Migration-Related Spending Bills Take Center
Stage in House Committees as Both
Chambers Leave Washington for
Two Week-Long Recesses
Stage in House Committees as Both
Chambers Leave Washington for
Two Week-Long Recesses
Monday July 6, 2020
The full U.S. House of Representatives and full U.S. Senate have departed the nation's capitol for their respective two week-long Independence Day recesses. However, in an unusual move, they have left House committees behind to hold hearings and markups.
The principal action in Congress during the next two weeks will be production by the House Committee on Appropriations of the twelve regular fiscal year 2021 appropriations bills that fund the discretionary operations of the federal government,readying those measures for House floor action when Congress returns on July 20th. This will include production of the four regular appropriations bills that fund the nation's migration-related departments, agencies, functions, programs, and activities,
The principal action in Congress during the next two weeks will be production by the House Committee on Appropriations of the twelve regular fiscal year 2021 appropriations bills that fund the discretionary operations of the federal government,readying those measures for House floor action when Congress returns on July 20th. This will include production of the four regular appropriations bills that fund the nation's migration-related departments, agencies, functions, programs, and activities,
As far as the week beginning July 6 is concerned, from the perspective of those interested in immigration, refugee, homeland security, or human trafficking policy, the week's legislative schedule includes one hearing (occurring in the House); five markup sessions (all occurring in the House), and no floor action that either will or could touch on one or more of those subjects. And the .White House schedule for the week includes planned meetings on Wednesday and Thursday between President Trump and Mexican President Manuel López Obrador.
The Work Period That Follows
Once Congress has fully returned to Washington, Congress will have a short three week-long period during which it will attempt to accomplish an extraordinary amount of work, including work that is consequential for immigration and refugee policy.
Once Congress has fully returned to Washington, Congress will have a short three week-long period during which it will attempt to accomplish an extraordinary amount of work, including work that is consequential for immigration and refugee policy.
- Regular Appropriations Bills. The full House hopes to take up and pass as many as 11 of the 12 regular appropriations bills for fiscal year 2021, including three of the four bills that appropriate funding for the nation's border security, interior immigration enforcement, immigration services, unaccompanied alien child, refugee resettlement, overseas refugee assistance, human trafficking assistance, and torture victim assistance agencies, programs, functions, an activities.
- National Defense Authorization Bills. The full Senate hopes to complete floor action on the National Defense Authorization Act shortly after it returns to Washington on Monday, July 20, and the full House is expected to take up and pass its version of the measure during the three weeks after it returns to Washington.
- Emergency Funding for USCIS and CBP. Congress is under pressure to find a way to provide supplemental funding to the Department of Homeland Security's U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) components, which have suffered enormous deficits in revenue because of a combination of the Trump Administration's Mr. Trump’s restrictive policies and its halt in providing of many of the fee-driven services they provide.
- COVID-19 Relief Legislation. Negotiations over the next tranche of COVID-19 relief legislation is expected to heat up soon, including negotiations over whether and how that legislation might or might not help immigrants and refugees who are suffering because of the health or economic upheaval that the pandemic has caused..
- Administrative Actions. Skirmishing between the White House, Democrats in Congress, and stakeholders, is expected to intensify in the coming weeks over an increasing number of administrative actions that the Trump Administration has taken on asylum, refugee, border control, and immigration matters that stakeholders and policy makers are fighting in the courts as well as in the public arena.
This Week's House and Senate Floor Activities
With the full House and Senate in recess, no floor action on measures that either contain or could be the targets of immigration-related provisions are scheduled or likely during the week ahead.
With the full House and Senate in recess, no floor action on measures that either contain or could be the targets of immigration-related provisions are scheduled or likely during the week ahead.
This Week's House and Senate Markups
At the time of this writing, the following measures that either contain significant immigration-, refugee-, or human trafficking-related provisions or that could become a target for amendments on those subjects is scheduled for markup in House or Senate committees during the week ahead:
At the time of this writing, the following measures that either contain significant immigration-, refugee-, or human trafficking-related provisions or that could become a target for amendments on those subjects is scheduled for markup in House or Senate committees during the week ahead:
- Subcommittee Markup of FY '21 State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act: The House Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs is scheduled this week to hold a business meeting, during which it will mark up its version of the FY '21 State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Bill. Among its many provisions each year, this measure funds the federal government's refugee admissions- and overseas refugee assistance-related agencies, programs, functions, and activities.
- Subcommittee Markup of FY '21 Homeland Security Appropriations Act: The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security is scheduled this week to hold a business meeting, during which it will mark up its version of the FY '21 Homeland Security Appropriations Bill. Among its many provisions each year, this measure funds the federal government's interior immigration enforcement-, border security-, and immigration services-related agencies, programs, functions, and activities.
- Subcommittee Markup of FY '21 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act: The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies is scheduled this week to hold a business meeting, during which it will mark up its version of the FY '21 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill. Among its many provisions each year, this measure funds the federal government's refugee resettlement, unaccompanied alien children, trafficking victim assistance, and torture victim assistance -related agencies, programs, functions, and activities.
- Subcommittee Markup of FY '21 Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act: The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies is scheduled this week to hold a business meeting, during which it will mark up ts version of the FY '21 Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill. Among its many provisions each year, this measure funds the federal government's immigration court-related agencies, programs, functions, and activities.
- Full Committee Markup of FY '21 State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act: The full House Committee on Appropriations is scheduled this week to hold a business meeting in order to markup its version of the FY '21 State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Bill. Among its many provisions each year, this measure funds the federal government's refugee admissions- and overseas refugee assistance-related agencies, programs, functions, and activities. In addition to marking up that measure, the Committee during the same meeting intends to mark up the FY '21 Agriculture and the FY '21 Military Construction Appropriations bills.
This Week's Hearings and Briefings
- Hearing on Unequal Impacts of COVID-19: The House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Emergency Preparedness, Response and Recovery has scheduled a hearing for this week titled "Pandemic Response: Confronting the Unequal Impacts of COVID-19."
RSS Feed