Tag: DC Legislative Update

DC Legislative Update: Feb 28–Mar 4, 2022 

Check here for the 2022 Senate Calendar
Check here for the 2022 House Calendar

Upcoming Congressional Hearings

  • Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee
  • Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, & Forestry Committee
    • Wednesday, March 2 at 10am EST: Hearing to consider the nominations of Christy Goldsmith Romero to be a commissioner of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), Kristin Johnson to be a commissioner of the CFTC, Summer Mersinger to be commissioner of the CFTC, and Caroline Pham to be a commissioner of the CFTC.
  • Senate Environment and Public Works Committee
    • Wednesday, March 2 at 10am EST: Hearing on implementation of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act by the U.S. Department of Transportation. Pete Buttigieg, Secretary of Transportation, will testify.
  • House Agriculture Committee
  • House Homeland Security Committee
  • House Judiciary Committee
    • Tuesday, March 1 at 10am EST: Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties Subcommittee hearing on discrimination against Muslim, Arab, and South Asian American communities.
  • House Natural Resources Committee
  • House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology

Congressional News

  • With just under two weeks before government funding runs out on March 11th, details on an appropriations deal for the remainder of Fiscal Year 2022 remain scarce. Last week, President Biden requested an additional $6.4 billion to support Ukraine against the invasion by Russia. Congress could add this funding to a larger appropriations package, or we could see piecemeal funding bills passed up until the 11th. Given the amount of work on the appropriations committees’ plates, there could also be a very short funding extension to keep the government open beyond March 11th. Senator Ben Ray Luján of New Mexico remains absent from the Senate as he recovers from a stroke. His absence impacts Democrats’ ability to command a majority in the chamber. He is expected to recover and return to the Senate within a few weeks.

Administrative News

  • President Biden will provide his State of the Union address to Congress at 9pm EST on Tuesday, March 1. Even with the Russian invasion of Ukraine taking center stage, the President is expected to devote part of his speech to the need for climate action. The speech follows just a day after the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released its latest installment of the sixth climate assessment, focused on how changes will affect humans and natural ecosystems. You can view NWF’s press release on the report here.
  • On Friday, President Biden announced his selection of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson as his nominee to succeed Justice Stephen Breyer on the Supreme Court. Judge Jackson will begin meeting with Senators this week as the chamber prepares for her confirmation proceedings. A confirmation hearing with the Judiciary Committee is expected to come quickly, although the exact timeline has not been announced.
  • See here for additional White House resources, including a comprehensive list of Executive orders to address COVID, the climate crisis, and environmental justice, among other topics.

What’s Happening This Week

  • Both chambers of Congress are in session this week.
  • The House will begin by considering 8 bills under suspension, and will likely move later in the week to consider legislation related to toxic exposures for military servicemembers under a rule. Action on a Fiscal Year 2022 funding bill or emergency supplemental funding to provide aid to Ukraine is possible.
  • The Senate is in session and will open the week by moving to consider a House-passed bill that protects the right of Americans to receive an abortion. A vote on the motion to consider is expected to fail, after which the chamber will take up the Postal Service reform that has been before Congress for a few weeks.
  • NWF continues to work to advance our priorities on Capitol Hill, so please feel free to share NWF’s 117th Congress National Policy Agenda.
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DC Legislative Update:  January 10–14, 2022

Check here for the 2022 Senate Calendar
Check here for the 2022 House Calendar

Upcoming Congressional Hearings 

  • Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee
    • Tuesday, January 11, 2022, at 10am EST: Hearing to examine the opportunities and challenges for maintaining existing hydropower capacity, expanding hydropower at non-powered dams, and increasing pumped storage hydropower.
  • Senate Environment and Public Works Committee
    • Wednesday, Jan 12, 2022 at 2:45 PM EST: Business meeting to consider the nominations of David Uhlmann to be assistant administrator for enforcement and compliance assurance at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Henry Christopher Frey to be Assistant Administrator for the EPA’s Office of Research and Development, and Martha Williams to be Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
    • The Business Meeting will be followed by a hearing on Water Resources Development Act Oversight: USACE Implementation of Water Infrastructure Projects, Programs, and Priorities. The hearing and business meeting are both accessible at the link provided above.
  • House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee
  • House Agriculture Committee

