HOUSE
Repeal of Health Law, Cuts to Social Security
A yes vote was to expedite passage of a bill to repeal portions of the Affordable Care Act.
Voting 227 for and 198 against, the House on Jan. 13 adopted a budget blueprint for fiscal 2017 (S Con Res 3) that would set the table for later congressional passage of bills to repeal the tax and spending portions of the Affordable Care Act, defund Planned Parenthood and weigh possible cuts to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. Because the Senate had already adopted the resolution, this vote put it into effect. Congressional budget resolutions do not require a presidential signature.
Deregulation of Derivatives Market
A yes vote was to send the Senate a bill that would reauthorize the CFTC for five years with weakened regulatory authority.
Voting 239 for and 182 against, the House on Jan. 12 passed a bill (HR 238) that would trim the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s power to regulate the derivatives market under the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial-regulation law. An independent agency, the CFTC oversees derivatives trading as well as futures trading in farm commodities, oil and natural gas. In 2010, the agency began the first federal regulation of the then-$700 trillion derivatives market, whose collapse in 2008 helped crash the U.S. and global economies. In part, this bill would subject proposed CFTC rules to time-consuming cost-benefit analyses and impede the regulation of overseas derivatives trading by subsidiaries of U.S. financial institutions.
Repeal of Health Law, Cuts to Social Security
A yes vote was to expedite passage of a bill to repeal portions of the Affordable Care Act.
Voting 227 for and 198 against, the House on Jan. 13 adopted a budget blueprint for fiscal 2017 (S Con Res 3) that would set the table for later congressional passage of bills to repeal the tax and spending portions of the Affordable Care Act, defund Planned Parenthood and weigh possible cuts to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. Because the Senate had already adopted the resolution, this vote put it into effect. Congressional budget resolutions do not require a presidential signature.
Rules for Black Lung, Workplace Safety
A yes vote was to adopt the Democratic-sponsored amendment.
Voting 195 for and 227 against, the House on Jan. 11 refused to exempt from HR 5 (above) any major new rules issued under the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act or Occupational Safety and Health Act to protect workers against irreversible lung diseases, cancer or physical injuries.
SENATE
James Mattis, Secretary of Defense
A yes vote was to confirm Mattis to head the Department of Defense.
The Senate on Jan. 20 voted, 98 for and one against, to confirm retired Marine Gen. James N. Mattis, 66, as the 26th secretary of defense since the office was established in 1947. When Mattis retired from active duty in 2013, he was commander of the U.S. Central Command, which is directs American military operations in the Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia. Mattis became the first member of President Donald Trump’s cabinet to receive confirmation. The negative vote was cast by Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y.
John Kelly, Homeland Security Secretary
A yes vote was to confirm Kelly to head the Department of Homeland Security.
The Senate on Jan. 20 voted, 88 for and 11 against, to confirm retired Marine Gen. John F. Kelly as the fifth secretary of homeland security since the department was established in 2002. Kelly, 66, was commander of the U.S. Southern Command (spanning South and Central America and most of the Caribbean) when he retired in January 2016. He is the highest ranking military official to have lost a child in Iraq or Afghanistan; his son, Marine 1st Lt. Robert Kelly, died in combat in Afghanistan in November 2010.
First Step in Health-Law Repeal
A yes vote was to set the stage for repealing the Affordable Care Act.
The Senate on Jan. 12 voted, 51 for and 48 against, to clear the way for expected passage as early as next month of a bill that would start the demise of the Affordable Care Act. This vote adopted a budget framework (S Con Res 3) allowing the Senate to repeal the ACA’s tax and spending provisions (including its Medicaid expansion) by a simple majority vote. But measures to repeal non-budgetary features of Obamacare — such as its ban on coverage denials based on pre-existing conditions — will remain vulnerable to Democratic-led filibusters, complicating the “repeal and replace” two-step promised by the Republican majority and President-elect Donald Trump.
Cuts to Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid
A yes vote was in opposition to the GOP’s planned restructuring of Social Security and Medicare.
On a 49-49 tie vote, senators on Jan. 10 turned back an amendment to S Con Res 3 (above) by which the Senate would formally embrace President-elect Trump’s campaign statements that he would not cut Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid. The amendment also sought to put the Senate on record as opposing any repeal in the Affordable Care Act that would cause 30 million individuals to lose health insurance or raise the cost of prescription drugs for seniors.
