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Politico
3 days ago
- Business
- Politico
New megabill text dropping this week
IN TODAY'S EDITION:— This week's megabill text schedule— Rescissions package coming today— Lawmakers hit with AM radio curveball Senate committees will start rolling out their portions of the GOP megabill as soon as today, providing a first look at how Republicans in the chamber plan to address some of the House's most controversial proposals. Here's the draft-text timeline our Benjamin Guggenheim and Jordain Carney reported Monday night, though it could change: — Armed Services on Tuesday — Environment and Public Works on Wednesday — Commerce on Thursday — Banking on Friday The scheduling logic: Just as the House sequenced its megabill markups from least-to-most controversial to buy lawmakers more time to resolve their stickier policy debates, the Senate will have committees release their least-contentious draft bills first. Finance, which has jurisdiction over tax cuts and changes to Medicaid, is widely expected to be among the final Senate panels to release text, if not the last. The massive tax-and-spending package will 'most likely' hit the Senate floor the last full week of June, ahead of the July 4 recess, per Majority Leader John Thune. It could come even sooner — but that depends on how conversations go with the Senate parliamentarian, Elizabeth MacDonough. Committee staffers started vetting the megabill with MacDonough last week, and will continue their talks this week and next. MacDonough's job is to recommend which House-passed provisions and policy priorities must be dropped to comply with the strict rules governing the filibuster-skirting budget reconciliation process. Thune signaled Monday that Republicans won't seek to override their referee if they don't like her rulings. But he said he hoped MacDonough could be convinced to greenlight inclusion of the so-called REINS Act 'in some fashion.' The longstanding conservative proposal would give Congress more authority to approve agency regulations. The chamber's lightning-fast turnaround nods to the weeks of behind-the-scenes work by GOP senators and their aides to prepare for the domestic policy bill's arrival from across the Capitol. It also shows the immense pressure they're under from the White House to get moving on advancing President Donald Trump's sweeping legislative agenda. The president is starting to play his own hand. Trump met separately Monday at the White House with both Thune and Sen. Rick Scott, who wants deeper spending cuts but told Lisa 'we all want to get a bill done.' Trump also spoke by phone with Sens. Ron Johnson, who's pushing a return to pre-pandemic spending levels, and Josh Hawley, who's opposed to some of the Medicaid changes endorsed by the Republican House. And Jordain reports the president will likely meet with Thune and Finance Chair Mike Crapo either this week or next to talk through the details of the tax portion of the bill. One key fight to watch this week: Look to see if the Senate backs away from the House's plan to reup government auctions of federally controlled spectrum. Sen. Mike Rounds has drawn a red line on it, saying Monday that 'we'll have to take out the spectrum language that's in the bill right now. That simply is a non-starter for me.' GOOD TUESDAY MORNING. And welcome to Maia Nehme, a Politico Journalism Institute student who will be helping us out on the newsletter this week. Follow our live coverage at the Inside Congress blog at and email your Inside Congress scribes at lkashinsky@ mmccarthy@ and bleonard@ THE SKED The House is in session and voting on a bill, named after the late Rep. Gerry Connolly, which requires the GAO to provide a report on esophageal cancer, among other legislation at 6:30 p.m. — Rules will have a hearing on a major package to fight the opioid crisis and two SBA-related bills at 4 p.m. — House Republican and Democratic leadership will hold separate private meetings shortly before evening votes. The Senate is in session and voting on Michael Duffey's nomination to be undersecretary of Defense and to end debate on Allison Hooker's nomination to be an undersecretary of State at 11:30 a.m. The Senate will vote on Hooker's nomination and to end debate on Dale Marks to be an assistant secretary of Defense at 2:15 p.m. — Finance will vote on Billy Long's nomination to be IRS Commissioner at 9:30 a.m. It will have a hearing on the nominations of Joseph Barloon to be a deputy U.S. trade representative, Janet Dhillon to be the director of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation and Brian Morrissey Jr. to be general counsel for Treasury