What to Know in Washington: House Continues Despite GOP Feud


By Brandon Lee

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The House floor has been a scene of Republican paralysis recently as disgruntled fiscal conservatives stalled votes until they secured spending agreements from GOP leadership.

But that stand-off belied the flurry of activity off the floor as committees chaired by loyalists to Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) have been steadily making headway on substantive legislation.

Leaders of key House panels are advancing measures with the potential to reshape the nation’s military, air travel, food programs, and tax code in contrast to the handful of the partisan messaging bills that conservatives temporarily blocked last week.

That legislation being shaped with little fanfare and with the input of a broad range of the GOP conference could set the stage for bipartisan deals with the Senate that can be signed by President Joe Biden. Republican leaders prefer to focus on this legislative progress, rather than the more public spats with the hardliners.

Photographer: Al Drago/Bloomberg
House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) says it’s business as usual for lawmakers shaping legislation.

“It’s business as usual,” said House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.).

It remains to be seen how many of committees’ bills would fall prey to the same GOP schisms that have accompanied the debate over spending bills. House Republicans who relented Tuesday on their blockade of GOP bills demurred on whether the truce would last.

But agreements hashed out by McCarthy have allowed chairs he helped install earlier this year move their individual priorities forward.

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) said he was satisfied with the pace of committee work, some of which required broader agreement on funding levels for the next fiscal year before they could be written.

McCarthy’s deal with Biden suspending the debt limit until 2025 expanded some work requirements on food programs, which takes some contentious items off the plate of lawmakers looking to pass another five-year farm programs authorization. The House Armed Services subcommittees are also meeting this week to mark up their portions of the annual military policy bill.

Additionally, ratcheting tensions with Russia and China have increased lawmakers’ interest in getting the National Defense Authorization Act over the finish line. Federal aviation regulation is also moving apace with expected committee approval today of bipartisan legislation that would reauthorize the FAA in a bid to alleviate increasingly common flight disruptions. Read the full story from Zach C. Cohen.

BIDEN’S AGENDA

  • The president will deliver remarks at 7:55 p.m. at the League of Conservation Voters’ annual Capital Dinner at The Anthem in Washington, D.C.
  • At 1:45 p.m., Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre will deliver a briefing.

CONGRESS’ SCHEDULE

  • The House is back at noon to vote on bills to curtail regulations with economic effects and on gas stoves.
  • The Senate meets at 10 a.m. to confirm Biden’s judicial nominees.

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More Action From the Hill

House Panel Wants to Add Money for Weapons Used in Ukraine

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GOP Advances Tax Bill in Party Line Panel Vote

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Politics, Probes, and 2024

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White House May Challenge Jean-Pierre ‘MAGA’ Hatch Act Violation

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What Else We’re Reading

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Security Concerns Plague Dreams of Centralized Government ID

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Russia Turns Oil Tap for North Korea Back On as US Warns on Arms

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Charter Schools Next Religious Liberty Fight at Supreme Court

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To contact the reporter on this story: Brandon Lee in Washington at blee@bgov.com

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Kayla Sharpe at ksharpe@bloombergindustry.com

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