What’s Happening Monday on Capitol Hill?
May 1, 2023
This is a district work week for the House, but House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., will be making news today as he delivers an address to the Knesset in Jerusalem, Israel.
McCarthy, who is leading a bipartisan delegation of his congressional colleagues to mark the 75th anniversary of Israeli independence, was invited to speak before its legislative body by his Israeli counterpart, Speaker Amir Ohana.
McCarthy is only the second U.S. House speaker to address the Knesset, the other being Newt Gingrich, who did so in 1998.
Prior to landing in Israel, McCarthy and the delegation stopped in Jordan, where they met with King Abdullah II and Crown Prince Hussein bin Abdullah.
Meanwhile, back in the U.S., Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., began his Monday by sending out a Dear Colleague letter in which he announced the Senate Budget Committee will hold a hearing on Thursday on the House Republicans’ debt limit and spending cuts bill.
Schumer, who dismissively refers to the GOP bill as the “Default on America Act,” said in his letter that the legislation, the 320-page “Limit, Save, Grow Act,” was “hastily drafted and forced through the House at a break-neck speed.
“Not a single committee of jurisdiction held a hearing or a mark-up on a bill that would fundamentally remake American society. The Senate will show the public what this bill truly is,” he said.
“The DOA would have real, dramatic impacts on the American families in all of our states. For example, the DOA would gut Medicaid for over 20 million Americans, rip away SNAP benefits for over a million recipients and eliminate Pell grants for tens of thousands of American students every year,” he continued.
“Last week, I held a call with reporters from upstate New York to highlight the 2 million New Yorkers who would lose their Medicaid because of this dangerous Republican proposal. I encourage you to make clear how devastating this proposal truly is to your constituents through public events and press,” Schumer said.
Among those slated to speak at the hearing are Mark Zandi, the chief economist at Moody’s Analytics, Fred Krupp, president of the Environmental Defense Fund, and Abigail Ross Hopper, president And CEO of the Solar Energy Industries Association.
On the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue on Monday, President Joe Biden and First Lady Dr. Jill Biden will welcome Philippine President Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr. and Louise Araneta-Marcos to the White House.
During the leaders’ bilateral meeting, they are expected to discuss ways to strengthen the long-standing U.S.-Philippines alliance and review opportunities to “deepen economic cooperation and promote inclusive prosperity, expand the nations’ special people-to-people ties, invest in the clean energy transition and the fight against climate change, and ensure respect for human rights,” the White House said.
Also today, Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris deliver remarks on National Small Business Week with SBA Administrator Isabella Guzman and attend a reception later this evening for Eid-al-Fitr, marking the end of the monthlong dawn-to-sunset fasting of Ramadan. Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff will also attend.
You can reach us at [email protected] and follow us on Facebook and Twitter
