While the House remains in recess, the Senate convened at 10:00 A.M. and will spend the day holding roll call votes in relation to the motions to instruct with respect to H.R.4521, USICA/America COMPETES Act. No votes are scheduled yet, but there could be more than two dozen nonbinding motions voted on.
Of note, senators on both sides of the aisle are throwing support behind a proposal to tuck key marijuana banking legislation into the larger package aimed at boosting U.S. competitiveness, increasing the odds that a significant cannabis bill gets through the upper chamber this year. Senator Patty Murray (D-Washington), the number three Senate Democrat, is leading a push to pass the SAFE Banking Act, which would enable cannabis firms to use banking services, as part of a sweeping package lawmakers are hashing out in both chambers that is intended to bolster the country’s supply chains and manufacturing. While the cannabis measure was not included in the bipartisan U.S. Innovation and Competition Act that passed the Senate, the legislation was featured in the House’s version of the bill, known as the Competes Act, that passed in February. Conferees are expected to complete a compromise China competitiveness bill that could win the support of 60 senators before the August recess, when Congress shifts its focus to the November midterm elections.
As Congress continues to digest the leaked draft majority opinion overturning Roe v. Wade, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, (D-New York), vowed the Senate would vote on a bill to codify the original Roe v. Wade decision. The House of Representatives approved a measure to do that recently, but senators from both parties acknowledged a GOP filibuster meant that an effort in the Senate would fail and largely be a messaging effort. Top Democrats said it was important to force all senators to go on the record on the issue. But as Democrats argued the news amounted to a reshaping of fundamental individual rights and reframed the midterm elections, Republicans largely focused on the fact the decision was leaked. Most GOP lawmakers sidestepped questions about the impact the possible ruling could have — both on women’s health decisions and on the now changed 2022 political environment.
The Federal Reserve is set to ratchet up this afternoon its efforts to withdraw the unprecedented stimulus it showered on the U.S. economy after the coronavirus pandemic upended global economies two years ago. In the 2 P.M. announcement Fed officials are poised to raise their benchmark rate by a half percentage point and approve plans to start shrinking their $9 trillion asset portfolio. The moves are part of a double-barreled effort to slow the economy and ease price pressures that are at a four-decade high.
Adam S. Olsen, Washington, D.C.
