Capital Intelligence is a legislative and policy update from the Hill.
Capital Intelligence

This Week in Washington
Compiled by Van Scoyoc Associates, Inc.
September 25, 2015

Top Story of the Week

Speaker Boehner Retiring from Congress in October
On Friday, September 25, embattled Speaker John Boehner announced he will resign at the end of October, ending a tumultuous five-year tenure atop the House of Representatives.  Boehner, 65, planned to leave Congress at the end of 2014, one of his aides said Friday morning, but returned because of the unexpected defeat of Eric Cantor.

In comments to reporters, Boehner said that he had nothing left to accomplish after he brought Pope Francis to the Capitol.   First elected to the House in 1990, Boehner came into power on the momentum of the 2010 tea party wave.  Many have admired Speaker Boehner’s decision, for putting the interest of his party and the Office of the Speaker first.  Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas), a former member of leadership who has clashed with Boehner, called the Ohio Republican’s move “one of the [most] selfless acts I’ve seen in politics.”

While Speaker Boehner denied any specific reason for the timing of his announcement, it likely eases the way for the House to pass a short-term CR to keep the government funded beyond September 30, 2015.  However, it also places into further question how the new Republican leadership will navigate the caucus to reach a long-term spending deal later this year.  Read more:  Washington Post
 
Foreign Affairs
 
Pope Francis Addresses a Joint Session of Congress
On Thursday, September 24th, Pope Francis spoke to a joint meeting of Congress to members of both the House and Senate in a historic first time visit to the Capitol by a pontiff. 

Every seat in the chamber and the galleries above was occupied for the much-anticipated first speech by a pope to the combined members of Congress, the Cabinet, four members of the Supreme Court and representatives of the diplomatic corps and many guests.  Similar to a State of the Union Address, Vice President Joseph Biden, as head of the Senate, and House Speaker John Boehner, presided over the House Chamber during the address. 

Speaker John Boehner, a Catholic Republican from Ohio, and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, a Catholic Democrat from California, invited the pontiff.

A speech that referenced President Abraham Lincoln and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and American Catholics Father Thomas Merton and Dorothy Day provided for numerous applause interruptions.  Some of the sure-fire applause triggers included the pope's opening line, thanking the members of Congress for their invitation to "the land of the free and the home of the brave," as well as references to "freedom."  Read more:  New York Times
 
President Xi Jinping’s State Visit
On Friday, September 25, the White House hosted China’s President Xi Jinping in his first state visit.  The centerpiece of the state visit, from the Obama Administration’s perspective, is President Xi’s agreement on a carbon emission cap-and-trade measure governing greenhouse gas emissions.  China is the world’s largest polluter of carbon emissions, so an agreement that reduces China’s greenhouse emissions is indeed significant.  Other issues of importance such as Chinese cyber theft of American citizens’ personal information and U.S. Government data; aggressive Chinese military activities in the East and South China Seas; and China’s discrimination against U.S. companies doing business abroad are not likely to be resolved during President Xi’ s visit.  Read more:  New York Times
 
Appropriations
 
Debate on Continuing Resolution…Continues
On Thursday, September 24th, the Senate failed to invoke cloture (break off debate) on the motion to proceed to Senate Amendment No. 2680 to H.J. Res. 61, a continuing resolution to fund government operations and activities until December 11th, 2015.  On a vote of 52-47, the Senate failed to break off debate on the measure due to a provision that would impose a one-year freeze on federal funds going to Planned Parenthood.  An estimated $500 million in federal funds go to Planned Parenthood each year.  Following this vote, and after dropping the Planned Parenthood funding freeze, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) filed a new amendment (Senate Amendment No. 2689) to House-passed legislation (H.R 719) containing a “clean” continuing resolution.   A vote on the motion to proceed to the clean continuing resolution is scheduled to occur on Monday, September 28th, just prior to the October 1st start of the new fiscal year. 

The new short-term continuing resolution would fund the federal government until December 11th at a rate consistent with the Fiscal Year 2016 limit set by the Budget Control Act ($1.017 trillion).  The legislation includes several federal funding anomalies designed to address unique circumstances (a NOAA satellite launch; VA disability claims processing; and 7(a) small business loan processing activities).  The measure includes $700 million to fight western wildfires and an adjustment to permit additional Overseas Contingency Operations funds to be spent.  Because the House bill used as a vehicle for the continuing resolution does not contain revenue provisions, an extension of Federal Aviation Administration authorities is not included in the new measure.  The prevailing thought of political prognosticators is that Planned Parenthood funding restrictions could be addressed through the budget reconciliation process.  Read more:  Military Times
 
Defense
 
Conference Deliberations Continue on National Defense Authorization Act
Conferees continue to meet in an effort to resolve outstanding issues between the House-passed and Senate-passed legislation authorizing funds for military programs and activities.  While optimism reigned prior to the August recess that an agreement could be reached and a conference report filed prior to October 1st, it now appears that more time will be needed to resolve disagreements.  Several insiders to the conference negotiations have pointed to issues involving military retirement reform as being the sticking point to sealing an agreement.  However, because the bill includes $38 billion in extra defense spending that does not count against the budget caps set by the Budget Control Act, the White House has threatened to veto this legislation.  Read more:  Heritage Foundation

Information in this report was gathered by experts at Van Scoyoc Associates Inc., Washington's foremost government affairs firm. The information is believed reliable, but the firm assumes no responsibility for actions based on the provided information, analysis, and opinions. To read the entire disclaimer, please click here.
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