Congressional News 

  • On January 3rd, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer sent a letter to Senate Democrats stating his intention to again consider two pieces of voting rights legislation, the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. Under Senate rules, these bills need 60 votes to advance – they have both failed to reach that threshold on previous attempts. In the letter, Senator Schumer indicates that the Senate will consider rule changes – likely including changes to the filibuster – if there is no bipartisan cooperation on advancing these bills. He set a deadline of January 17th, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, for debate on rules changes.
  • Further Senate consideration of the Build Back Better Act is expected to remain on hold while the chamber seeks a breakthrough on voting rights legislation.
  • As a reminder, the government is funded through February 18, 2022 by a continuing resolution that Congress passed in December. Congress must pass a new spending bill before midnight on Feb. 18 to avoid a government shutdown.

Administrative News

  • On Tuesday, January 11, President Biden will travel to Georgia to highlight his administration’s efforts to pass legislation protecting the right to vote. His remarks may shed further light on the degree of his support for filibuster reform in the Senate.
  • House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has invited President Biden to deliver his 2022 State of the Union address to Congress on March 1st.
  • Last week, President Biden re-nominated a batch of nominees whose nominations had expired when the Senate adjourned its 2021 session. The list includes Laura Daniel Davis, formerly of NWF, to be an Assistant Secretary of the Interior, and Martha Williams to be Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The full list is available here.
  • See here for additional White House resources, including a comprehensive list of Executive orders to address COVID, the climate crisis, and environmental justice, among other topics.

What’s Happening This Week 

  • The House and Senate will both be in session this week, with the House returning for the first time in 2022.
  • The Senate will consider Commerce Department nominees and continue work on voting rights legislation.
  • The House will consider a Veterans Affairs bill and a NASA Other legislation may be added to the schedule.
  • NWF continues to work to advance our priorities on Capitol Hill, so please feel free to share NWF’s 117th Congress National Policy Agenda.
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DC Legislative Update: May 24-28, 2021

 

DC Legislative Update: May 24-28, 2021

Check here for the 2021 Senate Calendar
Check here for the 2021 House Calendar

Upcoming Congressional Hearings

 House Natural Resources Committee

House Appropriations Committee

    • Monday, 24 at 2pm EST: Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development hearing on “FY 2022 Budget Request for the S. Army Corps of Engineers and Bureau of Reclamation.”
    • Wednesday, May 26 at 1pm EST: Subcommittee on Defense hearing on “Defense Environmental Restoration.”

Senate Finance Committee

    • Tuesday, May 25 at 9:30am EST: “Hearing to Consider the Pending Nominations of Lily Lawrence Batchelder to be an Assistant Secretary of the Treasury, Benjamin Harris to be an Assistant Secretary of the Treasury and Jonathan Davidson to be Deputy Under Secretary of the ”
    • Wednesday, May 26 at 2:30pm EST: “Open Executive Session to Consider an Original Bill Entitled The Clean Energy for America ”

House Energy and Commerce Committee

    • Tuesday, May 25 at 11:30am EST: Subcommittee on Environment and Climate Change hearing on “The Clean Future Act and Drinking Water: Legislation to Ensure Drinking Water is Safe and Clean.”
  • House Financial Services Committee
    • Tuesday, May 25 at 12pm EST: Subcommittee on Diversity and Inclusion hearing on “The Legacy of George Floyd: An Examination of Financial Services Industry Commitments to Economic and Racial ”

Senate Environment and Public Works Committee

    • Wednesday, May 26 at 9:45am EST: “Business Meeting to consider the following items: Shannon Aneal Estenoz to be Assistant Secretary of Fish and Wildlife and Parks of the Department of the Interior; Radhika Fox to be Assistant Administrator for Water of the Environmental Protection Agency; Michal Ilana Freedhoff to be Assistant Administrator for Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention of the Environmental Protection Agency; 10 General Services Administration Resolutions; and the Surface Transportation Reauthorization Act of 2021

