What’s Happening in Washington: Week of June 19th, 2023

Headlines to Know:

China Continues to Push Geopolitical Boundaries

China and Cuba are negotiating to establish a new joint military training facility on the island. Discussions for the facility on Cuba’s northern coast are at an advanced stage but not concluded, U.S. intelligence reports suggest. The Biden administration has contacted Cuban officials to try to forestall the deal, seeking to tap into what it thinks might be Cuban concerns about ceding sovereignty. Beijing’s effort to establish a military training facility in Cuba hasn’t been previously reported.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Visit Washington

President Biden will host the Indian Prime Minister on Thursday. Modi will address a joint session of Congress and will be feted at a White House state dinner. That Democrats and Republicans alike are honoring Modi this week demonstrates the White House and Congress are willing to overlook his right-wing populist agenda in the pursuit of a strategically important relationship that will allow the U.S. to counter China’s influence. The visit coincides as neighboring countries face increasing security and economic threats from countries such as China, Pakistan, and Russia. This is President Biden’s first meeting with the head of state. 

President Biden Officially Kicks-off 2024 Re-Election Bid

In his first rally since announcing his reelection campaign nearly two months ago, President Joe Biden went to a union event in Philadelphia. “Folks, it feels good to be home,” Joe Biden told about 2,000 union members Saturday at an endorsement rally in his 13th trip to Philadelphia as president. “I look out in this crowd and I see a lot of old friends, a lot of folks, as they say in Claymont, Delaware, who brung me to the dance.” Biden has essentially built his political identity around his connection to the labor movement as proof of his focus on middle-class families. He’s also leaned on unions for their organization and mobilization skills in the past. Those in Biden world say this reelection campaign will be no different.

Supreme Court Issues Ruling on Federal Environmental Permits

The court’s May 25 decision shrinking federal wetlands protections took a wrecking ball to an expansive permitting regime that has been in place for nearly 50 years ― and it’s already having a ripple effect in how agencies enforce a wide range of other environmental safeguards. The 5-4 ruling put at least half the country’s marshes, swamps and other wetlands outside the reach of federal water protections, an outcome that could speed the way for pipelines, power lines, highways and housing projects across the U.S.

Hearings

June 20th 

• House Rules Meeting: H.R. 3799 – CHOICE Arrangement Act; H. Res. 461 – Condemning the use of elementary and secondary school facilities to provide shelter for aliens who are not admitted to the United States
• House Veterans’ Affairs: The Status of VA Financial Management Business Transformation
• House Intelligence Committee: Special Counsel John Durham (CLOSED)
• Senate Appropriations: Closed hearings to examine proposed budget estimates and justification for fiscal year 2024 for the Central Intelligence Agency and the National Security Agency.
• Senate Armed Services (Airland & Strategic Forces): Closed business meeting to markup those provisions which fall under the subcommittee’s jurisdiction of the proposed National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2024.

