Update from Washington, D.C.
Impeachment Proceedings Continue in the House; Senate Makes Measured Progress on FY 2020 Appropriations
October 24, 2019
The Democratic-led impeachment inquiry into President Trump’s dealings with Ukraine took a dramatic turn this week as a group of House Republicans interrupted the closed-door deposition of a Pentagon official who was testifying before three House investigatory committees. The chaotic scene unfolded Wednesday as roughly two dozen GOP members entered a secure facility on Capitol Hill to demand more transparency to the impeachment proceedings.
After a roughly five-hour delay, the deposition of Laura Cooper – the deputy assistant secretary of defense for Russia, Ukraine and Eurasia – was allowed to continue. Her appearance before House members comes on the immediate heels of sworn testimony by Bill Taylor, the top U.S. diplomat in Ukraine. Earlier this week, Taylor asserted that U.S. aid to Ukraine was tied to the country’s willingness to launch an investigation into President Trump’s political rivals. For his part, the president has continued to vehemently deny allegations that there was any “quid pro quo” in his dealings with Ukrainian officials.
Looking ahead, House Democrats have lined up additional witnesses to testify behind closed doors as part of the ongoing inquiry. Additionally, Democrats have indicated that they plan on holding a number of public hearings, which will likely occur in mid-November. In the meantime, Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) has teed up a resolution condemning the House’s impeachment process. Graham’s resolution will reportedly urge the lower chamber to adopt the same procedures that were used in the impeachment proceedings against Presidents Nixon and Clinton.
While the topic of impeachment has dominated much of the recent headlines coming out of Washington, D.C., some legislative business has been occurring on Capitol Hill. In the Senate, appropriators are beginning to advance their fiscal year 2020 funding bills. On Tuesday, the chamber voted 92-2 to invoke cloture on a four-bill minibus that combines the text of the following spending legislation: Commerce-Justice-Science; Transportation-HUD; Interior-Environment; and, Agriculture-FDA. A final vote on the minibus could come as early as next week, with additional appropriations measures expected to move shortly thereafter.
Despite the Senate’s progress on the FY 2020 budget, the top appropriator in the upper chamber recently indicated that Congress will likely need to pass a second Continuing Resolution (CR), the length of which could carry current (FY 19) funding into the new calendar year. The existing CR runs through November 21.
The notion that a longer-term stopgap funding bill will be necessary is a reflection of several dynamics, including the fact that House and Senate lawmakers have been extremely slow to negotiate final allocations for the 12 annual appropriations measures. In addition, the ongoing House impeachment inquiry – and a looming trial phase in the Senate – adds uncertainty to the congressional agenda and only further complicates efforts to pass a budget.
Senate Rejects Democratic Measure to Protect SALT Deduction Workaround
In other developments, the Senate on October 23 rejected a Democratic measure (SJ Res 50) that sought to invalidate a recent Treasury Department rule blocking states from creating workarounds to the cap on state and local tax (SALT) deductions. It should be noted that the landmark 2017 tax reform law (PL 115-97), which was championed by President Trump and congressional Republicans, imposed a $10,000 cap on the SALT deduction for individual taxpayers. The cap applies to property and income or sales taxes. Prior to PL 115-97, there was no limit.
In an effort to ease the burden created by the capped SALT deduction, some states approved laws giving residents the ability to pay their taxes as a charitable contribution. However, the Treasury Department finalized regulations in June that put an end to this practice. SJ Res 50 sought to overturn these new rules.
Looking ahead, Democrats will continue exploring other avenues to mitigate the SALT changes. Across Capitol Hill, House Democrats are working on their own plan to increase the cap, or repeal it entirely. In fact, there are two pending bills (HR 1757; HR 2894) that would increase the SALT deduction to $15,000 for individuals and $30,000 for joint returns. Another bill (HR 1142) would eliminate the cap and increase the top income tax rate. However, any such effort would likely stall in the GOP-led Senate.