Senate Appropriations Committee

  • Wednesday, May 26 at 10am EST: Subcommittee on Interior, Environment hearing on “Rethinking Resiliency: Budgeting for the Future of Forest Management.”
  • Wednesday, May 26 at 2pm EST: Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science hearing on “A Review of the President’s Fiscal Year 2022 Funding Request for the U.S. Department of ”
  • Wednesday, May 26 at 2pm EST: Subcommittee on Homeland Security hearing on “A Review of the President’s Fiscal Year 2022 Funding Request for the U.S. Department of Homeland ”

Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee

House Agriculture Committee

    • Wednesday, May 26 at 12pm EST: Subcommittee on Nutrition, Oversight, and Department Operations hearing on “The Future of SNAP: Moving Past the ”

House Oversight and Reform Committee

Senate Agriculture Committee

    • Thursday, May 27 at 9:30am EST: To consider the following nomination: Janie Simms Hipp, of Arkansas, to be General Counsel of the Department of House Judiciary Committee
    • Thursday, May 17 at 10am EST: Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties hearing on “Oversight of the Voting Rights Act: A Continuing Record of Discrimination”

House Science, Space, and Technology Committee

    • Thursday, May 27 at 1pm EST: Hearing on “Overview of the Science and Energy Research Enterprise of the S. Department of Energy” featuring witness Jennifer Granholm, Secretary of Energy.

Congressional News

  •  On Thursday, the Senate Commerce Committee approved, in a bipartisan voice vote. the nomination of Eric Lander to be the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy. In the same hearing, the Committee approved and advanced the nomination of Rick Spinrad for Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
  • Senator Heinrich [D-NM] introduced the “Schools and State Budgets Certainty Act, with the purpose of ensuring communities, schools, workers and other essential services are provided with needed resources and support during the transition to the clean energy economy. Read NWF’s press release here.
  • This weekend, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee released a draft, bipartisan bill calling for $303.5 billion in investments into surface transportation infrastructure, including $350 million for wildlife crossings and billions in climate-targeted investments. See here for NWF’s press release and here for the Committee’s press release. The Committee will mark up the bill on Wednesday, when they will also vote on the nominations of Shannon Estenoz, Michal Freedhoff, and Radhika

Administrative News

  •  The Administration is expected to release a full fiscal year 2022 discretionary budget request later this week. The request is expected to contain specific provisions to enforce a whole-of-government approach to climate change and related issues.
  • Last week, President Biden signed an Executive Order directing federal agencies to consider climate financial risks in economic assessments. See here for President Biden’s comprehensive list of Executive orders to address COVID, the climate crisis, and environmental justice, among other

What’s Happening This Week

  •  This week, the House is in a committee work period, and the Senate is continuing floor consideration of various nominees, including Kristen Clarke to be Assistant Attorney General, as well as continued votes on the Endless Frontiers Act.
  • This week, NWF’s Environmental Justice Team is hosting partners and congressional staff to launch the Clean Economy Coalition of Color (CECC). This event will focus on providing discussion around ensuring federal commitments are realized through an equitable process aimed at building wealth among vulnerable Register here to attend the event on May 26 from 6-8pm EST.
  • The White House has been conducting meetings with bipartisan, bicameral Members of Congress to discuss deals around key infrastructure priorities. We expect movement on, and markup of, a bipartisan surface infrastructure package in the coming in the coming weeks.
  • Senator Heinrich has been circulating a letter calling for investments in natural infrastructure, resilience, and habitat conservation in any upcoming infrastructure package. NWF strongly supports the letter, and urges Senators to sign-on, as the recommendations align with our Restoration and Resilience report – located here and in our press release here.

