The Senate reconvened at 10:00 A.M. and resumed consideration of H.R.3967, Honoring our PACT Act.
The Senate will also vote on confirmation of the nomination of Samuel Bagenstos to be General Counsel of the Department of Health and Human Services.
The House convened at 9:00 A.M. and passed H.R. 2377 – Federal Extreme Risk Protection Order Act of 2022 which will nationalize red flag laws, which seek to keep guns away from individuals deemed a threat to themselves and others. The legislation passed in a 224-202 vote. Two Republicans did not vote. Today’s vote follows on the heels of the passage of a package yesterday, dubbed the Protecting Our Kids Act, which passed in a 223-204 vote. One Republican did not vote. Two Democrats — Representatives Jared Golden (Maine) and Kurt Schrader (Oregon) — bucked Democratic Leadership in opposing the measure. Five Republicans — Representatives Adam Kinzinger (Illinois), Anthony Gonzalez (Ohio), Brian Fitzpatrick (Pennsylvania), Chris Jacobs (New York) and Fred Upton (Michigan) — supported it. That legislation consists of seven separate provisions aimed at addressing gun violence in America. The House voted separately on the individual provisions, all of which cleared the chamber in mainly party-line votes. The overall package, however, is the only legislation that will be sent for consideration to the Senate, where it faces GOP opposition. The House package would raise the minimum age for buying a semi-automatic weapon from 18 to 21, prohibit civilian use of ammunition magazines with more than 15 rounds, and enact new federal criminal offenses for gun trafficking and straw purchases of firearms — when an individual who is unable to pass a background check buys a gun through a proxy.
The House is expected to adjourn today for the week. Tonight, the January 6th Select Committee will convene its first hearing at 8 P.M. in prime time. Committee leaders have indicated that the focus on Thursday will be on presenting a complete timeline of the riot, beginning with the 2020 election and extending through the riot itself and its aftermath. Democrats involved in the investigation have said the evidence they present will connect the dots between the monthslong campaign that former President Donald J. Trump and his allies waged to discredit the outcome of the election and the effort by rioters on January 6th to disrupt the congressional certification of the results. The panel is hoping that the televised hearings will lay out just how vulnerable American democracy is in the hopes of spurring accountability and change.
Adam S. Olsen, Washington, D.C.