June 21st 

• House Judiciary: Hearing on the Report of Special Counsel John Durham
• Senate Armed Services (Cybersecurity & SeaPower): Closed business meeting to markup those provisions which fall under the subcommittee’s jurisdiction of the proposed National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2024.
• Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs: Business meeting to consider S.1271, to impose sanctions with respect to trafficking of illicit fentanyl and its precursors by transnational criminal organizations
• House Armed Services Markup: H.R. 2670 – National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024; and H.R. 1282 – Major Richard Star Act
• House Transportation and Infrastructure: Review of the National Academy of Sciences Report ‘The Coast Guard’s Next Decade: An Assessment of Emerging Challenges and Statutory Needs’
• House Foreign Affairs: Markup
• House Homeland Security: “Countering Threats Posed by Nation-State Actors in Latin America to U.S. Homeland Security”
• House Oversight and Accountability: “Churches vs. Casinos: The Constitution is not Suspended in Times of Crisis”
• House Financial Services: The Federal Reserve’s Semi-Annual Monetary Policy Report
• House Oversight and Accountability: “Clearing the Air: Examining the Environmental Protection Agency’s Proposed Emissions Standards”
• Senate Armed Services (Readiness and Management Support): Closed business meeting to markup those provisions which fall under the subcommittee’s jurisdiction of the proposed National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2024.
• Senate Environment and Public Works: Hearings to examine reauthorization of the Economic Development Administration, focusing on state and local perspectives.
• Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions: Business meeting to consider S.728, to amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to provide more effective remedies to victims of discrimination in the payment of wages on the basis of sex
• Senate Budget Meeting: Hearings to examine fossil fuel threats to climate and the Federal budget.
• Senate Commerce: Hearings to examine the nominations of Joel Matthew Szabat, of Maryland, Anthony Rosario Coscia, of New Jersey, and Christopher Koos, of Illinois, each to be a Director of the Amtrak Board
• Senate Foreign Relations: Business meeting to consider S.1457, to authorize negotiation and conclusion and to provide for congressional consideration of a tax agreement between the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) and other parties
• Senate Judiciary: Hearings to examine defending the civil rights of LGBTQ+ Americans.
• House Education and the Workforce: “Competition and Transparency: The Pathway Forward for a Stronger Health Care Market”
• House Veterans Affairs: Legislative Hearing on: H.R. 3520, Veterans Care Improvement Act of 2023; H.R. 1182, Veterans Serving Veterans Act of 2023; H.R. 1774, VA Emergency Transportation Act; H.R. 2683
• House Energy & Commerce: Oversight of the Federal Communications Commission
• House Appropriations: Fiscal Year 2024 Homeland Security and Legislative Branch Bills
• Senate Armed Services (Personnel & Emerging Threats): Business meeting to markup those provisions which fall under the subcommittee’s jurisdiction of the proposed National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2024.
• House Financial Services: HUD Oversight: Testimony of the HUD Inspector General
• Senate Intelligence Meeting: Closed hearings to examine certain intelligence matters.
• Senate Armed Services: Closed business meeting to markup S.822, to terminate the Department of Defense memorandum relating to access to abortions
• Senate Veterans’ Affairs: Hearings to examine the effectiveness of the Office of Integrated Veteran Care.

June 22nd

• House Financial Services: Oversight of the SEC
• Senate Armed Services: Closed business meeting to continue to markup the proposed National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2024.
• House Homeland Security: “Growing the National Cybersecurity Talent Pipeline”
• House Natural Resources: Oversight Hearing titled “Examining the Council on Environmental Quality Fiscal Year 2024 Budget Request and Related Policy Matters.”
• House Small Business: “Reviewing the SBA’s Office of Advocacy Report on the Regulatory Flexibility Act”
• House Science, Space, and Technology: Artificial Intelligence: Advancing Innovation Towards the National Interest
• House Transportation and Infrastructure: Review of Fiscal Year 2024 Budget Request: Agency Perspectives (Part I)
• House Veterans’ Affairs: Member Day: Testimony and Proposals on the Department of Veterans Affairs
• House Foreign Affairs: Examining the Fiscal Year 2024 State and Foreign Operations Budget Request for Africa
• House Energy and Commerce: Driving Affordability: Preserving People’s Freedom to Buy Affordable Vehicles and Fuel
• House Appropriations Markup: Fiscal Year 2024 Defense and Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Bills
• Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs: Hearings to examine the Semiannual Monetary Policy Report to the Congress.
• Senate Finance Meeting: Hearings to examine cattle supply chains and deforestation of the Amazon.
• Senate Judiciary Meeting: Business meeting to consider S.1080, to amend the Controlled Substances Act to require electronic communication service providers and remote computing services to report to the Attorney General…
• House Financial Services: Oversight of the SEC’s Division of Trading and Markets
• Senate Appropriations: Business meeting to consider 302(b) Subcommittee allocations, an original bill entitled, ¿Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act
• Senate Foreign Relations: Hearings to examine United States and global commitments to combatting human trafficking.
• House Foreign Affairs: Responding to Anti-Semitism and Anti-Israel Bias in the UN, Palestinian Authority, and NGO Community
• House Foreign Affairs: The Vilnius Summit and War in Ukraine: Assessing U.S. Policy towards Europe and NATO
• House Oversight and Accountability: “Using Cutting-Edge Technologies to Keep America Safe”
• House Judiciary Hearing: Hearing on Compliance with Committee Oversight
• House Homeland Security Hearing: “An Examination of TSA’s FY 2024 Budget and Priorities”

June 23rd 

• Senate Armed Services: Closed business meeting to continue to markup the proposed National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2024.