Some House GOP bills get lost on Capitol Hill

McConnell suffers a second public 'freeze'

Also in today’s edition of ‘Regular Order’ for August 31, 2023:

• Trump denounces COVID lockdowns he once advocated.

• Giuliani found liable over false 2020 election fraud claims.

• GOP presses for more $1 salaries at the Pentagon.

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REGULAR ORDER? Today's newsletter is going to start with something different. This may be 'in the weeds' for some of our readers - but it involves a procedural move by House Republicans that is unusual. Let's just say, this option was not covered in the famous Schoolhouse Rock video, "I'm Just a Bill."

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MISSING BILLS. When the House passes a bill, the papers are taken to the Senate, where the bill is placed on the Senate Calendar or referred to a committee. That’s the basic procedure. But this year, the GOP is doing something different. House Republicans are passing some bills and *not* sending them to the Senate for consideration, in order to limit the options of Senate Democrats.

• CALENDAR CHECK. To find out the status of a bill, it takes a little digging. You start with the House Calendar, which is updated every day the House is in session. On page 27, it lists each bill reported to the House floor. Bills approved by the full House will be labeled, "Received in Senate," with a date. That's when you find that a couple of House bills have been held back.

• ENERGY. Start with H.R. 1 - the first bill - which is reserved for the most important legislative priority of the House majority. For Republicans, H.R. 1 is their plan to spur domestic energy production, the Lower Costs Energy Act. That bill passed on March 30. "Now, it’s time for the Senate and President Biden to do their jobs," said House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA).

• ON HOLD. Normally, that bill would go straight to the Senate. But that Scalise quote demanding action by Senate Democrats is now a bit ironic, because five months later the House still hasn't sent H.R. 1 to the Senate. And that's not the only bill which Republicans have held back in this 118th Congress.

  • H.R. 1163. This GOP bill is designed to recover fraudulently paid COVID unemployment benefits. It was approved by the House on May 11, but never sent to the Senate.

  • H.R. 3799. This GOP bill would let smaller companies join together to offer group health plans, as Republicans still look for a way around the Obama health law. The bill was approved on June 21 - but never sent to the Senate.

  • H.R. 4366. This bill funds military construction and veterans programs. It was approved on July 27, but hasn't made it to the Senate as yet.

LEGISLATIVE NERD NOTE. What is notable about the four House-passed bills held back by Republicans? The first three have tax provisions, making them ‘revenue’ bills. The fourth is a 2024 spending bill.

• CONSTITUTION. We all know that spending and revenue bills can only originate in the House. It looks like Republicans don’t want to give too many revenue and/or spending bills to the Senate, which could be used as a legislative vehicle for something else. It’s an unusual move to say the least.

• HISTORY. “I can’t remember anything like that,” said Josh Huder, a Congressional expert at Georgetown University’s Government Affairs Institute.   "Passing the bills then instructing the clerk to hold them strikes me as a new wrinkle.”

• DEBT LIMIT. But Republicans did send over one bill with revenue and spending provisions, the 'Limit, Save, Grow Act,' which dealt with the debt limit. That arrived in the Senate on May 1, and was placed on the calendar on May 2.

• BOTTOM LINE. House Republicans are trying to restrict the options of Senate Democrats on tax and spending measures by using this arcane procedural approach. But you would only know that by doing a lot of digging in relatively obscure Congressional documents.

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MCCONNELL. For the second time in five weeks, Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell froze on Wednesday - this time while meeting reporters during a stop in Kentucky. While McConnell did not faint or look ill - he was unable to speak, as aides came to his side. The latest episode again raised uncomfortable questions about McConnell's health and his future on Capitol Hill.

• QUESTIONS. McConnell was asked about staying in the Senate. "I'm sorry, I had a hard time hearing you," McConnell said. The question was repeated. McConnell got a smile on his face, and looked ready to answer. But nothing came out. "We're going to need a minute," a McConnell aide said.

• AGE. Getting old can be a difficult subject for any of us to deal with - but especially for elected officials in the public eye. It's clear that McConnell has lost a step since he took a bad fall back in March. We have now seen two instances of him 'freezing.' Who knows if there have been more in private.

• STILL GOING. If McConnell was in any immediate health trouble, it wasn't obvious - as he was shown meeting Wednesday evening with Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN), who is running for U.S. Senate. Banks tweeted that they 'enjoyed a wide-ranging discussion,' as he included a photo of the two men sitting together.

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TIME FOR CHANGE. There were two notable reactions from lawmakers in Congress to the latest incident involving McConnell which I wanted to flag for you - one from each party. They are a reminder of the desire of younger members to see older ones more swiftly ushered to the political sidelines, like McConnell and Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA).