at 10:30 a.m. — Appropriations will have a hearing on Trump's fiscal 2026 budget requests for the Education Department, with testimony from Secretary Linda McMahon, at 10 a.m.; and for the SEC, with testimony from Chair Paul Atkins, at 2:30 p.m. — Republican and Democratic senators will have separate weekly conference lunches at 12:45 p.m. — Judiciary will have a hearing on district judges ruling against Trump at 2:30 p.m. — Intel will have a closed-door briefing at 2:30 p.m. — Agriculture will vote on legislation to allow whole milk in public school lunches, followed by a hearing on Michael Boren's nomination to be the undersecretary of Agriculture at 3 p.m. The rest of the week: The House will take up the opioid legislation and SBA-related bills. The Senate will continue to work through Trump's nominees, including Edward Walsh to be ambassador to Ireland. THE LEADERSHIP SUITE Trump's $9.4B rescissions package expected today The White House plans to send up a package today outlining $9.4 billion in spending cuts, asking Congress to nix current funding for NPR, PBS and foreign aid, our Jennifer Scholtes writes in. House Republican leaders helped shape the so-called rescissions request over the last few weeks in a back-and-forth with the White House. But Senate Republicans are exploring options for amending the package. Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins said she isn't sure yet if her committee will mark up the package, telling reporters Monday night that Republicans have been talking to the parliamentarian about the 'very, very complicated' rules around altering a rescissions request. White House budget director Russ Vought, who met Monday with Speaker Mike Johnson, has said he's open to transmitting additional rescissions packages if Congress approves the first one. He's also strategizing with House GOP leaders about how to make DOGE cuts permanent, even with architect Elon Musk no longer leading the charge. One option the budget director is increasingly vocalizing: Pocket rescissions. That's when the White House sends a rescissions request toward the end of the fiscal year and lets the funds expire. Thune faces a divisive crypto problem Thune said Monday he wants to finish landmark cryptocurrency legislation 'in the very near future.' But his pledge to allow an open amendment process could come back to bite Republicans trying to pass one of Trump's biggest non-reconciliation priorities, our Jasper Goodman reports. For instance, there's a distinct possibility Republicans could end up having to vote on a polarizing amendment that would force credit card processors like Visa, MasterCard and American Express to compete on swipe fees. This language, long championed by Sens. Dick Durbin and Roger Marshall, would pit two powerful lobbying forces — the financial sector and major retailers — against each other. If either lawmaker demands a vote on it, it could derail progress for crypto supporters, who are closing in on their biggest legislative win to date. Sen. Thom Tillis has warned the provision, if adopted, would be 'a deal killer.' Thune stands firm on Russia sanctions bill The Senate majority leader isn't caving to growing internal pressure to take up Sen. Lindsey Graham's bipartisan Russia sanctions bill, saying he doesn't want to step on the White House's strategy. 'It very well could be something we take up in this work period,' Thune told reporters Monday. 'But obviously we're working with the White House to try and ensure that what we do and when we do it works well with the negotiations they've got underway.' But senators who overwhelmingly support the legislation are pushing Thune not to wait, with Minority Leader Chuck Schumer calling Monday for Republican leaders to put the bill on the floor 'as soon as possible.' POLICY RUNDOWN FIRST IN INSIDE CONGRESS: AM RADIO CURVEBALL — Automakers are wading into a major battle on Capitol Hill over how people listen to radio programming in their cars — a move that could further complicate the path forward for a popular bill that mandates AM capabilities in all new vehicles, Ben reports. In a new letter first reviewed by POLITICO, two trade groups for leading carmakers are throwing their weight behind tying the so-called AM Radio in Every Vehicle Act to the American Music Fairness Act, which would compel broadcasters to pay royalties to the copyright holders of songs played on the airwaves. 'Congress should not mandate the use of an infringing platform that exploits artists by not paying them for their work,' the Alliance for Automotive Innovation and the Zero Emission Transportation Association wrote to the chairs and ranking members of the House and Senate Judiciary Committees, which have jurisdiction over the music payment bill. Adding another issue to the AM radio debate could get messy. