The Weekly Hill Update

By Adam Higgins on January 10, 2022 Posted in The Weekly Hill Update

Below is this week’s congressional update by BakerHostetler’s Federal Policy team. We’ll continue to post in weeks when both chambers of Congress are in session.

HEADLINES

The 117th Congress will hold the first full week of its second session.
President Joe Biden and his fellow Democratic leaders will press for passage of an overhaul of federal election laws.
Democrats are also searching for a path forward on the rest of Biden’s agenda, after his Build Back Better Act stalled at year’s end.

2022 BakerHostetler Congressional Calendar

By Mike Ferguson on December 16, 2021 Posted in Congress

Congressional leaders finalized the 2022 legislative calendar, and once again we’re pleased to share with you the 2022 BakerHostetler Congressional Calendar. Click here to download your ready-to-print, one-page combination House and Senate calendar for 2022. Suitable for hanging on your wall all year long!

The Weekly Hill Update

By Adam Higgins on December 13, 2021 Posted in The Weekly Hill Update

Below is this week’s congressional update by BakerHostetler’s Federal Policy team. We’ll continue to post in weeks when both chambers of Congress are in session.

HEADLINES

Congress aims to wrap up its work for the year, as both chambers seek to approve legislation raising the debt limit before recessing for Christmas.
Democrats are still negotiating various aspects of their Build Back Better Act, including the state and local tax deduction. Amid fears of rising inflation and the crowded preholiday legislative calendar, it’s increasingly unlikely that the package will be finalized by the end of 2021 as they hoped.
President Joe Biden will travel to South Carolina to speak at the commencement at South Carolina State University. The school is the alma mater of House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn, whose endorsement in the state’s 2020 primary is credited with reviving Biden’s moribund presidential campaign and launching him to victory in that primary and eventually the general election.

The Weekly Hill Update

By Adam Higgins on December 6, 2021 Posted in The Weekly Hill Update

Below is this week’s congressional update by BakerHostetler’s Federal Policy team. We’ll continue to post in weeks when both chambers of Congress are in session.

HEADLINES

Having cleared a short-term funding patch to keep the government open, Congress now turns to the National Defense Authorization Act and the debt limit, possibly even legislatively pairing the two unrelated issues.
Democrats continue to seek a path forward for the Build Back Better Act, and may gain additional clarity from the Senate parliamentarian this week on the viability of certain provisions.
President Joe Biden will have a video call with Russian President Vladimir Putin focusing on Russia’s threat to Ukraine, and later in the week, Biden will hold a virtual Summit for Democracy with other world leaders.

The Weekly Hill Update

By Adam Higgins on November 29, 2021 Posted in The Weekly Hill Update

Below is this week’s congressional update by BakerHostetler’s Federal Policy team. We’ll continue to post in weeks when both chambers of Congress are in session.

HEADLINES

The year-end legislative rush begins this week with lawmakers first having to extend government funding beyond the expiration this week of current appropriations.
Congress in the next month also must deal with the debt limit, the annual Pentagon policy bill, ongoing negotiations on President Biden’s Build Back Better Act, and a host of other programs set to expire at year’s end.
Biden and his team are scrambling to confront the new, highly contagious omicron variant of the COVID-19 virus.

The Weekly Hill Update

By Adam Higgins on November 15, 2021 Posted in The Weekly Hill Update

By: Adam J. Higgins

Below is this week’s congressional update by BakerHostetler’s Federal Policy team. We’ll continue to post in weeks when both chambers of Congress are in session.

HEADLINES

President Joe Biden is celebrating the passage of bipartisan infrastructure legislation, a signature victory for his first year, while hoping for progress on the Build Back Better Act containing elements of the rest of his domestic agenda.
Biden will also meet virtually with Chinese President Xi Jinping as the two superpowers’ leaders seek to steer away from the possibility of armed conflict amid long-building tensions.
As Americans look forward to Thanksgiving next week, Biden will renew the annual White House tradition of formally pardoning two turkeys.

The Weekly Hill Update

By Adam Higgins on November 1, 2021 Posted in Energy, Federal Policy, Infrastructure, Spending Bill, The Weekly Hill Update, Uncategorized

By: Adam J. Higgins

Below is this week’s congressional update by BakerHostetler’s Federal Policy team. We’ll continue to post in weeks when both chambers of Congress are in session.

HEADLINES

Tuesday will serve as an important test of the national political mood, with gubernatorial elections in Virginia and New Jersey.
Congressional Democrats negotiated through the weekend trying to find a path forward on their Build Back Better Act, but that path remains unclear.
President Joe Biden is in Scotland for the United Nations summit on climate change, returning to Washington Wednesday.

The Weekly Hill Update

By Adam Higgins on October 25, 2021 Posted in Congress, Federal Policy, Infrastructure, Spending Bill, The Weekly Hill Update

By: Adam J. Higgins

Below is this week’s congressional update by BakerHostetler’s Federal Policy team. We’ll continue to post in weeks when both chambers of Congress are in session.

HEADLINES

Congressional Democrats hope that by the end of this week they will reach a framework agreement on a budget reconciliation bill with their trillion-dollar plan to expand safety net spending and raise taxes, and that they can then finally deliver bipartisan infrastructure legislation to President Joe Biden for his signature.
Biden at the end of this week will begin the second foreign trip of his presidency, visiting Pope Francis and other foreign leaders in Rome, and attending the United Nations summit on climate change in Glasgow, Scotland.
One week from Election Day, tightening gubernatorial races in New Jersey and especially Virginia are being viewed as bellwethers for the national political atmosphere.

The Weekly Hill Update

By Adam Higgins on October 18, 2021 Posted in Congress, Infrastructure, Spending Bill, The Weekly Hill Update

By: Adam J. Higgins

Below is this week’s congressional update by BakerHostetler’s Federal Policy team. We’ll continue to post in weeks when both chambers of Congress are in session.

HEADLINES

Democrats continue to struggle to find a path forward on President Joe Biden’s domestic agenda, both on infrastructure and on the separate multitrillion-dollar plan to expand safety-net spending and raise taxes.
The House panel investigating the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol is kicking into high gear, planning a Tuesday vote to hold former President Donald Trump’s one-time aide Steve Bannon in contempt of Congress.
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee will vote on 29 nominees for ambassadorships, including several high-profile nominees.

The Weekly Hill Update

By Adam Higgins on October 4, 2021 Posted in Congress, Federal Policy, Healthcare, Spending Bill, The Weekly Hill Update

By: Adam J. Higgins

Below is this week’s congressional update by BakerHostetler’s Federal Policy team. We’ll continue to post in weeks when both chambers of Congress are in session.

HEADLINES

Congress last week managed to keep the government open and reauthorize federal transportation programs for the near term, but little else was resolved, and this week Democrats continue to struggle to find a path forward on President Joe Biden’s domestic agenda.
The more urgent deadline now is addressing the debt ceiling. How Congress will do so remains a mystery, despite Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen’s warning that it must happen within the next two weeks.
Biden plans to travel the country this week to drive public support for both his agenda and his administration’s efforts to fight COVID-19.