On June 28, 2019 the Supreme Court announced that it will take up a legal challenge to the Obama Executive Order that created the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival (DACA) protections. The Court announcement came as the Justices wrapped up this year’s 2018-19 session. The Court term begins the first Monday in October and the
On Tuesday, July 9, 2019 the 5th Circuit’s U.S. Court of Appeals heard arguments to strike down the Affordable Care Act in its entirety. Twenty states, led by Republican governors and attorneys general, have been seeking the law’s elimination because Congress, with the tax cut package of last year, eliminated the mandatory tax on people
Congress gave final approval to a border funding bill totaling approximately $4.6 billion negotiated between Senate Republicans and Democrats. The final bill approved in the House by a vote of 305 to 102 included a mix of Democrats and Republicans. Many House Democrats were unhappy about the fact that, earlier in the week, a Democrats-only
The House of Representatives completed action on the Financial Services bill on Thursday. That makes 10 of 12 bills approved before the July 4th break. The remaining two include the Legislative Branch and Homeland Security. The Legislative Branch is likely to move after the break after stalling on a failed attempt to unfreeze congressional salaries
On Tuesday, June 18, Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WS) and Senator Rob Portman (R-OH) reintroduced the Treatment Family Care Services Act. Under Therapeutic Foster Care, foster parents –and increasing other care givers including relative care givers and parents—are given special training to address the needs of youths with major mental health challenges and children receive intensive
Immigration was heating up again last week from its slow boil to full steam on two fronts. The President created tremendous anxiety with the advocacy and certainly the immigration communities when he tweeted his desire for more raids and deportations. On Thursday, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-SC) was holding a hearing on his
After a joint meeting on Wednesday, June 19 congressional leaders and the White House were no closer to an overall budget deal than they have been over the last several months. Unlike previous meetings this White House meeting included the Democrats. After the meeting was adjourned there was no deal and no consensus by participants
On June 5, Representatives John Lewis (D-GA) and Jenniffer González-Colón (R-PR) introduced HR 3114 – Every Child Deserves A Family Act and on June 13, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) introduced S 1791, the Senate version. This legislation prohibits organizations receiving federal funding from discriminating against children and families and promotes safety, well-being, and permanency
Members of Congress in both the Senate and the House are interested in providing states with additional resources and support to implement the Family First Prevention Services Act (Family First). The Family First Transition and Support Act, S 1376, was introduced on May 8, 2019 in the Senate by Senators Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Debbie
The House began their debate on a package of four of the twelve appropriations bills on Wednesday. At the same time the Senate was signaling difficulty in starting their process as negotiations between Republican leaders and the White House seemed to slow down. The House bundled four bills together after taking the Legislative Branch bill