June 10, 2024 What to expect in Washington (June 10) The House is back on Tuesday, June 11, with votes beginning at 6:30 p.m. on several Small Business Committee bills and, later in the week, planned consideration of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2025 (H.R. 8070). The House last week passed the first of the dozen annual appropriations bills, on Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies (H.R. 8580), on a 209 to 197 vote; and teed up others including those on Department of Homeland Security, State and Foreign Operations Appropriations, Financial Services and General Government Appropriations (FSGGA), and Defense. The Senate is also back in session on Tuesday, with a vote at 5:30 p.m. on a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission nomination. Hearings this week include three on Wednesday, June 12:
Elections — A profile in the Sunday Washington Post said former Trump administration OMB Director Russell Vought is poised to have a strong influence on the agenda should former President Trump be re-elected, following previous reporting about the Project 2025 effort to lay the groundwork for a potential second term. "Vought wrote the chapter on the executive office of the president in Project 2025's 920-page blueprint, and he is developing its playbook for the first 180 days, according to the people involved in the effort," the story said. Further, "He has helped craft proposals for Donald Trump to deploy the military to quash civil unrest, seize more control over the Justice Department and assert the power to withhold congressional appropriations — and that's just on Trump's first day back in office." CNN reported that former President Trump proposed eliminating taxes on tip income during a Sunday campaign event in Nevada. Another Washington Post story, "Republicans pitch tax cuts for corporations, the wealthy in 2025," said former President Trump has warned of a tax increase if President Biden is re-elected, and some Republicans in Congress are trying to mute talk of a corporate tax increase with a case about the incidence of the tax. "The corporate tax rate has a much bigger impact on individuals than it does on businesses," Sen. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), who is in line to chair the tax-writing Senate Finance Committee if Republicans win control of the upper chamber, told The Washington Post. "Let me put it this way: Corporate taxes are paid by workers, by retirees and by consumers, so it has a huge impact on everybody in the United States." The story cited some as saying there is a discussion about proposing a corporate rate of just under 15%, to express opposition to the OECD global tax agreement, and that leading Republican tax-writers in Congress have warmed to that idea. "We want to keep rates as low as we can, ideally lower than 21 percent," said Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.), the No. 2 Republican in the House. Punchbowl News reported last night on interest from the business community in the House Ways & Means Committee tax teams announced in April and Senate Finance Committee tax working groups assembled in May, both of which are comprised entirely of Republicans. The report said, "The 'Global Competitiveness' group led by Rep. Kevin Hern (R-Okla.) had a meeting on Tuesday focused on educating members about international tax laws. Hern is planning to do at least one more educational session in the coming weeks and roundtables with stakeholders through the summer and fall."
| ||||