Letters from Capitol Hill that Members of Congress have written and signed on to lately.
Wheels up, but ready to work
There is a time-hallowed tradition (typically) once a week on Capitol Hill, when the staffers are (usually) allowed to wear jeans, open-toed shoes, leave their desk for lunch, and the only action on the Floor is pro forma.
Bosses have left town, chiefs are working remotely, LDs are taking three-hour martini lunches - its classic Washington, beloved so much, one-hit-wonder Rebecca Black wrote a song about it.
We’re talking about none other than Friday, but, with a change in leadership in the Senate and aggressive ambition to push Trump’s prospective policy agenda, weekends in the District or back in the home state are waning by the minute.
Particularly for Western Members with 500+ mile travel ranges, votes on Friday and bed-check votes (often) before 7:00 p.m. Mondays are a tight turnaround for a trek home, even if all of the airports in the travel path have an Amex Lounge.
Taking over for Sen. McConnell (R-KY) for the first time in 18 years, new Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) advised Members at the start of the 119th to “Get ready to work.”
As much as we would love and are working to get that on a t-shirt, slightly shuffled by funeral processions for President Carter, week one of the new Session of Congress culminated in a grand total of three votes across the chambers - two of those in the House.
After passage in the House, Senators took a procedural vote on the Upper Chamber version of the Laken Riley Bill, which empowers states with more authority over crimes committed by immigrants or people illegally inside the U.S.
This expanded authority would include the ability for states to sue the federal government on behalf of their own citizens for not enforcing federal border laws.
Largely the same bill, both versions of the legislation require detention of persons in the U.S. illegally who commit theft, mandating Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) immediately take them into custody.
More than 80 Senators voted in favor of a motion to invoke cloture on S. 5. Cloture votes begin the process for advancing consideration on legislation, teeing up two other votes to end debate and then for passage, respectively.
Historically, cloture came to be a part of procedure as a sort of straw poll or signal to preview how Senators will vote in final passage; however, it is not unheard of for Members to vote in favor of cloture then against final passage, even without addition of amendments.
Reflecting incoming President-Trump’s proclaimed priorities for his triumphant return to the White House, the GOP is looking to keep the focus on border politics.
That said, Democrats are increasingly embracing enforcement measures once deemed to be dehumanizing or overly punitive.
While we’re on the totally cool and even-keeled subject of immigration, President Biden granted Temporary Protected Status (TPS) to 600,000 Venezuelans and more than 200,000 Salvadorans in the U.S.
An order coming just 10 days before President-elect Trump is set to be inaugurated into office, the extension enables migrants to remain for another 18 months, with similar protections issued for people from Sudan and Ukraine.
The move preempts any efforts by the incoming Trump administration to manage and potentially end protections for some of those groups.
TPS shields migrants from deportation and allows them to work legally in the U.S.
Expanded under the Biden Administration, Republicans argue TPS is granted too liberally to too many foreigners, incentivizing persons to come to the U.S. illegally.
While the ‘d’ word - deportation - was not explicitly mentioned, for his first act in his second act as President, Trump told reporters his first order of business would be a mandate for finishing the unbuilt areas of the border wall, and “closing the border.”
“It’s going to be closed, and we’re going to have to take people out that are criminals,” Trump said.
Should a mass deportation of workers living in the U.S. illegally occur under Trump 2.0, it could cause a cataclysmic shift in U.S. agriculture, with farmers already facing a severe labor shortage and increasingly struggling to stay in the black.
Of course, as an alternative to human workers, these shortages and labor crunches continue to drive demand for advanced automation, particularly for farming operations, like with AI-driven robots, Internet of Things (IoT) sensors, and satellite-based imagery analytics.
Immigration adjacent, on Thursday, the House also voted to pass H.R. 23, the bipartisan Illegitimate Court Counteraction (ICC) Act, which would impose sanctions on the Court or any foreign actor who supports their effort to arrest, detain, or prosecute protected persons of the U.S. and its allies.
For some context on its perceived authority, last November, the ICC issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for alleged war crimes.
If you're not at Union Pub, don't. RIP Cap Lounge.
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NEXT WEEK | House Schedule
On Monday, the House will meet at noon for morning hour and 2:00 p.m. for legislative business. Votes will be postponed until 6:30 p.m.
Legislation Considered Under Suspension of the Rules:
H.R. 192 – Amtrak Executive Bonus Disclosure Act (Sponsored by Rep. Rouzer / Transportation and Infrastructure Committee)
H.R. 188 – Amtrak Transparency and Accountability for Passengers and Taxpayers Act (Sponsored by Rep. Nehls / Transportation and Infrastructure Committee)
H.R. 152 – Federal Disaster Assistance Coordination Act (Sponsored by Rep. Ezell / Transportation and Infrastructure Committee)
H.R. 153 – Post-Disaster Assistance Online Accountability Act (Sponsored by Rep. Ezell / Transportation and Infrastructure Committee)
H.R. 164 – POWER Act of 2025 (Sponsored by Rep. Hoyle / Transportation and Infrastructure Committee)
H.R. 144 – Tennessee Valley Authority Salary Transparency Act (Sponsored by Rep. Cohen / Transportation and Infrastructure Committee)
H.R. 189 – Securities and Exchange Commission Real Estate Leasing Authority Revocation Act (Sponsored by Del. Norton / Transportation and Infrastructure Committee)
On Tuesday and Wednesday, the House will meet at 10:00 a.m. for morning hour and noon for legislative business. On Thursday, the House will meet at 9:00 a.m. for legislative business. Last votes expected no later than 3:00 p.m.
Legislation Considered Pursuant to a Rule:
H.R. 28 – Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act of 2025 (Sponsored by Rep. Steube / Education and Workforce Committee)
H.R. 33 – United States-Taiwan Expedited Double-Tax Relief Act (Rep. Smith (MO) / Ways and Means Committee)
H.R. 30 – Preventing Violence Against Women by Illegal Aliens Act (Rep. Mace / Judiciary Committee)
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Jan. 09 | Crockett, Congressmen Call for SCOTUS Recusal
Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett (TX-30) and Congressman Hank Johnson (GA-4) sent a letter to Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito calling on him to recuse himself from the case Donald J. Trump v. New York due to Alito's One-on-one phone call with the President-elect on Tuesday, January 7, 2025 - one day before Trump's attorneys submitted a request to the Supreme Court for a stay in Trump's hush money sentencing hearing.
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Jan. 09 | Congressional Opposition to ICC
Congresswoman Shontel Brown (OH-11) signed a letter led by Rep. Eugene Vindman (VA-7) and Rep. Brad Schneider (IL-10) to the President of the Assembly of States Parties to the International Criminal Court expressing opposition to the arrest warrants issued against Israeli leadership.
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Jan. 09 | Congress Says ‘No’ to Clinical Trial Data for China
Chairman John Moolenaar (R-MI), Ranking Member Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL), and Rep. Neal Dunn (R-FL) of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party wrote to Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, urging the Department to update its regulations to require a license prior to engaging with a Chinese military hospital for clinical trials.
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Jan. 08 | Sketched Out Senators Send Letter on IRS Nom
U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), a member of the Senate Finance Committee, sent a letter to Billy Long, President-elect Trump’s nominee for Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Commissioner, detailing her concerns with Long’s qualifications and requesting answers to his involvement in potential abuse of the Employee Retention Tax Credit (ERTC).
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