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries' support for a two-bill package thwarted plans to advance the AM radio bill as part of the larger government funding measure Congress passed last December. Broadcasters backing the AM radio bill have also opposed the music payment bill, arguing it would amount to onerous new fees on local radio stations. Car manufacturers say AM radio is outdated, and being forced to install the technology in new cars could prompt major marketplace disruptions. SBA SPARS WITH SANCTUARY CITIES — The House will vote this Thursday and Friday on two immigration-related bills that would hamstring Small Business Administration activities in localities that don't comply with federal immigration laws, Maia reports. The legislation would codify new SBA rules announced earlier this year: One that would move SBA offices in so-called sanctuary cities into jurisdictions that comply with immigration enforcement efforts and another that would require SBA loan applicants to provide documentation of their citizenship status. One of the bills, which advocates say was written in response to 'public safety threats' against SBA employees in sanctuary cities, comes hot on the heels of the May 29 release of a DHS list of jurisdictions allegedly flouting federal immigration law. DHS removed the list from its website Sunday after widespread backlash from local officials about misspellings and the inclusion of cities that support Trump's hard-line immigration policies, according to The Associated Press. OBAMA ENTERS THE MEGABILL CHAT — Barack Obama is stepping up to help defend his signature 2010 health care law from the latest round of Republican attacks. 'Here's something everybody should be paying attention to: Congressional Republicans are trying to weaken the Affordable Care Act and put millions of people at risk of losing their health care,' the former president said in a post on X. 'Call your Senators and tell them we can't let that happen.' Ron Wyden, the top Democrat on Senate Finance, also told reporters Monday he believes the House-passed megabill is doubling as a 'backdoor' effort to repeal the health law after Republicans failed to do so in 2017. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has said the House GOP's proposed elimination of certain Affordable Care Act provisions could lead to more than 3 million people losing insurance. A LONG TIME COMING — Senate Finance will vote today to advance the nomination of Billy Long, Trump's pick to lead the IRS, six months after the president announced the selection. In his confirmation hearing last month, Long sought to distance himself from his promotion of certain tribal tax credits that turned out to be nonexistent. Democrats have accused the former Missouri Republican of being too partisan for the job, and plan to bring that up again today. 'I'm going to walk in there and say, 'the Republicans have always talked about how they didn't want the IRS involved in politics,'' Wyden told Mia and Maia. 'And all the signals indicate that Billy Long is going to be up to his eyeballs in politics if he's confirmed.' The IRS has had five separate acting commissioners since the beginning of the year amid massive layoffs and cost-cutting moves. Best of POLITICO Pro and E&E: CAMPAIGN STOP ERNST DRAWS ANOTHER CHALLENGER — Sen. Joni Ernst's viral 'we're all going to die' response to constituent concerns about Medicaid cuts has earned her a new Democratic challenger. State Rep. J.D. Scholten told our Andrew Howard that 'I have to do this' after Ernst 'disrespected' Iowans. Scholten has run unsuccessfully for Congress twice before. Ernst and other Republican senators contended Monday that her comment was taken out of context. 'I'm very compassionate and you need to listen to the entire conversation,' she told reporters at the Capitol. 