Archive for May 2023

Sen. Carper (D-DE) Announces Retirement On Monday, Sen. Carper (D-DE) announced that he will not seek reelection.  Sen. Carper, 76, is the fourth Democratic senator to announce his retirement, following Sens. Stabenow (MI), Feinstein (CA), and Cardin (MD).  Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester, D-Del., is widely seen as a potential successor to Carper. His departure opens…

Editorial Cartoon: https://www.cleveland.com/ This Week in Congress Congress was in session this week with the Senate tackling nomination votes while the House voted on legislation that would allow immigrants convicted of assaulting cops to be deported (H.R. 2494).  House Judiciary Republicans cited the end of Title 42, the pandemic-era policy that allowed the Trump and…

Debt Ceiling Negotiations Continue President Biden and congressional leaders met this week for a second time to discuss raising the debt ceiling.  President Biden is scheduled to be at the G-7 summit in Hiroshima, Japan, and then the Quad Leaders’ Summit in Sydney, Australia, meaning he will be away from Washington through at least May…

ASA Celebrates 2023 Infrastructure Week! As we celebrate Infrastructure Week in 2023, we find ourselves in a place of unprecedented opportunity. Cities, towns, and villages across America have access to a historic level of federal funds from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, Inflation Reduction Act and CHIPS and Science Act to invest in infrastructure in their…

Sen. Daines Reintroduces the Main Street Certainty Act Sen. Daines (R-MT) reintroduces the Main Street Certainty Act, which we supported in the last Congress, and it would make permanent the 20-percent deduction for small- and individually owned businesses (Section 199A).  This legislation would provide certainty to the millions of S corporations, partnerships and sole proprietorships…

This Week in Congress This week, the House voted on border security and immigration legislation as the pandemic-era Title 42 policy that has allowed officials to expel migrants at the border is set to expire this Thursday.   Additionally, the House voted on legislation that would offer incentives to states to recoup fraudulent overpayments of pandemic…

Debt Ceiling White House Meeting After the hour-long White House meeting on Tuesday, no progress was made in coming to an agreement on the debt ceiling, but President Biden and House and Senate congressional leaders agreed to talk again on Friday.  In the meantime, staff will meet to come up with some options on ways…

Unspent COVID-19 Funds President Biden said rescinding unspent COVID-19 relief funds is “on the table” when it comes to an area where he and lawmakers can agree to make some spending cuts, but he was vague on whether that could also be part of debt ceiling talks. When asked if he would consider clawing back…

International Vaccine Requirements President Biden has revoked requirements that most international visitors to the U.S. be vaccinated against COVID-19 as well as similar rules for federal employees and contractors.  President Biden’s orders take effect at 12:01 a.m. ET May 12th with the expiration of the U.S. COVID public health emergency. The Biden administration’s rules imposed…

Immigration Update The controversial Title 42 policy, which has allowed border agents to turn back migrants who cross the U.S.-Mexico border without considering their asylum claims expires with the COVID-19 public health emergency this Thursday. The Defense Department is sending 1,500 troops to the U.S. southern border to help address an expected spike in migration.…