The House met at 10 a.m. to consider H.R. 1443 – LGBTQ Business Equal Credit Enforcement and Investment Act. The House will also use the CRA to overturn two Trump era regulations: S.J.Res. 15 – Providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Office of the Comptroller of Currency relating to “National Banks and Federal Savings Associations as Lenders” and S.J.Res. 13 – Providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission relating to “Update of Commission’s Conciliation Procedures.”
The Senate also met at 10 a.m. and is considering the nomination of Candace Jackson-Akiwumi to be United States Circuit Judge for the 7th Circuit as well as S.1251, the Growing Climate Solutions Act introduced by Senator Mike Braun (R-Indiana) and Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-Michigan) and cosponsored by 52 Senators (half Republicans, half Democrats), which will help farmers access carbon credit markets which encourages sustainable practices and helps them get paid for sequestering carbon.
In hearings of note, at 9 a.m. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm will testify before the Senate Armed Services Committee and at 10 a.m. a House Administration subcommittee will hold a hearing on voting in America, with former Attorney General Eric Holder among those testifying. Holder Testimony.
President Joe Biden on Thursday declared “we have a deal” on a major infrastructure initiative after meeting with a bipartisan group of senators. The sides still need to finalize how they would pay for the plan, as Republicans vow not to touch their 2017 tax cuts and Biden says he will not raise the gas tax or electric vehicle user fees. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York) and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-California) separately met with White House officials as they try to pass the bipartisan infrastructure plan and a broader package of Democratic priorities. It is expected to increase federal spending by nearly $600 billion but leave many of President Biden’s economic proposals, including investments in child care and much of his climate agenda, for a future bill. Democratic leaders said after a late-night Wednesday meeting with White House officials that they plan to employ a complex series of parliamentary steps to pass both the bipartisan plan and a much-larger Democratic only approach to dramatically expand the social safety plan. That tactic, they believe, can win over liberals who are angry their priorities were ignored by the bipartisan group. House Speaker Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Schumer said they would attempt to move both packages in July — something that would require total Democratic unity, which has been lacking so far. And it would set up a jam-packed July with little floor time sandwiched between two summer recesses. However a more cautious timetable may be the leaders setting up the avalanche of votes — known as a “vote-a-rama” — on the budget resolution for the week of August 9th before lawmakers leave for recess. Senators say the package will be fully paid for and offsets the new spending. The total cost is $1.2 trillion over eight years, with $559 billion in new spending.
In his first presidential visit to North Carolina later today, Joe Biden will meet with the people on the front lines of his administration’s vaccination effort in Raleigh. Biden will visit Green Road Community Center in north Raleigh on Thursday afternoon to thank the people staffing a vaccination center there, discuss the importance and ease of getting vaccinated and mobilize an outreach effort to get shots out to nearby residents.
Adam S. Olsen, Washington, D.C.