'We want to protect the most vulnerable.' TUNNEL TALK NEW USCP CHIEF — The U.S. Capitol Police will be led by Assistant Chief Sean Gallagher on an acting basis while the search continues for a permanent leader, our Chris Marquette, Nicholas Wu and Katherine Tully-McManus scooped Monday. Gallagher's appointment by the Capitol Police Board comes after Chief Thomas Manger retired last month after about four years on the job. Gallagher has held a variety of roles within the department over the past two decades and is widely seen internally as a strong contender for the permanent position. COMING TO AUDI FIELD SOON — The Congressional Women's Softball game, a charity contest raising money for breast cancer research that pits lawmakers against members of the press corps, is headed to Audi Field this year and will include a televised broadcast for the first time on the Monumental Sports Network. WELCOME TO THE WORLD — Sen. Jon Ossoff and Alisha Kramer, a doctor, welcomed Lila Rose Ossoff this weekend. She joins big sister Eva. THE BEST OF THE REST Fetterman defends mental health, desire to stay in Congress, from Cheyanne M. Daniels at POLITICO Menendez has voted. It may be his last vote for a while, from David Wildstein from the New Jersey Globe Antonio Delgado, Hochul's No. 2, Will Challenge Her in Governor's Race, from Jeffrey C. Mays at the New York Times CAPITOL HILL INFLUENCE Reilly McBride is now VP of policy and advocacy comms at JPMorganChase. She previously was deputy comms director for the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies and is an Invariant alum. Philip Bednarczyk is now director of the German Marshall Fund's Warsaw office. He previously was an adviser for Europe and Eurasia for the House Foreign Affairs Committee. JOB BOARD Christian McMullen is now communications director for the office of Sen. Ted Budd. He was most recently comms adviser for the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. Hunter Lovell is now press secretary for the Labor Department. He previously was comms director for Rep. Mike Turner and is a Steve Scalise alum. Christian Calvert is now press assistant for the House Energy and Commerce Committee. He previously was a program officer for campus advancement at Young America's Foundation. Meghan Taira is joining Resolution Public Affairs as a principal. She previously was legislative director for Schumer. Angela Ryan is now director of operations for Sen. Steve Daines. She previously was director of operations and senior adviser for Rep. Mike Turner. Alyssa Bretan is joining HHS as a confidential assistant for the office of the assistant secretary for legislation. She previously was member services coordinator for the House Budget Committee. HAPPY BIRTHDAY Former Reps. Roscoe Bartlett (98), Solomon Ortiz and Carolyn Bourdeaux …former first lady Jill Biden … WSJ's Michelle Hackman … David Planning of Cornerstone … Defend the Vote's Brian Lemek … Gina Foote of FGS Global … Lilia Horder of Monument Advocacy … Amy McGrath … Patrick Martin of Cozen O'Connor … Kellee Lanza-Bolen … Nick Troiano ... Justin Clark … Manisha Sunil of New Heights Communications TRIVIA MONDAY'S ANSWER: Timothy Trent correctly answered that 96 percent of the 119th Congress are four-year college graduates. TODAY'S QUESTION, from Mia: What is the average age of the newly elected House members of the 119th Congress? The first person to correctly guess gets a mention in the next edition of Inside Congress. Send your answers to insidecongress@
Axios
29-05-2025
- Business
- Axios
5 parts of Trump's budget bill that risk being axed by Senate rules
President Trump's budget bill is about to meet the realities of the Senate, where the rules of reconciliation could help Democrats force changes to the bill. Why it matters: Senate Republicans have been quietly working to ensure Trump's budget bill gets a clean bill of health from the Senate parliamentarian. But GOP leader John Thune is at the mercy of Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough, who is the final decision-maker if a given provision can pass the "Byrd bath," named for the late Sen. Robert Byrd ( The process Senate Republicans are using only allows for budget-related items in the bill, in exchange for being able to pass with just 51 votes. Any policies deemed unrelated to the budget will be excised. Top Senate Dems are planning an aggressive push to strip out a wide array of policies from the reconciliation package, sources told Axios. Zoom in: Sources from both parties pointed to these issues as some of the likely major fights to come in the Senate over the reconciliation package. The REINS Act would significantly boost congressional authority to review and stop federal regulations. Republicans are expecting a fight to convince the parliamentarian that it is budget-related, sources told Axios. Gender-affirming care: The House bill would prevent the use of Medicaid to cover gender-affirming care. Democrats plan to argue this is more about a political agenda than making changes to the federal budget. AI moratorium: The House bill includes a 10-year ban on state laws regulating artificial intelligence. Energy permitting: The House-passed bill includes an expedited permitting process for certain natural gas energy pipeline projects, capping all federal and state review periods to a maximum of one year.
