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February 15, 2021 Legislative Preview

2/15/2021

All Quiet on Immigration as the full House and Senate
Take Week-Long Recess Amidst
Limited Committee Activity

Monday, February 15, 2021

There is little scheduled immigration-related legislative activity during the holiday-shortened week as the full House and full Senate stand in recess and the relatively few committees holding hearings and business meetings take a break from immigration- or refugee-related action.

Indeed, the only anticipated migration-related action taking place on Capitol Hill during the week of February 15, 2021, is the likely unveiling by Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ) and Representative Linda Sanchez (D-CA) of the text of "the “U.S. Citizenship Act of 2021", immigration reform legislation that was largely put together by the Biden Administration to fulfill the new president's immigration-related campaign promises.

As far as the week beginning February 15, 2021, is concerned, from the perspective of those interested in migration policy, at the time of this writing, the week's legislative schedule includes no hearings on migration-related matters, no business meetings of committees that either have jurisdiction over migration matters or that could produce legislation impacting migration law or policy, and no floor actions on migration-related legislation..

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February 8, 2021 Legislative Preview

2/7/2021

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House Panels to Take Up Reconciliation Measures While Senate Conducts Second
Trump Impeachment Trial

Sunday, February 7, 2021

The House Committee on the Judiciary has scheduled the first of what could be numerous hearings and actions during the 117th Congress on migration matters. while at least three House committees have scheduled markups of legislation that eventually will be packaged into a measure forming President Joseph R. Biden, Jr.'s $1.9 TRILLION COVID-19 relief legislation..

The action that will probably generate the most attention from the news media during the week ahead, though, is the second impeachment trial of former President Donald J. Trump, which is set to begin on Tuesday, February 9.

The most consequential migration-related actions that are taking place in Congress during the coming week may not yet have been officially placed on the week's calendar; Twelve House committees are required to produce legislation by Tuesday, February 16, that will be packaged into the Biden COVID-19 relief bill. However,, only three of them were officially scheduled at the time of this writing. The biggest of them, including one of the two that are most likely to include provisions impacting migration law and policy are yet to be officially scheduled. Word could come early in the week of when the remaining nine committees will hold their markup sessions.

As far as the week beginning February 8, 2021, is concerned, from the perspective of those interested in migration policy, at the time of this writing, the week's legislative schedule includes one hearing (occurring in the House), four business meetings of committees (all occurring in the House) that either have jurisdiction over migration matters or that could produce legislation impacting migration law or policy.

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Congress Passes FY '21 Budget Resolution

2/5/2021

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Congress Adopts Budget Blueprint Paving the Way for the Eventual Enactment of a $1.9 TRILLION
COVID-Relief Bill

Friday, February 5, 2021

The House and Senate completed action today on a fiscal year 2021 budget blueprint that is intended to pave the way for the eventual enactment of a $1.9 TRILLION COVID-19 relief bill. The Senate acted on the measure in the pre-dawn hours of Friday, February 5, 2021, with the House following hours later.

While the blueprint that Congress adopted did not contain any explicit immigration provisions, it is widely anticipated that the legislation that will result from House and Senate adoption of the budget blueprint will have impacts on immigration policy.

Friday's congressional action occurred in connection with S. Con. Res. 5, the Concurrent Resolution on the Budget for Fiscal Year 2021 (Budget Resolution). The Senate passed the measure by a vote of 51-50, with Vice President Harris casting the tie-breaking vote, at about 5:23 am EST on February 5. The House concurred in the Senate action at about 2:23 pm EST later that day, doing so by a vote of 219-209.

Background. As introduced in the Senate, the text of S. Con. Res. 5 was almost identical to the text of H. Con. Res. 11, the Fiscal Year 2021 budget resolution, which the House passed on Wednesday, February 3, 2021.

The measure is a "skinny budget resolution" designed to provide a vehicle for facilitating enactment of a budget reconciliation bill that would be comprised of President Biden's COVID-19 relief proposals.

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February 15, 2021 Legislative Preview

February 8, 2021 Legislative Preview

Congress Passes FY '21 Budget Resolution

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