Senate Democratic leadership has announced who will be serving on the conference committee to iron out differences in the House and Senate versions of the stimulus bill. Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont. Appropriations Committee Chairman Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii Finance Committee Ranking Member Charles Grassley, R-Iowa Appropriations Committee Ranking Member Thad Cochran, R-Miss. Both Finance and Appropriations were heavily involved in the creation of the Senate version, with each committee holding markups on their portions. And for the House: Appropriations Committee Chairman Dave Obey, D-Wis. Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel, D-N.Y. Energy and…
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The Senate approved its $838 billion stimulus bill by a vote of 61-37 at 12:45 p.m. Tuesday. Three Republicans voted for HR 1: Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe of Maine and Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania. Check Federal Times shortly for a full story about the bill, as well as a breakdown of spending projects allocated for federal agencies.
The Senate voted 61-36 Monday to invoke cloture on the Collins-Nelson amendment, setting up a vote Tuesday on the full $827 billion stimulus package. The cloture vote ends debate on the Collins-Nelson amendment, a compromise amendment that cut more than $120 billion from the stimulus package to ensure enough Republican votes for passage. The Monday cloture vote is a strong indicator of what Tuesday’s vote will look like. Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said the Senate will likely vote on the stimulus at noon Tuesday and will then vote on presidential nominees later in the afternoon. After Tuesday’s vote, the…
Rep. Stephen Lynch, D-Mass., has been named the new chairman of the House Subcommittee on the Federal Workforce, Postal Service and the District of Columbia. Lynch replaces Rep. Danny Davis, D-Ill., as chairman of the subcommittee, part of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. Rep. Jason, Chaffetz, R-Utah, has been named the subcommittee’s ranking member.
The Senate, in what feels like its 7,000 hour of voting on amendments to the stimulus bill, just approved requiring competitive bidding for federal contracts. The amendment, introduced by Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., passed 97-0 Friday afternoon, a monumental show of support from both Republicans and Democrats who have been concerned about oversight of the stimulus. The amendment to the Senate version of the bill will require “all contracts, grants and cooperative agreements awarded under this act to be competitively bid.” Sen. Mike Johanns, R-Neb., said such an amendment is critical to ensuring money is responsibly spent. The temptation to…
Rep. Edolphus Towns, House Oversight and Government Reform Committee chairman, is calling on the Treasury Department to implement accountability and transparency recommendations. In a letter to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner Thursday, Towns, D-N.Y., asked him to listen to the recommendations of Neil Barofsky, the special inspector general for the Troubled Asset Relief Program. Barofsky testified before the committee Wednesday, recommending that all TARP agreements include requirements that receipients of federal dollars must provide Barofsky and other oversight authorities information on how the money has been spent. He also urged creation of internal controls and clarifying compliance with TARP rules. He…
The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee unexpectedly canceled Thursday’s confirmation vote for Labor secretary nominee Rep. Hilda Solis, D-Calif. The committee had been scheduled to vote on Solis at 2 p.m., but media and spectators arrived to find a committee staffer taping up signs saying that the hearing had been postponed indefinitely. Chairman Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., and ranking member Michael Enzi, R-Wyo., issued a joint statement saying the hearing will be scheduled at at later date. Today’s executive session was postponed to allow members additional time to review the documentation submitted in support of Rep. Solis’ nomination to…
If you don’t yet have your digital converter box, your TV won’t go black on Feb. 17. The House voted 264-158 Wednesday to delay the switch from analog to digital television transmission until June 12. The Senate has already passed the bill, and President Barack Obama is expected to sign it shortly. The bill was delayed to provide time for more seniors and low-income people to acquire coupons to buy digital converter boxes, necessary for analog televisions to pick up signals with without cable. The Federal Communications Commissions has pushed hard to let people know of the impending transition, including…
The FERS Redeposit Act is getting a second life. Three representatives reintroduced the bill, HR, 828, Tuesday, which would allow federal employees returning to the federal workforce from the private sector to reinvest their full federal retirement annuity without losing any credit for previous years of service. The bill, first introduced in 2007, died in the House Subcommittee on the Federal Workforce, Postal Service and the District of Columbia. The bill was introduced by Reps. James Moran, D-Va., Frank Wolf, R-Va., and Gerald Connolly, D-Va. It’s been referred to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and will likely…
House Republicans yesterday unveiled a list of spending items in the stimulus bill that they called wasteful. One item in particular jumped out at me: “$75 million for salaries of employees at the FBI.” Gregg Carlstrom last week highlighted Republican reluctance to pay for new cars for federal employees, but Republicans have also criticized many more line items affecting feds. Even though the construction industry is facing its own hardships in the economy, the GOP feels that building, renovating or repairing facilities at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institutes of Health, Homeland Security Department, State Department and Public…