E&E News
23-05-2025
- Politics
- E&E News
Conservatives plot to revive ‘REINS Act' in reconciliation
House Republicans ditched a massive overhaul of federal regulations from their party-line megabill, but champions of the effort in the Senate say it's all part of a plan. Still, they have some work to do to avoid running up against the procedural landmines that could doom their effort. Initial versions of the House reconciliation package would have given Congress final approval over any 'major rule that increases revenue' and expanded mechanisms for undoing existing rules. The deregulatory language, based on the 'Regulations from the Executive In Need of Scrutiny (REINS) Act,' would have upended federal agencies' independent rulemaking powers. Advertisement Such an overhaul alarmed environmental advocates, who forcefully pushed against it. The League of Conservation Voters said the provision would 'cripple federal agencies' ability to implement major climate and environmental rules.'
Politico
23-05-2025
- Business
- Politico
Megabill heads toward a Senate buzzsaw
Presented by Programming note: We'll be off this Monday but will be back in your inboxes on Tuesday. IN TODAY'S EDITION:— GOP senators eye 'big, beautiful' changes— MAGA economist: Megabill a total bust— Last-minute move to rein in REINS Act Speaker Mike Johnson struck a series of delicate deals to get the GOP's 'big, beautiful bill' through the House. Now, Senate Republicans are threatening to tear them apart. Despite behind-the-scenes efforts to smooth versions of the bill between chambers and pleas from Johnson to avoid significant changes, the megabill could be in for a major rewrite across the Capitol, our Jordain Carney and Benjamin Guggenheim report. 'The Senate will have its imprint on it,' Senate Majority Leader John Thune said. 'They've got to do what they can get 218 for, and we've got to do what we can get 51 for.' Here are some of the early fault lines: MEDICAID FINANCING — There's a battle brewing between Senate Republicans over the House's push to freeze the provider tax, which Sen. Josh Hawley warned 'is a real risk to rural hospitals.' Who to watch: Sens. Hawley, Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski, who have all drawn red lines on Medicaid benefit cuts. CLEAN-ENERGY CREDITS — House Republicans' move to speed up sunset dates for several clean-energy tax credits in Democrats' 2022 climate law is stoking Senate GOP fears that it could have a 'chilling effect' on future investments, Sen. Thom Tillis told Lisa on Thursday. Who to watch: Sens. Tillis, Murkowski, John Curtis and Jerry Moran, who recently sent a letter to GOP leadership warning against gutting the credits. SPENDING CUTS — Some GOP senators openly derided House hard-liners for not securing steeper spending cuts in their version of the megabill (House fiscal hawks mocked them back for thinking they could get more). Thune said he's aiming for closer to $2 trillion in reductions, above the $1.5 trillion the House passed. Who to watch: Sen. Ron Johnson, who's pushing for a return to pre-pandemic spending levels (a roughly $6 trillion cut). He believes he has the votes to tank the bill if it doesn't go far enough, pointing to Sens. Mike Lee, Rick Scott and Rand Paul as allies. SNAP COST-SHARING — One of the most controversial House provisions is causing plenty of heartburn in the Senate: requiring states to cover a portion of federal food assistance costs for the first time. Who to watch: Murkowski and fellow Alaskan Dan Sullivan, plus Sens. Lindsey Graham and Tim Scott. Agriculture Chair John Boozman hinted Republicans could face backlash from governors over 'how much of an unfunded mandate' the change could create. This comes as a new Congressional Budget Office analysis says increased Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program work requirements could kick 3.2 million people out of the program. Other recommended reading on the biggest vote of the 119th Congress so far: — How Johnson doused a GOP dumpster fire, from our Meredith Lee Hill — How a Freedom Caucus revolt ended in the White House, from our Rachael Bade — A preview of Trump's Senate megabill strategy, from our Megan Messerly and Adam Cancryn TGIF. And we've never meant it more. Follow our live coverage at the Inside Congress blog at and email your Inside Congress scribes at lkashinsky@ mmccarthy@ and bleonard@ THE SKED The House is out. The Senate is out. Next week: The House and Senate will both be on recess. The Senate will come back on June 2. The