Senators are racing to finish writing the bipartisan agreement to combat gun violence this week in hopes of passing it next week before a scheduled two week July 4th recess, and they’re running into complicated challenges. The biggest hurdles so far are red flag provisions, specifically, assuring due process before gun rights are stripped from dangerous individuals, and background checks for Americans aged 18 to 21 that open the door to accessing juvenile records particularly because states have different laws with regard to eliminating juvenile records. The bipartisan framework, which calls for providing money to states to set up red flag laws and expanding funding for mental health services, has just enough Republican support to overcome a filibuster, as every single member of the Senate Democratic Conference supports it. Senator John Cornyn (R-Texas), the lead Republican negotiator, noted Monday that the NRA has pledged to stay neutral until the legislative text of the bill is unveiled.
For today, the Senate convened at 10 A.M. and is continuing work on H.R.3967, Honoring our PACT Act, post-cloture which it is expected to complete this week.
The House convened at 12:00 P.M. and is working H.R. 2773 – Recovering America’s Wildlife Act of 2022. The House will also consider three bills under suspension of the Rules, including S. 4160 – Supreme Court Police Parity Act of 2022. The Senate-passed legislation would provide security to family members of Supreme Court justices, which comes nearly a week after an armed man was arrested outside Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s house. The legislation, sponsored by Senators Chris Coons, (D-Delaware) and John Cornyn, (R-Texas), would provide security that’s similar to protections that currently exist for family members of certain executive and legislative branch officials. The Senate passed the bill last month with unanimous support. An advisory from House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, (D-Maryland) late Monday said the House would vote on the Senate-passed measure after House Democrats had been considering a slightly different version that would have extended security protections to Supreme Court employees as well.
