Posts by Matt Zuiderhof

This Week in Congress This week both chambers of Congress were in session with the House voting on the HALT Fentanyl Act (H.R. 27), which would amend the Controlled Substances Act to permanently list the drug as a Schedule I controlled substance, and the Protecting American Energy Production Act (H.R. 26), to prohibit a moratorium…

Budget Reconciliation As previously reported, last week Republicans held their annual policy retreat.  In his appearance before the group on Monday, President Trump urged the conference “not to get stuck on the details” of a budget reconciliation strategy, clarifying that he does not care whether his priorities are addressed in one bill or two.  With…

Tariffs? President Trump’s plans for tariffs against Mexico and Canada have been paused for 30 days. On Monday, President Trump had discussions with Mexican President Sheinbaum and Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau, just one day before the 25 percent tariffs on goods imports were to take effect. Both Mexico and Canada have agreed to do more…

Department of Transportation Memo Grants Marriage Preferences and High Birth Rates? A new Department of Transportation (DOT) memo directs the department to give grant preferences to “communities with marriage and birth rates higher than the national average.”  The action comes after the DOT announced that Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy had authorized a series of actions…

Delaying the CTA until 2026? Several organizations, representing millions of Main Street businesses operating in every industry and community in America, applauded the Department of the Treasury for its swift action in pausing the Corporate Transparency Act’s (CTA) reporting requirements while a nationwide court order remains in place, and respectfully requested extending the CTA filing…

This Week in Congress This week, the House was not in session, and the Senate held nomination votes for cabinet positions including Treasury, Transportation, Interior, Environmental Protection Agency, Housing and Urban Development, Veterans Affairs, and Energy.  Also, the Senate voted on a House-passed bill that would impose sanctions on the International Criminal Court over its…

Budget Reconciliation Strategy Last week, congressional leaders met with President Trump to discuss budget reconciliation strategies.  Reports from the meeting indicate that it did not result in clarity regarding strategy or substance, and that the party remains divided on both points.  During another meeting, House GOP members expressed frustration over the long list of potential…

Debt Ceiling Debate Continues It appears that Republicans will not attempt to increase the debt ceiling via the budget reconciliation process, for fear that opposition from far-right members of the party to any debt limit increase would tank the larger bill.  Instead, they will seek to deal with the issue as part of the upcoming…

This Week in Congress On Monday, President-elect Trump was sworn in as the 47th President of the United States.  This week, the House voted on legislation that would require the detention of any alien charged in the U.S. with theft (S. 5), measures related to forest management activities on public lands (H.R. 471) and abortion…

Debt Ceiling Debate Continues Last week, the Treasury Department announced that it will begin to implement special accounting measures to delay the date when the U.S. will no longer be able to pay its obligations.  Republicans continue strategizing how to deal with the debt limit before hitting that date.  One option under consideration is to…