House will come back on June 3. THE LEADERSHIP SUITE Senators nixed three California emission standard waivers after Thune and his members effectively skirted guidance from the Government Accountability Office — backed by the chamber's parliamentarian — that the Biden-era action did not qualify for reversal using the Congressional Review Act process. Democratic Sen. Elissa Slotkin joined with Republicans on one of the three disapproval resolutions, while the other two passed along party lines, our Jordain Carney and Alex Guillén report. The votes followed a late-night showdown on the Senate floor and weeks of efforts by Thune and Whip John Barrasso to pitch members wary of directly overruling the parliamentarian to move forward. In the end, Republicans avoided a direct vote against the parliamentarian by effectively kicking the question about what qualifies under a CRA back to the Senate. But Democrats were furious and have threatened short- and long-term payback. California Gov. Gavin Newsom has vowed to sue. Schumer plots Senate Dems' megabill pushback Top Senate Democrats will be looking to exploit GOP concerns with Republicans' megabill, even as they acknowledge they're all but powerless to stop the party-line push that needs only a simple majority to clear the chamber. 'We know that a lot of Republicans on the Senate side are squirmy,' Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said on a Thursday call organized by nonprofit Families Over Billionaires. 'We're going to fight this tooth and nail.' One thing Schumer isn't fighting: House Republicans' plan to lift the cap on the state-and-local-tax deduction to $40,000 from $10,000. 'That's better than it was before,' Schumer said. POLICY RUNDOWN CASS HAMMERS MEGABILL — The MAGA movement's top economic guru was not happy about the GOP's megabill passed by the House early Thursday. Oren Cass, the chief economist of the right-leaning think tank American Compass and a leading proponent of conservative economic populism among Trump allies, told our Ian Ward that he likens the bill 'to a death march through a series of choices that nobody really wanted to be making.' Meanwhile, House Republicans' tax package would provide only a modest boost to economic growth, our Brian Faler writes of a new government analysis that's sure to disappoint GOP lawmakers. NO SASC MEGABILL MARKUP — Senate Armed Services Chair Roger Wicker on Thursday cast doubt on the likelihood his committee would meet to vote on the defense spending portion of the Republican megabill, our Connor O'Brien reports. The potential move to bypass an Armed Services vote signals that the Senate may pursue a more informal committee process for the bill than the House, as Republican leaders attempt to get the bill to Trump's desk by July 4. REINING IN REINS — House Republicans' last-minute move to strip a version of the REINS Act from their party-line package was designed to give GOP senators more flexibility to work the chamber's strict rules about what can be included in reconciliation, our Amelia Davidson reports. The House GOP's initial language would have given Congress final approval over any 'major rule that increases revenue' and expanded mechanisms for undoing existing rules. It was replaced with a new provision that would set aside money for the White House budget office to 'pay expenses associated with improving regulatory processes and analyzing and reviewing rules issued by a covered agency.' Utah Sen. Lee, a REINS Act sponsor, told Amelia he plans to 'fight like heck' to make sure pieces of the federal regulatory overhaul end up in the final megabill. MUSK MAKES ANOTHER HILLGRIMAGE — Department of Government Efficiency leader Elon Musk made his second visit to Capitol Hill in two days to continue discussing energy needs, artificial intelligence development and competition with China, Ben and our Anthony Adragna report. 