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DC Legislative Update April 12-16, 2021

DC Legislative Update

April 12-16, 2021

Check here for the 2021 Senate Calendar
Check here for the 2021 House Calendar

Congressional Hearings

  • House Natural Resources Committee
    • Tuesday, April 13 at 1pm EST: Subcommittee for Indigenous Peoples of the United States legislative hearing on the “Save Oak Flat Act”
    • Thursday, April 15 at 2pm EST: Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources hearing on “Building Back Better: Creating Jobs and Reducing Pollution by Plugging and Reclaiming Orphaned Wells”
  • Senate Appropriations Committee
    • Tuesday, April 13 at 2pm EST: Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies hearing “to examine the President’s proposed budget estimates for fiscal year 2022 for the National Science Foundation and securing US Competitiveness.”
    • Wednesday, April 14 at 2pm EST: Subcommittee on Homeland Security hearing on “The Federal Emergency Management Agency’s response to COVID-19 and other challenges”
  • Senate Homeland Security Committee
  • House Appropriations Committee
  • House Financial Services Committee
  • Senate Environment and Public Works Committee
    • Wednesday, April 14 at 10am EST: “Business meeting to consider S.914, to amend the Safe Drinking Water Act and the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to reauthorize programs under those Acts; to be immediately followed by a hearing to examine the long-term solvency of the Highway Trust Fund, focusing on lessons learned from the Surface Transportation System Funding Alternatives Program and other user-based revenue solutions, and how funding uncertainty affects the highway programs.”
  • Transportation and Infrastructure Committee
  • House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee
  • Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee
  • House Energy and Commerce Committee
    • Thursday, April 15 at 10:30am EST: Subcommittee on Environment and Climate Change hearing on “The CLEAN Future Act and Environmental Justice: Protecting Frontline Communities.” Other pieces of legislation under consideration include H.R. 501, the “Climate Smart Ports Act,” and H.R. 862, the “Climate Action Planning for Ports Act of 2021.”

Congressional News

  •  On March 26, Congress passed a bipartisan, NWF supported resolution from Senators Portman & Hirono designating April as National Native Plants Patrick Fitzgerald, NWF’s Senior Director of Community Wildlife, provided a quote for the Senators’ press release, see here.
  • On April 1, Senators Coons, Heinrich, and Lujan introduced a bill to create a 21st-century Civilian Climate Corps that aims to employ millions of young Americans to restore and protect public lands and waters. See NWF’s press release here
  • On March 25, Senator Markey and Congresswoman Dingell introduced the Climate Change Education Act to expand NOAA’s climate change education The link to NWF’s press release is here.
  • On March 24 the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee voted unanimously to advance the Drinking Water and Wastewater Infrastructure Act which seeks to expand nation-wide access to clean drinking water. See here for NWF’s press

Administrative News

  •  On March 31, the Biden administration released a jobs and infrastructure plan to “Create Jobs, Resilient Communities, [and a] ‘Visionary’ Civilian Climate ” See NWF’s press release here.
  • The Executive Branch has turned focus to offshore wind by committing to work with stakeholders and partners to protect wildlife and advance environmental justice on future projects. See here for NWF’s Twitter
  • Last week, the Administration released their fiscal year 2022 discretionary budget request with specific provisions to highlight the all-of-government approach to climate change and related See the White House’s notice here.
  • See here for President Biden’s comprehensive list of Executive orders to address COVID, the climate crisis, and environmental justice, among other

What’s happening this week?

  •  On Monday, April 12 at 4pm EST the National Wildlife Federation, Atlantic Council Global Energy Center, and Reimagine Appalachia are hosting a congressional briefing to discuss the role of climate infrastructure investments in Appalachia.
  • This and next week, NWF’s Public Lands team is hosting staff and affiliates in a virtual fly-in to discuss legislative and restoration and resilience priorities as part of upcoming legislation and larger infrastructure
  • NWF expects a Senate confirmation vote on Brenda Mallory to lead the White House Council on Environmental Quality early this Mallory’s confirmation was advanced on March 24 following an 11-9 vote from the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.
  • Congress is turning attention to address surface and natural infrastructure priorities, appropriations, and reconciliation. NWF will continue working with Members and conducting virtual meetings, emphasizing organizational recommendations from our newest Restoration and Resilience report – located here and in our press release here,

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