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.

The Weekly Hill Update

By Adam Higgins on September 27, 2021 Posted in Congress, Federal Policy, Healthcare, 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 are braced for “a time of intensity” this week as they hope to keep the government open, approve bipartisan infrastructure legislation, and reach consensus on their $3.5 trillion plan to increase taxes and safety-net spending.
President Joe Biden, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and their deputies must find a way to unite fractious Democrats amid sharp disagreements on health policy, taxes, and climate goals, as well as process and tactics.
Biden plans to spend most of the week cajoling Democrats to support his agenda but will travel to Chicago on Wednesday to tout vaccine mandates for businesses.

The Weekly Hill Update

By Adam Higgins on September 20, 2021 Posted in Congress, Federal Policy, Healthcare, Spending Bill, 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

Both chambers are in session together for the first time since July, as the Democratic Congress faces the most significant legislative crunch in years. In the next 10 days, they hope to fund the government for fiscal 2021 and raise the debt ceiling while also considering a $1 trillion infrastructure bill and a second multitrillion-dollar bill that would raise taxes and expand safety net spending. No one, including Democratic leaders, currently knows how this will end.
President Joe Biden will be in New York for the United Nations General Assembly amid lingering criticism of the American withdrawal from Afghanistan and fresh international controversy over a U.S. partnership with Australia on submarines.
Biden will also seek to reset the COVID-19 pandemic with a new proposal on worldwide vaccine allocation, as booster shots roll out in the U.S.

The Weekly Hill Update

By Adam Higgins on July 26, 2021 Posted in The Weekly Hill Update

Washington D.C. The capitol, the seat of the government of the United States. 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’s cabinet is fanning out across Asia in a broad diplomatic effort, headlined by Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman meeting with China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi, the first high-level meeting since March between the two countries amid deepening tensions over a wide range of issues.

• Worries among policymakers are growing over the COVID-19 delta variant as vaccine hesitancy has stalled recovery and enabled a surge of illness and hospitalization in certain parts of the country.

• Lawmakers are continuing intense negotiations toward finalizing infrastructure legislation as well as police reform as their August recess looms. Continue Reading

Congress Pushes on Corporate Disclosure Mandates

By Kevin Edgar on July 20, 2021 Posted in Congress

The House recently approved legislation that would trigger a series of disclosure mandates on public companies, underscoring escalating interest from the Democratic-controlled Congress and the Biden administration on requiring corporations to disclose their environmental, social and governance activities. The Federal Policy team’s Kevin Edgar led a team of BakerHostetler attorneys in a review of the House legislation and offered context on the likelihood for future congressional action on corporate disclosure mandates.