Outlook for the End of 118 th Congress First Session In the U.S. House of Representatives, the First Session of the 118 th Congress (calendar year 2023) has been marred by a public struggle within the Republican Majority. In October, a faction of far- right conservatives voted to remove then House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA). The vote came after McCarthy advanced a 45-day continuing resolution (“CR”) on September 29, 2023 to avoid a government shutdown. The Freedom Caucus had already signaled discontent with McCarthy after he reached a bipartisan agreement with President Biden in late May to raise the debt ceiling to avoid a government default. This was the first time in U.S. history that a sitting Speaker was ousted. After removing McCarthy, it took House Republicans more than three weeks to agree on a new Speaker. On October 25, 2023, Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA) was elected as the new Speaker of the House. Johnson was first sworn in to serve Louisiana’s Fourth Congressional District in January of 2017. Legislative Outlook: Focus on Must-Pass Bills With divided government in Congress, only highly bipartisan, parochial, and must-pass bills will advance in the 118 th Congress. As a result, the Senate has prioritized Judicial and Agency confirmations. House Republicans have taken a more hardline approach, advancing bills to cut funding for the IRS included in the Inflation Reduction Act, hardline immigration legislation, and increases in oil and gas production. These bills have little chance of advancing in the U.S. Senate. This fall, House Republicans will also ramp up an impeachment inquiry of President Biden. On November 8, 2023, the House Oversight Committee issued subpoenas to the President’s brother, James, and his son, Hunter. Despite this lack of legislative focus, the House and Senate must reach compromise on a growing list of must-pass bills. The following is a summary of bills that must pass both chambers and get signed by the President before the end of the 2023 calendar year. Looming Shutdown: FY’24 Appropriations. As noted above, Congress avoided a government shutdown by passing a 45-day CR that is set to expire on November 17, 2023. With few legislative days remaining, newly-elected Speaker Johnson is considering a new path forward. This approach has been referred to as a “laddered CR”, which would extend four relatively non-controversial funding bills to January 19, 2024 and extend the remaining eight funding bills until February 2, 2024. In the Senate, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) announced that the path forward would be for a stopgap bill, another CR that would extend the deadline for mid-December in hopes to add more time for Congress to have a larger appropriations package completed. Though text has not been released, Leader Schumer has committed that a vote on the stopgap will take place prior to the November 17 deadline. The situation will continue to be monitored as details unfold. Regardless of the approach to keep federal government agencies and programs funded in the short- term in FY’24 (which started on October 1, 2023), the House and Senate will have to reach agreement on overall funding levels. House Republicans are proposing funding levels approximately $120 billion below levels initially approved by the Senate appropriators within the 12 appropriations bills that are currently working through both chambers, 7 of which have been passed in the House. Of importance to Indian Country, the FY’24 House Interior, Environment and Related Agencies funding bill is $12.5 billion below the Senate mark. However, both bills currently retain funding levels at or above FY’23 funding for key programs at the Bureau of Indian Affairs (“BIA”), Bureau of Indian Education (“BIE”), and the Indian Health Service (“IHS”). In addition, both bills include provisions to provide advance appropriations for Indian health care programs and services through FY’25. Great thanks go out to House Interior Appropriations leaders Mike Simpson (R-ID) and Chellie Pingree (D- ME) and Senate Interior Appropriations leaders Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK).
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