Wednesday, the President, Vice President, former Presidents and Vice Presidents, members of Congress, and other US and foreign dignitaries attended a state funeral honoring the late President George H.W. Bush at the National Cathedral in Washington. The federal government and the stock market also closed to mark the national day of mourning.
As the nation paused this week to remember President Bush, Congress took steps to extend the December 7 deadline to address the remaining four areas of FY19 appropriations, including Transportation-Housing and Urban Development (THUD) and Commerce-Science-Justice (CJS). Earlier this week, with support from the President and Senate leaders, House appropriators rolled out a bill to extend funding through December 21. Congress passed the measure earlier today, which heads to the President for his signature before current authorities expire tomorrow.
In the meantime, the Senate voted on Wednesday to end debate on Bernard McNamee’s nomination to be a member of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). The upper chamber confirmed McNamee early Thursday afternoon. Lawmakers also voted Thursday on Kathleen Kraninger’s nomination to be director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).
Incoming congressional committee leaders are making key staff appointments for the 116th Congress. John Keast, a former top aide to incoming Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Roger Wicker (R-MS), will return to Capitol Hill to serve as the Committee’s Staff Director. On Thursday, incoming House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Ranking Member Sam Graves (R-MO) announced his Chief of Staff Paul Sass will serve as Republican Staff Director.
The White House hosted a number of senior executives from leading technology companies to discuss U.S. leadership within emerging technology sectors such as artificial intelligence (AI) and 5G. White House Deputy Chief of Staff Chris Liddell, Deputy U.S. Chief Technology Officer Michael Kratsios, and presidential advisors Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump will represent the Administration during the discussion alongside White House Economic Adviser Larry Kudlow and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer. Google CEO Sundar Pichai, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, and IBM CEO Ginni Rometty are among the industry leaders scheduled to attend Thursday’s meeting.