Lame-Duck Congress Faces Deadlines for Key Legislation
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Congress faces a busy agenda as it returns to work this week following the midterm elections. In its final weeks, the 117th Congress must pass two bills: (1) Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 appropriations legislation by December 16, when the current stopgap expires, and (2) the FY 2023 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which is required by December 31.
As of now, the Senate will proceed with the bills separately, with the NDAA first. The House passed its $839.3 billion defense authorization this summer.
However, Bloomberg reports that Senate Democrats are floating the idea of combining the omnibus spending and defense authorization bill into one package, with Senate aides saying it’s a “leading option to expedite work and simultaneously overcome political opposition.”
Lawmakers are considering a slew of riders that could be attached to either piece of legislation.
There are already several additions in the Senate NDAA bill, which include an intelligence program authorization, the Taiwan Policy Act, Coast Guard reauthorization, and the biennial Water Resources Development Act (WRDA).
Also pending in the Senate is an amendment that would prevent the firings of career federal government staff via Schedule F. The Preventing a Patronage System Act (H.R. 302) was passed by the House as both an amendment to the NDAA and as a standalone bill. It would prohibit the president from transferring thousands of federal employees out of the competitive service.
“No other policy in the NDAA matters if a future Executive has unfettered power to reclassify up to 500,000 career federal employees in policy-determining, policymaking, or policy-advocating jobs,” Marcus Hill, Vice Chair of the Senior Executives Association (SEA) wrote to leaders of the Armed Services Committees and congressional leadership. “Congress must take proactive and definitive action now to reinforce the merit based, professional civil service that serves all Americans without regard for political affiliation.”
Meanwhile, there is still no agreement on the top-line defense and non-defense spending in the omnibus bill. Eventually, funding for the war in Ukraine, hurricane disaster assistance, an extension of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), and an extension of expiring Medicare and Medicaid program are seen as likely options to be attached to the spending bill.
According to Bloomberg, other possibilities include funding for mental health, a pandemic preparation package, retirement security legislation, tech oversight, and energy permitting rules.
Less likely is raising the debt limit, immigration reform, or extending the Child Tax Credit, although lawmakers are discussing opportunities.
Also on the agenda for Democratic leaders is confirming President Biden’s judicial nominees. Democrats retaining control of the Senate in the midterm elections may ease pressure on Senator Majority Leader Chuck Schumer to race to confirm judicial nominees, which at last check totaled 12 circuit and 45 district court nominees.
In a statement to Politico, Senator Schumer said, “With two more years of a Senate Democratic majority, we will build on our historic pace of judicial confirmations and ensure the federal bench better reflects the diversity of America.”
