is the list of Senate Committee Hearings/Meetings for the coming week. Frankly, none appear all that interesting. Mostly, Hearings to consider more Executive and Judicial nominations. However, it will be interesting to see if Republicans try denying Committee’s of the Quorum needed to advance certain nominees by just not showing up, as they did a couple of weeks ago, as explained in this article on the GOP Banking Committee Boycott from Roll Call. Here are the highlights:
On Tuesday, Republicans simply didn’t show up to a Banking Committee meeting for a slate of Federal Reserve nominees, stating that they wanted more answers from one of them. Chairman Sherrod Brown of Ohio said a Republican would have to show up to hold a vote and move the nominees to the floor for a confirmation vote.
Democrats on and off Capitol Hill are focusing on trying to make committee boycotts untenable for Republicans. Democratic National Committee Chair Jaime Harrison told reporters Wednesday that the Banking panel Republicans were standing in the way of efforts to combat inflation.
“We will call [the Republicans] out for their refusal to fight for the American people, for their disregard for working families, and for playing politics with their constitutional responsibilities,” Harrison said.
So now what?
Senate rules experts say Democrats could use strategies to maneuver around those rules and eventually set up a floor vote. For example, a committee might hold a voice vote to send those nominees to the floor — since there would be no Republican there to object.
But that could kick off another potential procedural tangle. A senator may raise a point of order on the floor against the nominee’s consideration if it violates the Senate rule, the Congressional Research Service states. Such a point of order would be ruled on by the presiding officer, as it reflects the advice given by the Senate parliamentarian based on precedents.
Right now, it’s unclear what such a ruling would be or what precedents would be relied on, or how exactly Democrats would need to set up such a ruling to allow them to move to confirmation votes.
The Senate has changed rules around nominations in recent years: in 2013, for judicial and some other nominees; in 2017, for Supreme Court nominees; and in 2019, to reduce the floor time needed for consideration of nominees.
Brown told reporters Wednesday that it’s not clear there is a change to Senate rules for Democrats to make on the boycott issue. The only option is to get unanimous agreement to go to a confirmation vote, Brown said, and so his focus is instead on convincing Sen. Patrick J. Toomey of Pennsylvania and other committee Republicans to end the boycott.
Good Luck with that Senator Brown! We’ll see if any progress is made on this during the week. The irony of this is that while Republicans are screaming about inflation, they are thwarting Biden’s nominees to the Federal Reserve, the very entity that has the most control over inflation.
- Senate Judiciary Committee — SCOTUS Nomination — By now you all know that Biden has put forth his SCOTUS Nominee to replace the retiring Justice Breyer. She is Ketanji Brown Jackson, and if you want to know more about this extremely qualified person who just happens to be a black woman, please read this Feb. 25 Joan McCarter Post, if you haven’t already done so. There is no expected formal Hearing process on her nomination this week. She is most likely going to be meeting with individual Senators during the week for candid conversations and photo ops. So as we wait for Hearings to begin, let’s take this pause to take a look at who sits on the Judiciary Committee.
DEMOCRATIC MEMBERS
Dick Durbin
of Illinois
CHAIR
REPUBLICAN MEMBERS
Chuck Grassley
of Iowa
RANKING MEMBER
On the Democrats side, we have a lot of seasoned veterans that will do their homework and be able to help Judge Brown Jackson shine, as if she needs any help with the exemplary judicial background she presents.
On the Republican side, while she definitely has some GOP support, it probably isn’t from the Republicans on this Committee. It’s full of GOP rabble-rousers like Lee, Cruz, Hawley, Cotton, Kennedy and Blackburn. Look for this band of GOP crazies to try to stir up trouble during the Hearing process by spouting otter nonsense that only their crazy base would believe.
Stay Tuned! It should be popcorn worthy as these GOP Zanies make fools of themselves.
That’s All until Next Week! See Ya Then!
