Greg Walden

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Firm/Organization: McGuireWoods LLP
Blogs: Take Stock: Federal Policy Watch

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Funding the Government On Monday evening, congressional negotiators announced a deal in principle on border security to avert a government shutdown at midnight tomorrow, provided it passes both chambers and the President agrees to sign it into law. The agreement provides $1.375 billion for 55 miles of physical barriers on the southern border, well below the President’s initial $5.7 billion request. The funds are included in a seven-bill omnibus appropriations package that also funds the…
State of the Union Congress convened a joint session on Tuesday evening for the President to deliver his State of the Union address, themed “choosing greatness.” The President focused on five policy areas: immigration, trade, infrastructure, healthcare, and national security. Of note, Trump called on Congress to pass legislation aimed at lowering prescription drug prices and to produce an infrastructure package. The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee is holding its first in a series of…
Government Reopens Last Friday, the President announced that he would sign a three-week continuing resolution to reopen the government through February 15 while a bicameral, bipartisan committee negotiates a homeland security spending package. The House and Senate both passed the bill shortly following the President’s announcement and federal employees returned to work this week. The conference committee convened for the first time yesterday, though it remains to be seen if it will be able to…
Government Shutdown Continues As the government shutdown persists, the Senate will vote this afternoon on dueling amendments to a $12.1 billion House-passed emergency disaster aid bill, though neither is expected to get enough support to move forward. The Republican amendment, dubbed the End the Shutdown and Secure the Border Act, would reopen and fund the departments and agencies currently subject to the shutdown through the end of the fiscal year, fulfill the President’s request for…
House and Senate in Session; Partial Government Shutdown Remains in Effect Both the House and Senate were in session this week as the partial government shutdown remains in effect. Senate Democrats continued to block action on a Middle East policy bill, but a privileged motion offered by Minority Leader Schumer (D-NY) to disapprove the Trump administration’s decision to lift certain Russia sanctions moved forward with bipartisan support. Senate Republicans are attending the conference’s retreat today…
116th Congress Convenes The 116th Congress convened last Thursday afternoon with Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) winning her bid for a second stint as Speaker of the House. Under the new Democratic majority, the House passed a pair of Senate-passed bills to fund through September 30 all departments and agencies closed in the partial shutdown, with the exception of the Department of Homeland Security, which would be funded through February 8. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY)…
Partial Government Shutdown The partial government shutdown entered its 13th day this morning amid the standoff between the President and Congress over his request for $5 billion to build a border wall. As a result, nine departments and dozens of agencies and other entities are largely closed with hundreds of thousands of federal workers furloughed. On Wednesday, bipartisan congressional leaders went to the White House for a border security briefing but did not make any progress towards…
US Capitol and waving american flag
Continuing Resolution The White House and Congress spent the early part of the week negotiating the parameters of an end of year spending package that would avert a partial government shutdown at midnight on Friday. The negotiations focused on the President’s strong desire for $5 billion to build a border wall. On Wednesday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) introduced a clean continuing resolution (CR) extending current funding levels for upwards of seven departments and agencies (among…
End of year spending package With the December 21 deadline looming to fund remaining areas of government for FY19, congressional Democratic leaders traveled to the White House on Tuesday to discuss the parameters of an end of year spending package. In a heated public meeting, the President and Leaders Schumer (D-NY) and Pelosi (D-CA) argued over the President’s request for $5 billion to build a border wall, with Trump claiming he would be “proud” to (partially)…
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…