Trump Administration Unveils New Water Rules for Delta Operations
On Tuesday, the Trump administration announced new rules governing the management and operation of the federal Central Valley Project (CVP). The CVP, along with the intertwined State Water Project (SWP), provides drinking water to over 25 million people in California, as well as irrigation water for millions of acres of farmland in the Central Valley.
The operational changes to the CVP were released jointly by the U.S. Department of the Interior and the U.S. Department of Commerce and come in the form of revised biological opinions (BiOps). The new BiOps are the result of a lengthy process that was first initiated by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation in August of 2016. At that time, the Bureau requested that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service conduct a review of the coordinated long-term operation of the CVP and SWP pursuant to authority granted under the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA).
Among other things, the revised BiOps will allow Reclamation to employ real-time monitoring techniques in order to track the location of threated salmon and smelt and, when necessary, slow or stop pumping operations to avoid entrainment. Additionally, the administration is proposing to build a fish hatchery and to store more cold water in Lake Shasta, which could be released at certain times of year to protect endangered salmon.
Despite assurances by Trump administration officials that the new operational guidelines will not further imperil threatened species, environmental groups have been quick to assail the water plan and are promising lawsuits to stop the operational changes from moving forward. The new rules are slated to go into effect in January.
As of this writing, it’s unclear how Governor Newsom will respond to the Trump administration’s new BiOps. Incidentally, the governor vetoed legislation earlier this year that was designed to, among other things, invalidate much of the then-draft rules. Specifically, the bill (SB 1) would have allowed state agencies to adopt protections under federal environmental laws, including the ESA, that were in place before President Trump took office. Regardless of his earlier veto of SB 1, representatives for the governor have indicated that he is taking a close look at the new rules and will respond accordingly.
Subcommittee Holds Hearing on the Status of Federal Disaster Recovery Efforts
On October 22, the Transportation Committee’s Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management held a hearing to assess federal recovery efforts from recent disasters and to discuss potential solutions to improve disaster recovery.
Lawmakers heard from two panels of witnesses, with the first featuring testimony from several federal officials, including Jeffrey Byard, the Associate Administrator for Response and Recovery at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Representatives from the Economic Development Administration and the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) were also on hand to testify. It should be noted that the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) was also invited to appear before the committee, but a scheduling conflict prevented HUD Secretary Ben Carson from participating.
The second panel provided an opportunity for stakeholders to provide their perspective on recovery efforts and also to share their experiences from the front lines of disaster areas. The witnesses included the Housing Secretary from the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, a floodplain manager from Atchison County (Missouri), as well as a representative from the National Emergency Management Association and a nonprofit disaster preparedness and recovery organization called the St. Bernard Project.
Despite not being represented at the hearing, HUD drew the bipartisan ire of lawmakers who criticized the Department for the slow speed at which disaster aid has been released to victims. According to GAO, only $112 million in funding from the Community Development Block Grant – Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) program has been dispersed of the $40 billion that Congress has appropriated for disasters dating back to 2017.
Another overarching concern shared by members of both parties is the staffing challenges that have plagued FEMA, a problem that has been exacerbated by the increasing number and severity of natural disasters in recent years. While Associate Administrator Byard acknowledged certain shortfalls, he made clear that FEMA has the necessary staff to respond quickly to immediate, life-threatening needs. Byard also discussed steps the agency has taken to prepare for future disaster recovery efforts.
An archived webcast of the hearing, as well as witness testimony, can be accessed here.
Senator Harris Introduces Homelessness Bill
Last week, Senator Kamala Harris (D-CA) introduced the Ending Homelessness Act of 2019 (S 2613). The legislation is the Senate companion to a bill (HR 1856) introduced by House Financial Services Chairwoman Maxine Waters (D-CA). HR 1856 was approved earlier this year in committee and is awaiting floor action.
Supported by CSAC, the legislation would authorize $13.27 billion over five years to help address the nation’s burgeoning homelessness crisis. Available funding would target emergency relief grants in high needs areas; create new public housing assistance vouchers; increase and preserve rental units; and, fund outreach and service coordination initiatives, including critically important activities under Medicaid/Medi-Cal.