With the House of Representatives having started its August recess last week, the Senate is the only game in town this week, as its members look to wrap up what remaining work they can and head home till after Labor Day.
The Senate starts the week on Monday with a cloture vote on a motion to proceed to legislation to defund Planned Parenthood. The bill is a response to the recent release of a series of undercover videos in which Planned Parenthood officials discuss selling fetal body parts. The vote, which will require a majority of 60 to pass, is doomed to fail as every Democrat and some Republicans have announced they intend to oppose the motion.
After the cloture vote, the Senate is expected to move to cybersecurity legislation, S. 754, the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act (CISA), introduced by Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr (R-NC). The legislation is intended to encourage private sector entities to share information with the government regarding hacks and other cyber intrusions into their systems by providing legal immunity for those who do so. The bill was reported by the Intelligence Committee 14-1. Despite the lopsided vote in committee, a number of amendments that are intended to enhance privacy safeguards in the bill are expected. Beyond germane amendments, it is unclear whether senators on either side of the aisle will use this final legislative vehicle before the August break to seek votes on unrelated, politically contentious matters. The course of the debate and the prospects of completing consideration of CISA this week are therefore uncertain. If the debate bogs down, look for the Senate to head home by the middle of the week.
Even if the Senate does pass its version of CISA this week, the bill will still have to be reconciled with two different bills, one from the Intelligence Committee and one from the Homeland Security Committee, that the House has passed before Congress can vote on a final cybersecurity bill. Therefore, the road to final legislative action on the subject is far from clear. And none of these various cybersecurity bills deal with what is perhaps the public’s main interest in the issue, which is the treatment of so-called “data breach” events in which customer data or other private information is stolen during a cyber-intrusion.
Besides the Planned Parenthood and cybersecurity bills, the Senate is likely to vote this week to confirm Adm. John Richardson to be Chief of Naval Operations. Adm. Richardson was approved last week by the Armed Services Committee.
Once it completes its action for the week, the Senate will join the House in recess until after Labor Day. The congressional calendar when both chambers return will be filled with time-sensitive and highly controversial issues, starting with the need to find a means of funding the government beyond the September 30 end of the fiscal year. Last week, Speaker John Boehner acknowledged what had long been evident, that Congress would be unable to enact appropriations bills and would, instead, have to fund the government through a continuing resolution. In addition to having to figure out a way to fund the government, Congress will have to address the Iran nuclear deal when it returns. Under legislation enacted earlier this year, Congress has 60 days from the submission of the proposal by the President to reject the deal. That timeline runs out in mid-September, so we can expect debate over the Iran nuclear deal to absorb much of the time in both chambers when Congress returns. Given the confluence of a number of complex and controversial issues that will require action and the limited number of days available to Congress in September (fewer than a dozen due to the late Labor Day and the Jewish holidays), the August recess looks as if it is the calm before a hurricane of activity when Congress returns.
The hearing schedule is lighter than normal this week, but there are a few hearings of great interest. The Foreign Relations Committee continues with its review of the Iran nuclear deal with a closed briefing and it also will hold a hearing on nuclear proliferation on Tuesday. The Banking Committee will hold a hearing on Wednesday looking at the impact of the Iran deal on terrorist financing, in light of Iran’s record as the leading support of global terrorism. Opponents of the deal fear that the lifting of sanctions will give the Iranian government and its terrorist proxies the ability to obtain more weaponry and expand their activities throughout the region and the world. Under Secretary of State Wendy Sherman for political affairs and Acting Under Secretary of the Treasury Adam Szubin for terrorist and financial crimes will testify, along with a second panel of experts.
Other notable hearings this week include a rare look at the federal prison system by the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on Tuesday, a review of the Higher Education Act by the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee on Wednesday, and oversight of the Navy’s nuclear carrier program by the Armed Services Committee. Finally, on Wednesday the Judiciary Committee will hold an oversight hearing of the Justice Department’s decision to restrict access of its Inspector General with respect to certain criminal investigative records. Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Grassley (R-IA) is a leading backer of the various agency inspectors general and will certainly use the hearing to attack the Justice Department’s decision.
With the Senate leaving town by the end of this week, both chambers will be dark until after Labor Day. This column too will take a break during the recess and will resume as Congress prepares to return to session in September.
Monday, August 3, 2015
House Committees
Biscayne National Park Access Issues
Natural Resources & Small Business
Committees Joint Hearing
Aug. 3, 10 a.m., William F. Dickinson Community Center, 1601 N. Krome Ave., Homestead, Fla.
Tuesday, August 4, 2015
Senate Committees
Environmental Litigation Oversight
Environment and Public Works
Full Committee Hearing
9:30 a.m., 406 Dirksen Bldg.
Nuclear Proliferation Oversight Issues
Foreign Relations
Full Committee Hearing
10 a.m., 419 Dirksen Bldg.
Federal Prison System Oversight
Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
Full Committee Hearing
10 a.m., 342 Dirksen Bldg.
Foster Care Issues
Finance
Full Committee Hearing
10 a.m., 215 Dirksen Bldg.
Pending Nominations
Foreign Relations
Full Committee Confirmation Hearing
2:30 p.m., 419 Dirksen Bldg.
Intelligence Issues
Select Intelligence
Full Committee Closed Briefing
3 p.m., 219 Hart Bldg.
Wednesday, August 5, 2015
Senate Committees
Iran Sanctions Relief
Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs
Full Committee Hearing
10 a.m., 538 Dirksen Bldg.
Higher Education Act Reauthorization
Health, Education, Labor and Pensions
Full Committee Hearing
10 a.m., 430 Dirksen Bldg.
Oversight of Inspector General Access to Records
Judiciary
Full Committee Hearing
10 a.m., 106 Dirksen Bldg.
Thursday, August 6, 2015
Senate Committees
Intelligence Issues
Select Intelligence
Full Committee Closed Briefing
2:30 p.m., 219 Hart Bldg.
Regulatory Oversight Issues
Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs – Subcommittee on Regulatory Affairs and Federal Management
Subcommittee Hearing
9 a.m., 342 Dirksen Bldg.
Navy Aircraft Carrier Program Review
Armed Services
Full Committee Hearing
9:30 a.m., G50 Dirksen Bldg.