Posted in The Weekly Hill Update
Below is the federal policy team’s weekly preview, published each Monday that Congress is in session.
HEADLINES
• President Donald Trump today returns from Europe after high-profile meetings with NATO leaders, British government officials and royalty, and Russian president Vladimir Putin.
• Trump will be in Washington this week and plans to sign an executive order focused on workforce development.
• The House and Senate continue to work through spending bills and nominations.
Posted in The Weekly Hill Update
Below is the Federal Policy team’s weekly preview, published each Monday that Congress is in session.
HEADLINES
• President Trump at 9 p.m. Monday is scheduled to announce his nominee to replace Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy.
• Tuesday, Trump leaves for Europe for high-profile meetings with NATO leaders, followed by a visit to the United Kingdom.
• The House and Senate return from July 4 recess.
Posted in Medicaid
Earlier this month, Virginia became the 33rd state to expand its Medicaid program, and voters in Idaho, Montana and Utah are expected to decide in November ballot initiatives whether to join them.
Medicaid provides health coverage to low-income adults, children, pregnant women, elderly adults and people with disabilities. The program is administered by the states and funded jointly by the states and the federal government.
Expanded Medicaid coverage represents a boon for children. That’s because Medicaid provides health coverage for 50.7 percent of all kids in the country, and half of all enrollees in Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program are under the age of 18, according to the most recent federal data.
Posted in Congress
Below is the Federal Policy team’s weekly preview, published each Monday that Congress is in session.
HEADLINES
• The House intends to try again on immigration legislation, which it punted last week. Even amid the increased scrutiny over migrant families separated at the U.S. southern border, it’s unclear whether the House can muster the votes to pass the immigration legislation.
• Primary elections will take place in Colorado, Maryland, New York, Oklahoma, Utah; runoffs will occur in Mississippi and South Carolina.
• President Donald Trump will rally behind South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster, an early supporter.
Posted in The Weekly Hill Update
Below is the Federal Policy team’s weekly preview, published each Monday that Congress is in session.
HEADLINES
• President Donald Trump on Wednesday will hold a rally in Duluth, Minnesota.
• The House plans again to take up several bills aimed at addressing the opioid crisis, and merge them into one; votes are also likely on immigration-related legislation.
• The Senate plans to finish work on the annual policy reauthorization for the Defense Department, and then proceed to appropriations bills.
Posted in Congress
Democratic voters nationwide are eager to send a message to President Trump, but is there enough anti-Trump sentiment for Democrats to win control of the House? Are Trump’s voters unique, and will they turn out for Republican congressional candidates? In the Senate, Democrats must protect 10 incumbents in states Trump won in 2016. Can Republicans add to their narrow Senate majority, or will Democrats sweep both the House and Senate?
Posted in The Weekly Hill Update
Below is the Federal Policy team’s weekly preview, published each Monday that Congress is in session.
HEADLINES
• President Donald Trump on Tuesday (9 p.m. ET Monday in the United States) will participate in his long-awaited meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un – including an initial one-on-one session.
• The House plans to take up a series of bills aimed at addressing the opioid crisis.
• The Senate will debate the annual policy reauthorization for the Defense Department.
• The Supreme Court is expected to issue opinions today and possibly Thursday.
• Congressional primaries will take place Tuesday in Maine, Nevada, North Dakota, South Carolina and Virginia.
Posted in The Weekly Hill Update
Below is the Federal Policy team’s weekly preview, published each Monday that Congress is in session.
HEADLINES
• Congress returns from Memorial Day recess with the Senate in session today and the House reconvening Tuesday. The House plans to take initial steps on spending bills central to the GOP’s strategy to avoid a government shutdown in October, and House Republicans will convene a closed-door meeting to try to defuse a potential partywide meltdown on immigration. The Senate this week continues to focus on advancing judicial nominations.
• The Supreme Court this morning is scheduled to release opinions as several high-profile cases await decisions, including a business’s ability to refuse service to same-sex couples, whether public sector unions can charge fees to nonmembers and President Trump’s travel ban. Court-watchers will be closely monitoring Justice Anthony Kennedy’s future, too, amid speculation he could announce his retirement this summer.
• Seven states hold congressional primaries on Tuesday — including New Jersey and California, which will both be battlegrounds for control of the House in November’s midterm elections.
Posted in Congress
Ongoing negotiations to rewrite the North American Free Trade Agreement remain bogged down, but even if U.S., Canadian and Mexican trade ministers strike a deal in the coming weeks, Congress may not be able to approve it this year.
House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wisc., had set a May 17 deadline to wrap up talks on a renegotiated NAFTA in order for Congress to begin a multistep process to review and vote on the pact before the end of the year. Ryan, speaking that day during Baker Hostetler’s 29th annual Legislative Seminar, acknowledged the deadline wouldn’t be met. But Ryan said he hoped a deal could be concluded quickly and that lawmakers would have time to act before year’s end.
Trade officials have been meeting since last summer after President Donald Trump threatened to withdraw from the 1994 pact. Trump – who said NAFTA is “the worst trade deal ever made by any country in the world” – is demanding a new agreement that would reduce America’s trade deficit and increase U.S. manufacturing jobs.
Posted in Congress
The House voted Tuesday to give final congressional approval to a sweeping rewrite of the nation’s banking rules that would roll back key elements of Dodd-Frank but still leave most of that 2010 law on the books.
The White House said earlier this week that President Donald Trump would sign into law the “Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief and Consumer Protection Act,” which won House approval 258-159 as 33 Democrats and 225 Republicans voted for the bill. Administration officials say the legislation effectively recalibrates regulation and risk in the financial services sector while promoting economic growth and new jobs.