'It's a national security issue, and we're going to fix it — and we're going to have to find a way to work bipartisan,' said House Energy and Commerce Chair Brett Guthrie after Musk huddled with the panel's Republicans on Thursday. Musk met with Senate Commerce Republicans on Wednesday. GAO RULES ON TRUMP'S EV FREEZE — The Government Accountability Office found Thursday that the Trump administration violated a 51-year-old law that blocks presidents from withholding congressionally approved funding during an electric-vehicle funding freeze, our James Bikales and Jennifer Scholtes report. The congressional watchdog ruled the Transportation Department illegally withheld funds by suspending new obligations under the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure program, the $5 billion initiative from the bipartisan infrastructure law to build charging stations across the country. COMER CALLS ON BIDEN STAFF — House Oversight Chair James Comer is demanding interviews with Joe Biden's physician and former White House officials as part of his investigation into the former president's mental decline, our Hailey Fuchs reports. The requests, dated Thursday, were sent to Biden's physician, Kevin O'Connor; former Domestic Policy Council Director Neera Tanden; former senior adviser to the first lady Anthony Bernal; former deputy chief of staff Annie Tomasini; and former deputy director of Oval Office operations Ashley Williams. Best of POLITICO Pro and E&E: TUNNEL TALK FALLING ASLEEP ON THE JOB — Rep. Andrew Garbarino is hardly the first person in the Capitol to take a snooze during a long night on the Hill (we certainly have, too). But he is the only lawmaker who appears to have missed the megabill vote because of it. Johnson said Garbarino 'fell asleep in the back' during Thursday's early morning vote and joked 'I'm just going to strangle him.' Still, Johnson and other Republicans are giving Garbarino kudos for his efforts to raise the SALT cap. Also missing in action was Rep. David Schweikert, who arrived after the vote gaveled to a close. Johnson can barely afford absences like these given how narrow his margin is. CAPITOL HILL ADVANTAGE — Retiring Rep. Jan Schakowsky's comms director, Alex Moore, is the latest D.C. denizen to end up as a castaway on 'Survivor.' Moore thinks he's got a good shot at outlasting the competition: 'I work on Capitol Hill and I think that has prepared me for Survivor because one of my favorite pastimes is kissing butt,' he said in the show's new promo. PLAN YOUR OUTFITS NOW — Seersucker Day is June 12, and it doesn't stop there: The Senate is declaring every Thursday from June 12 through the end of August as seersucker days. THE BEST OF THE REST Primary challengers circle Thomas Massie after Trump-defying vote, from Alex Isenstadt at Axios 'It pisses me off' — Colorado's Congressional delegation still waiting for answers on air traffic control outage, from Caitlyn Kim at Colorado Public Radio JOB BOARD Jett Thompson is now director of government relations at Metrea. He previously was deputy chief of staff for Rep. Stephanie Bice, and is a Sam Johnson and Mike Bishop alum. David Sours is now a director of federal government affairs at Philip Morris International. He previously was with Rep. Buddy Carter's office and is a Phil Gingrey, Jody Hice and Drew Ferguson alum. Levi Lall is now counsel at the DOJ's office of legal policy. He previously was counsel for Rep. Darrell Issa and the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, Artificial Intelligence and the Internet. Atlas Crossing is adding Holly Lay as director of operations. She previously was director of operations for Rep. Diana Harshbarger. HAPPY BIRTHDAY Rep. Dina Titus … former AG Bill Barr … William Minor of DLA Piper … Daisy Martinez … Shekar Narasimhan … PhRMA's Sarah Sutton Ryan … Rachel MacKnight … Tom Heinemann … Nicholas Uehlecke … Megan McKinley … Jorge Martínez … former Interior Secretary Donald Hodel (9-0) … Dan Horning … Arianna Miskin TRIVIA THURSDAY'S ANSWER: Anthony Iafrate correctly answered that presidential candidate Eugene Debs received more than 900,000 votes in the 1920 election while serving a federal prison sentence for criticizing American involvement in World War I. TODAY'S QUESTION, from Mia: Name the senator who in the 1990s brought back the Senate's Seersucker Day tradition. The first person to correctly guess gets a mention in the next edition of Inside Congress. Send your answers to insidecongress@
Forbes
07-05-2025
- Business
- Forbes
House Reconciliation Bill Takes Aim At Regulation, But Needs Fixes
