In
this lame duck period (the legislative session between the election and the end
of the year) Congress has a busy legislative agenda, which includes passing FY
2017 funding legislation and the National Defense Authorization Act, among
others. While this “regular” work is being conducted, Congress is also busy
transitioning for the new 115th Congress.
The
newly elected incoming House members have just wrapped up two weeks of
orientation. During this time, new
members received a crash course in how Capitol Hill works, met fellow incoming and
current members, held fundraisers to help pay off outstanding election debt,
and received office assignments through a lottery system.
While
the new members were in Washington it allowed for the Republican and Democrat Caucuses
to prepare for the next Congress which will begin on January 3, 2017. Here is what has been completed thus far:
House
Democrats last week re-elected Nancy Pelosi of California to a sixth term as
House Minority Leader. While she was re-elected on a 134-63 secret ballot vote,
she did receive a strong challenge from Ohio Representative Tim Ryan. Rep.
Steny Hoyer of Maryland ran unopposed to remain his House Minority Whip
position.
On
the Republican side of the House aisle, Republicans have nominated Rep. Paul
Ryan to continue to be speaker in the 115th Congress. An official vote
for House Speaker will be in January. The Republicans also elected Rep. Kevin
McCarthy (CA) to continue to be House Majority Leader and Rep. Steve Scalise
(LA) to again be House Majority Whip.
Last
week, the Speaker’s Office released the Committee Chairs for
the 115th Congress and the Majority Leader’s Office released the
2017 House calendar. House
committees and subcommittees will be announced in January.
In
the Senate, Mitch McConnell (KY) was re-elect to another term as Senate
Majority Leader and Chuck Schumer (NY) was elected to succeed retiring Senate
Minority Leader Harry Reid (NV).
As
President-elect Trump is busy putting together his administration for next
year, so too is the legislative branch of government. The picture of what the
American government will look like for the next several years is starting to
come into place, giving advocates the time to begin to put together their
upcoming legislative strategies.
By Jeff Kratz, Contributing Author, The Sower Group
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