This Week on the Hill: Senate Returns as State of the Union Headlines Week

The Senate returns to Washington today, but the highlight of the week will be President Obama’s final State of the Union address tomorrow night. After taking the spotlight with executive actions on gun control last week, the President is expected to use the annual speech to outline the remainder of his agenda, particularly selling Congress on an approval of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal. Delivering the Republican response will be South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, who has criticized President Obama on labor and healthcare policies and the resettlement of Syrian refugees. Haley most recently garnered national attention when she led the removal of the Confederate battle flag from statehouse grounds following the June mass shooting at a Charleston church. 

The speech also comes just before Republican lawmakers convene a joint legislative retreat in Baltimore to form their legislative agenda for the year. House Freedom Caucus Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) has said that his members will use the retreat to prod House leaders to develop and vote on a comprehensive tax overhaul this year, as well as push for a vote on an Affordable Care Act replacement bill, welfare overhaul, and impeachment of Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Commissioner John Koskinen over the tax-collection agency’s alleged targeting of conservative groups.

With Republicans leaving town on Wednesday, international affairs will take center stage during the short week as the House considers sanctions measures against Iran for firing a ballistic missile and against North Korea for testing a nuclear bomb. The latter measure (H.R. 757) is expected to receive little resistance from either party and will be voted on through suspension of the rules, but Democrats have been concerned that additional sanctions against Iran could endanger the nuclear agreement struck with the Middle Eastern state last summer. On the domestic front, Senate lawmakers are set to consider a bill (S. 2232) that would require the Governmental Accountability Office to perform an audit of the Federal Reserve, a move opposed by congressional Democrats and the White House. A cloture vote on the measure has been set for tomorrow afternoon, after the Senate votes on the appointment of a federal judge this evening. 

Aside from its work on sanctions measures, the House may take up a bill (H.R. 1644) that would prevent the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from implementing its rules concerning strip-mining and a resolution (S.J. Res. 22) that would limit the scope of the EPA’s clean-water regulations. Both measures face stiff opposition from the White House. Finally, the House has laid out eight additional bills to be considered under suspension of the rules today: 

• S. 142 – The Child Nicotine Poisoning Prevention Act would require special packaging for liquid nicotine containers to prevent children under five years of age from opening them.
• H.R. 1777 – The Presidential Allowance Modernization Act would set the lifetime annuity provided to U.S. Presidents at $200,000 annually that is reduced if the President’s adjusted gross income exceeds $400,000.  
• H.R. 1069 – The Presidential Library Donation Reform Act of 2015 would require each presidential fundraising organization to submit quarterly reports to the National Archives on every contributor who gave the organization a contribution totaling $200 or more and requires the Archivist of the United States to publish such information online.
• S. 1629 – The District of Columbia Courts, Public Defender Service, and Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency Act of 2015 would authorize DC courts to collect debts, purchase uniforms, and develop and operate incentive programs for sentenced offenders, among other measures.
• S. 1115 – The Grants Oversight and New Efficiency Act, or GONE Act, would require the White House’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to produce additional reports on various grant programs in coordination with the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
• H.R. 598 – Under the Taxpayers Right-To-Know Act, the OMB website would need to include a program inventory for each federal program with more than $1 million in annual budget authority.
• H.R. 653 – The FOIA Oversight and Implementation Act of 2015, or the FOIA Act, would expand the amount of information that can be disclosed through the FOIA process.
• H.R. 3231 – The Federal Intern Protection Act of 2015 would extend protections against discrimination that typically apply to employees to be applied to interns.    

‘Today on the Hill’ includes updates provided by the House and Senate majority leaders, as well information derived from publications including Bloomberg Government, The Hill, Politico, Roll Call, and National Journal.