Congress must navigate labyrinthine budget reconciliation rules to enact meaningful regulatory ... More reforms. getty Congressional Republicans are moving one step closer to achieving their long-sought goal of overhauling the regulatory state. Tucked into the House Judiciary Committee's section of the GOP's reconciliation bill are two clever reforms. One creates automatic sunsets for federal rules and another incorporates a version of the REINS Act, which would require congressional approval for major regulations. These provisions attempt to strengthen legislative control over the administrative state. While the effort is admirable, one of the provisions could easily backfire, ironically making it harder to deregulate rather than easier. Let's start with the positive. The sunset provision would mandate that any rule currently in effect automatically expires five years after the law's enactment, unless affirmatively reauthorized by Congress. Roughly 20 percent of all rules would be up for review annually, and the bill gives agencies flexibility to determine which ones to review each year. This is a smart, comprehensive approach. However, it is also a one-time review, meaning once a rule is reviewed it won't be designated for sunset review again. Whether this reform survives the Senate's Byrd Rule, which bars provisions in reconciliation bills that are merely incidental to budgetary outcomes, is unclear. Like the REINS provision, the sunset review may need to be limited to rules with an impact on federal revenues or spending. Nevertheless, it's a commendable attempt to work within reconciliation's constraints. The bill's more controversial provision is the inclusion of a modified REINS Act. Traditionally, REINS (which stands for 'Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny') would require that any major rule, typically defined as having an economic impact of $100 million or more, receive an up-or-down vote from Congress before taking effect. In this iteration, the bill ties congressional approval to any 'major rule that increases revenue.' At first glance, that might seem like a clever workaround to meet the Byrd Rule's budgetary relevance requirement. But this approach has a serious flaw. As written, it could unintentionally subject nearly all significant deregulatory actions to congressional veto. That's because eliminating regulations spurs economic growth, which boosts federal income and corporate tax revenue indirectly. As a result, almost any sizeable deregulatory action could plausibly be considered a 'major rule that increases revenue.' Instead of clearing the way for deregulation, this REINS provision might ironically tie it up in red tape. Unless clarified, this structure threatens to invert the intended purpose of the REINS Act. Some past versions of REINS explicitly exempted deregulatory actions to avoid needlessly obstructing efforts to ease regulatory burdens. Fortunately, the fix could be relatively simple. The bill's language could be narrowed to cover only major rules that 'directly' increase revenue, such as through a 'new fee, tax, levy, or surcharge,' etc. This change would ensure the provision targets regulations with an intended purpose to bring in new funds, not regulations that result in incidental revenue gains from economic expansion or regulatory streamlining. Better yet, the REINS provision could maintain consideration of indirect revenue effects, but focus solely on rules that decrease revenues instead. This would be more in line with reconciliation's core fiscal objective of reducing the budget deficit, and it would likely mean Congress would have to approve most major regulations that add new regulatory burdens, since these will tend to indirectly reduce tax revenues as they reduce the size of the economy. To be clear, House Republicans deserve credit for creativity here. Attempting major regulatory reform while navigating the procedural labyrinth of budget reconciliation is no easy feat. The House has put forward a serious, substantive effort. The reforms may not all survive the Senate parliamentarian's scrutiny, and even then moderate votes will still be needed to ensure passage. But if this moment yields even incremental progress, it could mark a significant shift in the balance of regulatory power. Austin Pendleton smiles in a scene from the film 'Catch 22', 1970. Getty Images There's a touch of Catch-22 irony in all of this. The procedural rules that were created to keep the budget process in check are making regulatory reform more complicated. It's enough to make even committed reformers question whether meaningful change is possible within such a tangled web of constraints. However, the House has shown that there is still room for policy innovation. With some modest tweaks, the REINS provision could significantly move the needle in a better direction and become a truly effective tool for good governance. Meanwhile, the sunset provision would require a long-overdue review of outdated and unnecessary existing rules. For now, this bill represents a promising advance for regulatory reform. It is worthy of strong consideration.
