The Cloakroomwashington from the Insiders Who Know It MAY 25, 2021 What’S Ahead the House Will Be in Recess After This Week for Memorial Day Through June 14

the cloakroomWashington from the insiders who know it MAY 25, 2021 What’s Ahead The House will be in recess after this week for Memorial Day through June 14. The Senate is in session this week and out next for the holiday. Here’s what we’re following this week..

SENATE INTEL REPORT

Everyone wants to know how things will pan out this summer on the Senate side and whether or not a reconciliation package is inevitable – will everything collapse under partisanship, are there one-way routes for Democrats or room for bipartisan agreement? We’ve been checking in with our sources and have learned from a Democratic Senate Appropriations staffer that the timeline for accomplishing much during the summer months will be challenging on the Senate side. Though there are plans to markup Appropriations bills in committee in late July/August, realistically that could slip to September. As far as moving forward on infrastructure, using the reconciliation process is still a possibility, but the appetite seems to be waning. Democrats want to keep reconciliation in their back pocket as a strategic play, but it is unclear at this juncture if that is the path they will choose to move forward. The chance of an FY22 reconciliation package looks even less likely, and the House is treading carefully after the near failure of the supplemental Appropriations bill for Capitol complex security funding last week. House Budget Committee Chairman Yarmuth is suggesting the votes to pass an FY22 budget aren’t there, so funding levels will be “deemed” passed sometime in June to put numbers in place for spending. As a result, this could further complicate the reconciliation process. BUDGET TIME

President Joe Biden is expected to unveil the first detailed budget proposal of his term in office this Friday, May 28. MAY 25, 2021 DEADLINES AHEAD

There are a number of other important deadlines that Con- gress is backing into: raising the limit for the debt ceiling, extending the expiration date for the Pandemic Emergen- cy Unemployment Compensation program, and of course the end of the fiscal year on September 30th suggests that a continuing resolution will be the only realistic path forward. Attached to it might be raising the debt ceiling and any other number of expirations, as well as additional language that could be negotiated to secure votes (which will be in short supply given the number of Members who might balk at the heavy lift being attempted). Historically, the continuing resolution will extend government funding until sometime in December.

PROTECTING THE CAPITOL

Last week was a busy week on the Hill where the House barely passed the Capitol Security Supplemental by one vote - a day after it passed a bill to set up an independent commission to investigate the attack on the building on January 6. Despite GOP leadership opposition, 35 House GOP lawmakers voted to pass the 1/6 bill. Senator Mitch McConnell and several GOP Senators have voiced opposition to the legislation, ensuring a deadlock on advancing the measure further. Several Senators have suggested taking the important por- tions of the proposal and including them in the FY22 Appropriations packages making their way through Congress.

MAY 25, 2021 VETTING EARMARKS

Now that community project funding requests are submitted and being vetted, House lawmakers will have to decide how much earmarked funding will go to each party with just weeks before they aim to markup fiscal 2022 spending bills. As of today’s date, we have not heard of any agreement on a partisan ratio for earmarks. And vetting nearly 3,000 earmark requests submitted by House members is obviously consuming staff time…. the process of vetting earmarks led to the delay of a House Transportation and Infrastruc- ture Committee surface transportation bill markup, which was originally set for this week and was delayed until late June. While Senate appropriators have not yet officially determined their ratio on earmarks, Senate Appropriations Vice Chairman Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) said last week there would be a 50-50 split.

A CLOSER LOOK: Infrastructure Talks Crumble

HBS clients have access by email to our full analysis, The Cloakroom Report. There are three major legislative proposals – in addition to the President’s American Jobs Plan proposal – regarding infrastructure. This week we take a deep dive into the three pieces and why talks are crumbling.

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