April 19, 2023
NWC News Alert
NWC members,
Please see several updates below on the latest developments in efforts to overturn the new “Waters of the U.S.” definition and to address the debt ceiling. Additionally, I want to flag recent accounts that announce the passing of former House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Bud Shuster of Pennsylvania. As a born and bred Pennsylvania girl, everyone knew the name of Rep. Shuster. He was a force to be reckoned with both in Pennsylvania and in Congress and fought valiantly for transportation and infrastructure dollars.
As always, if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to me.
Julie
WOTUS VETO OVERRIDE FALLS SHORT IN HOUSE
On April 18, the House of Representatives fell short in votes to override President Biden’s veto on the new “Waters of the U.S.” (WOTUS) definition in the Clean Water Act (CWA) by a vote of 227-196. Ten House Democrats voted with the Republicans to overturn the veto—Reps. Sanford D. Bishop Jr. (D-Ga.), Jim Costa (D-Calif.), Angie Craig (D-Minn.), Henry Cuellar (D-Texas), Don Davis (D-N.C.), Jared Golden (D-Maine), Vicente Gonzalez (D-Texas), Susie Lee (D-Nev.), Jimmy Panetta (D-Calif.), and David Scott (D-Ga.). The new WOTUS definition was finalized at the end of last year and went into effect last month. Earlier in the month, both the House and Senate successfully passed a Congressional Review Act measure that would overturn the new rule. Shortly afterwards, President Biden vetoed the package, sending it back to Congress. Under veto rules, the chambers must successfully (re)pass the measure with a 2/3rds vote margin. While the veto vote failed, the new WOTUS definition faces significant legal challenges. Currently, 26 states have a temporary injunction against the 2023 rule and follow the 1986 regulations. Concurrently, the Supreme Court is deliberating a related case, Sackett v. EPA, on the scope of jurisdiction in the CWA, which may impact the new rule. This case is expected to be decided by early summer.
REPUBLICANS RELEASE MEASURE TO EXTEND DEBT CEILING
On April 19, House Republicans introduced a measure to raise the debt ceiling by $1.5 trillion until March 31, 2024. The yet-to-be numbered bill, the Limit, Save, Grow Act of 2023, contains a number of Republican priorities including a repeal of certain clean energy credits included in the Inflation Reduction Act and Covid-19 funds. Additionally, the bill would limit discretionary spending levels in appropriations bills to FY2022 levels, which is $130 billion below FY2023. While the bill is dead on arrival with the White House and Congressional Democrats who want a clean debt limit increase, House leadership plans to hold a House vote next week. At this point, it is uncertain whether leadership has the 218 votes needed to pass the package with their tight 222-213 majority. That means that House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) can only afford to lose 4 votes and still pass the bill. McCarthy has indicated that if this bill passes, he plans to use the language as a starting point for negotiations. To date, neither McCarthy nor President Biden have met to discuss the debt ceiling. President Biden has requested that Republicans release a 10-year budget with proposed cuts which could serve as a basis for negotiations. However, with the narrow margin in the House, there is significant disagreement on the scope of a 10-year budget proposal. What is the debt ceiling? It is the total amount of money that the U.S. government is authorized to borrow to meet its existing legal obligations, which include social security and Medicare benefits, military salaries, interest on national debt and more. While we have already hit our debt ceiling, the US treasury is using what they call “extraordinary measures” to keep from defaulting, but they can’t do this forever. According to Goldmans Sachs Group Inc, the federal government could run out of money as early as this June. U.S Treasury is expected to give an update “soon,” based on recent tax receipts, on when they estimate the U.S. could default on its $31.4 billion debt ceiling.
