House Ways and Means Committee ranking member Richard Neal, D-Mass., announced that Rep. Bill Pascrell, D-N.J., will take over as the Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee ranking member through the 115th Congress, after former ranking member Charlie Rangel, D-N.Y., retired in December (here). The subcommittee’s minority Democratic side also added Sandy Levin of Michigan, Danny Davis of Illinois and Suzan DelBene of Washington, Neal announced. Neal and Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., no longer serve on the subcommittee.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, and U.S. Trade Representative nominee Robert Lighthizer met on Jan. 10, Hatch said (here). The senator said he expects Lighthizer will play a “significant role” in protecting U.S. intellectual property rights overseas, as well as in boosting U.S. exports’ market access. “Armed with tools like Trade Promotion Authority, the incoming administration has an opportunity to negotiate new trade pacts of the highest caliber and establish a strong trade agenda that promotes U.S. commercial interests,” Hatch said. In a statement, the committee said it will schedule a date for Lighthizer’s confirmation hearing after it completes its internal vetting process, but pledged to work in a “swift and thorough manner” to clear President-elect Donald Trump’s nominees for timely consideration by the full Senate.

Lawmakers recently introduced the following trade-related bill:

House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady, R-Texas, announced that Rep. Dave Reichert, R-Wash., will continue as the Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee chairman through the 115th Congress (here). The subcommittee’s Majority Republican side also added Reps. Tom Reed, N.Y., George Holding, N.C., and Tom Rice, S.C., Brady announced. Republican Reps. Vern Buchanan, Fla., Adrian Smith, Neb., and Kenny Marchant, Texas, and former Rep. Charles Boustany, La., no longer serve on the subcommittee.

The House Republican and Democratic Steering committees recommended new members to serve on the House Ways and Means Committee during the 115th Congress, committee Chairman Kevin Brady, R-Texas, and Ranking Member Richard Neal, D-Mass., said in respective statements (here and here). The House Republican Steering Committee recommended GOP Reps. David Schweikert of Arizona, Jackie Walorski of Indiana, and Carlos Curbelo of Florida to serve on the committee The House Republican Conference will decide whether to approve the recommendations on Jan. 6.

The Senate Republican Conference approved Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, to serve another two years as chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, the committee said in a statement (here). Hatch has served as committee chairman since January 2015, when the Senate shifted from Democrat to Republican control. “We will work to advance a strong trade agenda that will not only break down barriers to new markets for American-made products, goods and services, but ensure American workers and job creators have access to the tools they need to compete in the global marketplace,” Hatch said in a Jan. 5 statement.

Lawmakers recently introduced the following trade-related bills:

Two House Republicans called on the executive branch to level sanctions greenlighted when President Barack Obama on Dec. 23 signed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2017, to respond to alleged ongoing Russian violations of arms control treaties, such as the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty. House Foreign Affairs Terrorism, Nonproliferation, and Trade Subcommittee Chairman Ted Poe, R-Texas, and House Armed Services Strategic Forces Subcommittee Chairman Mike Rogers, R-Ala., authored NDAA Section 1290, which requires sanctions against companies involved in arms control violations and entities that conduct business with those firms. Poe criticized the Obama administration for not confronting Russia either economically or militarily regarding its purported violations of the INF Treaty and other arms control agreements (here). “This administration waited out the clock on Russia’s blatant violations of arms control agreements like the INF treaty,” Rogers said in a statement. “The next administration has to do better, and I’m pleased the Rogers-Poe sanctions will be available to them.” The INF Treaty prohibits the development and testing of all land-based missiles capable of hitting ranges of 500 to 5,500 kilometers. The White House and Trump Transition Team didn’t comment.

Two trade-focused House Democrats outlined elements they hope President-elect Donald Trump will address as part of his expected renegotiation of NAFTA on Jan. 3. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., wrote a letter (here) to Trump calling for future talks to prioritize the needs of workers and their communities ahead of special-interest considerations “that now dominate U.S. trade policymaking.” Among the most significant suggestions were incorporation of a tripartite mechanism to confront currency manipulation by China and other large state exporters. Special interests “that have rigged past trade agreements” are already pursuing special protections and monopolies through a renegotiated NAFTA, including walling off pharmaceutical companies from market competition that brings consumer prices down, she wrote. DeLauro proposes that parties to trade pact talks make their negotiating texts public after every round of discussions, and invite public comment.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., introduced the Regulatory Accountability Act of 2017, which would abolish judicial principles that defer statutory and regulatory interpretations of agency rulemaking to the executive branch, the lawmaker’s office announced (here). Specifically, the legislation would eliminate the principle of “Chevron” deference, established in 1984 by the Supreme Court, which holds that courts should largely defer to agency interpretations of statutes. The legislation also proposes to erase the 1997-established “Auer doctrine,” which instructs courts to defer to agency interpretations of ambiguous executive-branch regulations to determine how regulations should be implemented. The bill would also require agencies to consider the “direct, indirect, and cumulative impacts of new regulations on small businesses,” and to devise “flexible” ways to reduce them, according to Goodlatte’s office. Furthermore, the legislation seeks to “force agencies” to publish online timely information about regulations in development and their expected “nature, costs, and timing,” as well as publish “plain-language” summaries online of newly proposed rules, “so the public can understand what agencies actually propose to do,” Goodlatte’s office said.