The Senate has resumed consideration of the nomination of Alexandra Baker to be a Deputy Under Secretary of Defense. Later this afternoon, the Senate is expected to vote to invoke cloture on the Baker nomination as well as the nominations of Reta Jo Lewis to be President of the Export-Import Bank of the United States for a term expiring January 20, 2025 and Leonard Philip Stark to be United States Circuit Judge for the Federal Circuit.
The House will continue work on H.R. 4521 – America COMPETES Act of 2022 and is expected to spend the day working through amendments, a full list of which can be found here. The legislation would invest billions of dollars in American manufacturing and scientific research, aiming to counter China’s growing economic influence. The bill, which was introduced in the House last week, addresses some of the most pressing economic issues facing the Biden administration, including the global shortage of semiconductor chips and supply chain disruptions. The bill would also change some US trade rules, designed to give American businesses a competitive edge on the global stage. A big focus of the legislation is countering China’s state-directed economic policies. Although the Senate passed a version of the bill in June with bipartisan support, the legislation is poised to attract little Republican support despite 13 bills embedded in the package that won bipartisan support last year. Despite the GOP pushback, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-California) has decided to push ahead with the bill relying only on Democratic support. On Tuesday, the White House threw its support behind the House bill, saying in a statement that the legislation “is aligned with the president’s vision to enhance American economic and scientific competitiveness.” Dozens of Republican lawmakers have filed more than 250 amendments, some of which would strike down the entire legislation and replace it with proposals that would narrowly target China. Amendments would impose new sanctions against Chinese companies, launch probes of the origin of COVID-19 and prohibit awarding U.S. research grants to Chinese entities.
The House is also scheduled to take up six bills under suspension of the Rules.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, Joint Chief Chairman General Mark Milley, and Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines will hold separate House and Senate briefings on the emerging situation in Ukraine. Pentagon officials said on Wednesday that Russia had amassed more troops and military hardware over the past 24 hours near the Ukrainian border and in neighboring Belarus, and that 3,000 additional American troops would be sent to help defend NATO allies from the threat of Russian aggression.
Adam S. Olsen, Washington, D.C.
