What’s Happening Tuesday On Capitol Hill

April 18, 2023

WASHINGTON — A day after unveiling his plan for the debt limit before a roomful of bigwigs at the New York Stock Exchange Institute in New York, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., on Tuesday will try to sell his fellow House Republicans on his ideas.

At today’s meeting of House Republicans, McCarthy will lay out his proposal to the entire conference for the first time.

As reported on Monday by The Well News, the speaker’s proposal would raise the debt limit for only one year, leaving its future once again open to debate in 2024, a presidential election year. 

It would cut federal spending to 2022 levels and cap spending increases over the next 10 years to just 1% annually.

The plan would also impose stricter work requirements for those benefiting from social programs, and he vowed that his as-yet unspecified spending cuts would occur “without touching Social Security and Medicare.”

The White House and congressional Democrats have already panned the proposal saying McCarthy has no real plan and is suggesting measures he first broached with President Biden in January.

That makes today’s pitch to House Republicans particularly critical for McCarthy, who can afford to lose only four of their votes if he is to pass the legislation along party lines.

Elsewhere on Capitol Hill, the New Democrat Coalition on Tuesday urged the Biden administration to continue a two-year pause on new solar duties while domestic manufacturers continue to ramp up their production of solar energy components.

Meanwhile, over at the House Triangle Tuesday morning, Reps. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., Lloyd Doggett, D-Texas, Jimmy Gomez, D-Calif., Steve Cohen, D-Tenn., Greg Casar, D-Texas, and Katie Porter, D-Calif., will hold a press conference demanding that the ultra-wealthy pay their fair share of taxes.

They will be joined by members of the nonprofit group Patriotic Millionaires, which is calling for a 90% tax on incomes over $100 million.

As part of the effort, a mobile billboard commissioned by the Patriotic Millionaires will circle Capitol Hill and the National Mall throughout the day calling for tax increases on the richest Americans, explicitly calling out billionaires like Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg for not paying their fair share.

Speaking of money, Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., will lead over a dozen senators Tuesday in introducing new legislation to prevent conflicts of interest by prohibiting members of Congress from owning or trading stocks. 

Joining Merkley for a press conference on the Senate triangle will be Sens. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, John Fetterman, D-Penn., Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., and Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill. 

Also on hand to support the introduction of the Ending Trading and Holdings in Congressional Stocks Act will be the Project on Government Oversight, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, and Progressive Change Campaign Committee.

House Hearings

The House Oversight and Accountability subcommittee is holding a hearing on the origins of COVID in the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington.

The session is entitled “China and the Available Intelligence,” and will include testimony from former Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe; former Assistant Director of Central Intelligence for Analysis and Production; former National Intelligence Council Vice Chairman for Evaluation / former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Intelligence and Research Dr. Mark Lowenthal; and former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs David Feith.

The House Small Business Committee will hold a hearing on “How Tax Hikes Crush the Competitiveness of Small Businesses.”

Other House Hearings today will include:

An Administration Committee hearing on the “House Sergeant at Arms Strategic Plan for the 118th Congress”; an Armed Services Committee hearing on national security and U.S. military activities in the Indo-Pacific; an Armed Services subcommittee hearing on missile defense; an Agriculture subcommittee hearing on USDA animal disease prevention and response efforts; and an Energy subcommittee hearing on U.S. nuclear expansion.

Senate Hearings

On the Senate side of the Capitol, Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas will testify before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs on the proposed fiscal year 2024 budget for his department.

Other Senate hearings today include: an Appropriations subcommittee hearing on U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force budget; an Armed Services Committee part-closed hearing on Department of the Navy posture; a Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee nominations hearing ; an Environment subcommittee hearing on cleaner vehicles; a Foreign Relations Committee top-secret briefing on Ukraine; and a Judiciary subcommittee hearing on “foreign competitive threats to U.S. innovation and economic leadership.”

The Senate Judiciary Committee will also consider the nominations of Jeremy Daniel to be U.S. District judge for the Northern District of Illinois; Brendan Abell Hurson to be U.S. District judge for the District of Maryland; and Darrel James Papillion to be U.S. District judge for the Eastern District of Louisiana.