Congress Update

Daily Digests – House • Senate — Prayers

Foreign Policy

Senators huddle on Russia sanctions as tensions escalate • Bipartisan group of lawmakers push Biden to be more aggressive on Russia threat • White House Holding Classified Bipartisan Briefings For Congressional Leadership On Ukraine • Pelosi requests briefing for all members • GOP faces divisions over siding with Ukraine against Russia

In Context: Who are we as a Nation?

While last week's storm in the Senate has passed, it remains important for reflection because that which brought it on remains.

Near the end of the all-day debate Wednesday, Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia began remarks saying, “Mr. President, I am glad that a number of my Republican colleagues are in the Chamber because I am going to speak very briefly just to reassure you that I am not so immodest that I believe I am going to persuade you, but I do want to try to reassure you.”

Interestingly, this came right on the heels of remarks from Sen. Murphy of Connecticut who spoke about the “stakes” of the debate, how “democracy may actually collapse,” and “it matters more than anything, even the traditions and the rules of the Senate.” It seems he needs some reassuring.

Congress Update

Daily Digests – House • Senate — Prayers — Committee Reports

Senate — Daily Leader Remarks • Actions begun, passed, declined, summarized

McConnell calls filibuster vote 'biggest day in history of the Senate' • Senate GOP blocks election bill • Ossoff and Collins clash over her past support for voting rights legislation (Floor Debate) • Manchin chides Dems over filibuster, saying he can't support 'such a perilous course' • Manchin, Sinema join GOP to sink filibuster change for voting bill • Vote: 52-48 • Biden, Schumer respond • Schumer, Dems accept floor failure

Former Sen. Donnelly confirmed as Vatican ambassador

House of Representatives — Bills • Actions passed, summarized

House votes to award medal to Willie O'Ree, first Black NHL player

Members spoke on the House floor for an hour about the March for Life, and in several other speeches given and recorded

In Context: Senate Nuclear Chain Reaction

Unable to come to bipartisan agreement and consensus on significant issues, under Majority Leader Schumer the Senate is considering a path it has never before taken: eliminating minority rights on blocking legislation and “as President Biden argued decades ago, the filibuster is about more than what gets blocked. It shapes almost everything the Senate actually does pass. It gives all kinds of citizens and all kinds of States a meaningful voice in nearly everything.”

Two Senators in the majority restated their longstanding positions last week on the filibuster after the President's speech. Majority Leader Schumer appears poised to put Senators on the Record this week anyway. It's one thing to publicly state your position. It's another to cast a vote accordingly. This current storm has not yet fully passed.

In the last two decades as this rule change has been considered, it has been referred to as the “nuclear option” and the subsequent fallout as “nuclear winter.” The analogy is fitting for several reasons.

Congress Update

Daily Digests – House • Senate — Prayers — Committee Reports


Senate — Daily Leader Remarks • Actions passed, declined, summarized

Dems block Cruz's Nord Stream 2 sanctions bill — S. 3436

GOP senator blocks Biden EPA nominees over coal plant decision


House — Weekly Leader Colloquy • Bills • Actions passed, summarized

House votes to expand GI benefits for National Guard, Reserve troops — H.R. 1836

House passes elections bill, setting up Senate filibuster showdown — H.R. 5746

Free speech concerns in #HR5746

Thursday, the House of Representative passed the House Amendment to Senate Amendment to H.R. 5746 by a vote of 220-203.

This bill contains problematic provisions that previously appeared in H.R. 1, the For The People Act, S. 2747, the Freedom to Vote Act (which contained many provisions similar to H.R. 1), and H.R. 4, the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act of 2021.

H.R. 1, S. 2747, and H.R. 4 threaten the integrity of elections and undermine free speech, and problematic provisions are included in H.R. 5746. For example:

In Context: Intentional Asymmetry

The Senate has given itself a week to pass elections legislation or remake itself into the image of its majoritarian counterpart, the House of Representatives.

For as long as it has existed, going all the way back to when the frequency of elections for its Members was set in the Constitution, the crowning characteristic of the Senate has always been that it is not just another body to mirror the House.

The asymmetry has been intentional.

Congress Update

Daily Digests – House • Senate — Prayers

Senate — Daily Leader Remarks • Actions begun, passed, declined, summarized

Schumer makes plea for voting bill, filibuster reform in rare Friday session — Full Speech


Constitution

Schumer Claims Senate GOP Opposition to Democrats’ Voting Rights Bill Tied to January 6 • Democrats use Jan. 6 anniversary to push for overhaul of voting laws • Bipartisan Senate group holds call on elections amid reform chatter • Top Senate Republican signals interest in narrow approach to U.S. election reform • Schumer: McConnell floating Electoral Count Act reforms 'unacceptably insufficient,' 'offensive'