• DEMS. One of the few Democrats who has called for Feinstein to resign because of her health, Rep. Dean Phillips (D-MN) said McConnell should go too. "For goodness sake, the family, friends, and staff of Senators Feinstein and McConnell are doing them and our country a tremendous disservice," Phillips said.

• GOP. Saying much the same thing was Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), who also namechecked Feinstein and McConnell. "These politician’s staff and family members should be ashamed of themselves by enabling and allowing their loved ones to remain in office all to hold power," Greene tweeted.

• POWER. One thing that I’ve learned over the years is that a lot of veteran lawmakers who stay on past age 70 don’t have a lot of other interests. Their life is about politics. They don’t want to retire, give speeches or play golf. And so, some of them just stay in office, because that’s what they drives them.

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ONE DOLLAR. I told you yesterday about the senior military leaders being targeted by House Republicans, with amendments to reduce some Pentagon salaries to $1 - as part of a defense spending bill. Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) has now added in several more - her first plan would cut the pay of Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin to $1.

• HOLMAN RULE. Using a legislative gambit known as the "Holman Rule," lawmakers can legislate on a spending bill mainly by reducing the salary of federal employees. In this case it’s officials at the Pentagon.

• MORE. Boebert also wants to pay $1 to Shawn Skelly - an Assistant Secretary of Defense for Readiness, Norvell Dillard - who heads the Office for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, and Gil Cisneros - the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness of the United States.

• DEFENSE APPROPS. The House Rules Committee will meet the week of September 12 on these various plans. It's not yet clear if the salary cuts will get a vote on the House floor during debate on the Pentagon funding bill.

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COVID. Amid signs that a new Coronavirus variant is gaining some steam around the world and in the U.S., Republicans are using that to claim that the country is about to go through a new series of lockdowns. And former President Donald Trump - who pushed that exact policy in 2020 - is now trying to lead the opposition to something that does not exist.

• TRUMP. "Left wing lunatics are trying very hard to bring back COVID lockdowns and mandates," Trump said in a video released on Wednesday. "Hear these words - we will not comply," Trump added. "We will not accept your lockdowns. We will not abide by your mask mandates. And we will not tolerate your vaccine mandates."

• GOP. Look for this kind of declaration from Trump to be a very popular line for Republicans as we get closer to the 2024 election. "Trump is right," said Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH). "The left is trying to bring lockdowns back. Next week, I'll introduce legislation to stop it."

• ELECTION. But for Trump, this is also about the 2020 election. "They want to restart the COVID hysteria so they can justify more lockdowns, more censorship, more illegal drop boxes, more mail-in ballots," Trump said. He can't accept his 2020 defeat, and he still thinks mail-in ballot fraud was the reason.

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RUDY. Speaking of false election claims, Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani has been found liable in a defamation lawsuit brought against him by two Georgia election workers. Giuliani falsely accused Ruby Freeman and her daughter Wandrea’ ArShaye Moss of engaging in fraud while counting ballots at State Farm Arena in Atlanta in 2020.

• GIULIANI. In a blistering 57-page ruling, Judge Beryl Howell ridiculed Giuliani for failing to provide discovery evidence to Freeman and Moss, and ordered him to pay $132,000 in attorney fees. There will still be a trial on how much in monetary damages Giuliani should be ordered to pay the two women.

• GEORGIA. Freeman and Moss also star in the Fulton County indictments, which claim Trump allies came to Georgia to harass, intimidate, and try to persuade Freeman to 'falsely confess to election crimes that she did not commit.'

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RAP SHEET. A Georgia man has been arrested not only for his actions on Jan. 6, but also for perjury - for lying about being at the Capitol. William Beals was in a crowd that confronted police at barriers outside the building that day. "I'll bet your mama's proud of your bitchass," he yelled at cops. Later shown multiple photos of himself in the Capitol by FBI agents, Beals said they were fake.

• TAR HEEL. A North Carolina man was arrested on Monday for his actions on Jan. 6. Brett Rotella led rioters into the Lower West Terrace Tunnel, where Trump supporters tried repeatedly to get past police protecting an entrance into the Capitol. Rotella was identified in part by his tattoos.

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MUSE OF HISTORY.  August 31, 1942.  On this date, the Senate took quick action to make sure the U.S. had enough weather forecasters.  Sen. Francis Maloney of Connecticut won approval of a bill to have the feds step up programs to get more trained meteorologists.  "The Department of Commerce is very much concerned because of the loss to the war effort of individuals trained in forecasting," Maloney said on the Senate floor.  His plan was swiftly approved. 

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LEGISLATIVE PROGRAM:

The House next has votes on September 12.

The Senate next has votes on September 5.

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Email me at jamiedupree@substack.com

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