Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Democratic allies in the chamber plan to introduce an amendment to a Keystone XL pipeline bill that would force contractors to use U.S. materials in the project’s construction, Schumer said on Jan. 5 and later in a letter to Senate colleagues. American-made iron, steel and manufactured goods will have to be used in the pipeline’s construction, operations and maintenance, said the letter, also endorsed by Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich.
Rep. Candice Miller, R-Mich., will again chair the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Border and Maritime Security, said full committee chairman Mike McCaul, R-Texas, on Jan. 5. McCaul has not yet named the subcommittee members. Miller has chaired the subcommittee since 2011.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative continues to obstruct members of Congress, along with their staffers and other consultants, from fully accessing Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiating texts, said Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., in a Jan. 5 letter to USTR Michael Froman. Sanders asked for a copy of the “full composite bracketed text, without redactions,” and also requested USTR grant experts of his “choosing” to analyze the material.
The Obama administration should get rid of its investor-state dispute settlement proposal for the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, said three Senate and five House Ways and Means Democrats in separate Dec. 17 letters to President Barack Obama and U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman. The investor-state provision has caused concern among many U.S. and European activists, as well as lawmakers and officials. Newly-minted European Union Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström recently said investor-state may not make it in a final deal (see 1411190021).
The Senate adjourned late on Dec. 16 until the next Congress convenes Jan. 6. That move came after President Barack Obama signed the omnibus appropriations bill into law that will keep the government's doors open for the Department of Homeland Security through late February, and the rest of the government through fiscal year 2015. The Senate passed the appropriations bill on Dec. 13, then passed tax extenders with bipartisan support on Dec. 16. The chamber failed to renew the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act, which expires on Dec. 31, in the final hours before leaving Capitol Hill. The House last convened for legislative business on Dec. 11.
The Senate confirmed Sarah Saldana to be the next director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement in a close, partisan Dec. 16 vote. The nomination passed with a 51-vote majority. Democrats comprised all the votes in support of Saldana. Eleven total lawmakers, including Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., and Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., did not vote. The White House praised the confirmation (here). Saldana is the U.S. attorney for the northern district of Texas (here).
President Barack Obama will sign the Russia sanctions bill that cleared Congress in recent days, HR-5859 (here), said White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest in a Dec. 16 briefing (here). The Senate passed the bill in one of its final acts of this Congress (see 1412160028). The legislation ensures Obama has latitude in the administration's efforts to strain the Russian economy in response to that country's destablization of Ukraine, said Earnest. "But we do have some concerns about that legislation because while it preserves flexibility, it does send a confusing message to our allies, because it includes some sanctions language that does not reflect the consultations that are ongoing," said Earnest. "Typically, the kinds of consultations that we’ve had that have allowed for the successful implementation of the strategy have allowed us to have private conversations with our European allies about our strategies and next steps forward." Earnest said he expects Obama to sign the legislation by the end of the week. Meanwhile, the Russian ruble took a serious hit on Dec. 16, and some analysts say the Russian economy is increasingly weak (here).
Incoming Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and his leadership team boosted Republican ranks on the Finance Committee for the 114th Congress, adding three new faces. The move comes as part of a leadership selection of all Senate committee assignments. Sens. Dan Coats, R-Ind., Dean Heller, R-Nev., and Tim Scott, R-S.C., will now join the committee. Current committee ranking member Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, will also stay on as committee chairman in the next Congress. Subcommittee chairmanships will not be named until January, said a spokeswoman for current ranking member of the Finance Trade Subcommittee Johnny Isakson, R-Ga. “Trade is very important to Georgia and he would like to continue his work on the trade subcommittee,” she said.
Angela Ellard will stay on as House Ways and Means Committee chief trade counsel and staff director for the trade subcommittee in the 114th Congress, said incoming full committee chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis., on Dec. 15 (here). Ryan selected Ellard along with staff director appointments for the other Ways and Means subcommittees. Rep. Pat Tiberi, R-Ohio, will take over the subcommittee as chairman in January (see 1412120012).
The Senate passed the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act of 2015, H.R. 83 (here), on Dec. 13, with bipartisan opposition and only 56 votes in favor. President Barack Obama is expected to sign the bill into law after several days of prodding lawmakers to support it. The law will fund the federal government at new levels through Sept. 30, 2015, but Department of Homeland Security appropriations are frozen at fiscal year 2014 levels until late February due to congressional opposition to the recent executive action on immigration. CBP is part of DHS, so its funding will also remain unchanged. The appropriations in the legislation boost funding for some Commerce Department trade functions, as well as the Consumer Product Safety Commission (see 1412100012).