The House is wrapping up its work for the week today with complete Consideration of H.R. 256 – To repeal the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002. The resolution passed 268-161, mainly along party lines, though 49 Republicans joined the Democratic majority in favor of repeal while one Democrat joined Republicans in opposition. The White House said this week that it supports the repeal, proposed by Rep. Barbara Lee, (D-California), who led the opposition in Congress to the Iraq War, because “the United States has no ongoing military activities that rely solely on the 2002 AUMF as a domestic legal basis, and repeal of the 2002 AUMF would likely have minimal impact on current military operations.”
The Senate met at 10 a.m. and resumed consideration of the nomination of Tommy P. Beaudreau to be Deputy Secretary of the Interior. At 11:30am, the Senate will vote on confirmation of the Beaudreau nomination followed by a cloture vote on John K. Tien, of Georgia, to be Deputy Secretary of Homeland.
At 10 a.m. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chair Gen. Mark Milley began testifying before the Senate Appropriations Committee. Austin testimony. Milley testimony.
Senate Democrats are weighing spending as much as $6 trillion on their own infrastructure package if the chamber’s bipartisan talks fail. According to a tentative plan, half of the proposed Democrats-only alternative would be paid for. About $2.5 trillion would go through the Finance Committee, $185 billion through the Energy Committee and almost $500 billion through the Environment and Public Works Committee. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York) has repeatedly insisted that infrastructure talks are currently on two tracks: The first track is bipartisan, while the second track will include priorities that have no chance of getting GOP support. He huddled on Wednesday afternoon with Democratic members of the Budget Committee to discuss strategy, with no firm decision reached. Moderate Democrats will meet with Schumer midday to discuss their bipartisan proposal, the budget and reconciliation. They have signaled they are unlikely to go along with a package running into the multi-trillion-dollar range, but talks about a compromise are just beginning in earnest. The details of the bigger plan come as a bipartisan group of senators finally released details this week of an infrastructure plan that costs about $973 billion over five years or $1.2 trillion over eight. The plan would include $579 billion in new spending, and pay-fors include repurposing unused COVID-19 relief funds, imposing a surcharge on electric vehicles, and expanding use of state and local funds for coronavirus relief. So far, a bipartisan group of 21 senators have signed on and the plan’s complete details still remain in flux.
President Joe Biden is set to sign today a bill establishing Juneteenth, the date marking the end of slavery in the United States, as a federal holiday. The 3:30 p.m. ET signing event at the White House comes two days before Juneteenth itself, which falls on June 19th each year. Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris are scheduled to deliver remarks in the East Room, according to the White House. Juneteenth National Independence Day will become the 12th legal public holiday and the first new one created since Martin Luther King Jr. Day was signed into law in 1983 by then-President Ronald Reagan. Juneteenth marks the date that the last enslaved African Americans were granted their freedom. On that day in 1865, Union soldiers led by General Gordon Granger arrived in the coastal city of Galveston, Texas, to deliver General Order Number Three, officially ending slavery in the state. Speaker Pelosi Floor Speech on S. 475, the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act before the 415-14 vote on the House floor which came one day after the Senate passed the legislation by unanimous consent. List of 14 Republicans who voted against the Juneteenth legislation.
U.S.-Russia Presidential Joint Statement on Strategic Stability.
Remarks by President Biden in Press Conference- Hôtel du Parc des Eaux-Vives, Geneva, Switzerland.
Remarks by President Biden Before Air Force One Departure- Geneva Airport, Geneva, Switzerland.
Adam S. Olsen, Washington, D.C.
