In the end a fix for DACA was never really considered. Despite the President’s comments on Friday it appears that a DACA fix was never a serious point of negotiation. As one of the three key factions in any budget negotiation, the President could have drawn a line in the sand and demanded a fix.
There were several other funding increases and efforts included in the final bill. They did agree to strip out a Congressman Jay Dickey (R-AR) from 1996 which had a chilling effect on CDC research on gun violence. Although the original language did not specifically ban CDC research in this area, at the time in 1996
Shaquita Ogletree On Monday, March 20, the Congressional Caucus on Foster Youth and Cybersecurity Caucus co-hosted a briefing to discuss youth in foster care as victims of identity theft and what some companies are proposing to do to solve this problem. Speakers included Eva Casey Velasquez, President/CEO of Identity Theft Resource Center (ITRC), Serita Cox,
There are five legislative days left before a government shutdown. Congress headed into the weekend with a lack of clarity on where Congress is going on the final appropriation for FY 2018. It is looking more and more likely that this appropriation will be the proverbial “last train leaving the station.” As a result many
Federal funding for FY 2018 runs out on March 23 when the current CR expires. This current CR was designed only to provide Congress enough time to write and pass an omnibus appropriations bill wrapping all 12 bills into one package. But the appropriations part of the February 9 budget deal may not happen in
Shaquita Ogletree & Macey Shambery The Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions (HELP) committee held the sixth hearing on the opioid crisis with testimony from Governor Larry Hogan (R-MD) and Governor Kate Brown (D-OR) to look at leadership and innovation in the states. Chairman Alexander (R-TN) opened the meeting with the latest statistics from the
The talk in Washington last week was dominated by the latest school shootings in Parkland, Florida. At the start of the week it seemed clear that the Congress would do little if anything, but those plans seemed to get at least a partial jolt by the President’s cabinet room meeting on Wednesday, February 28, the
The appropriations discussions continued behind closed door last week with progress reportly limited. Although the February 9, budget agreement raised the caps on “non-defense” spending by approximately $60 billion (or more like $50 billion when matched against what was permitted in 2017), that non-defense includes the State Department, military construction and some veterans programs but
The Supreme Court, on Monday, February 26, declined to take up an emergency ruling on the President’s repeal of DACA that had been set to take place on Monday—today. The Administration was attempting to speed up the process and was asking the Supreme Court to take up some lower court rulings that have placed a
Last week the President became the latest President to mark a top priority by declaring war on it. Mr. Trump declared a war on opioids saying, “When confronting a crisis of this magnitude, the most important factor—and one where government too often falls short—is making sure that every dollar is used effectively. To this end,