This Week In Washington, January 9, 2014

This Week In Washington

Top 5 Stories

1.    House action on a bill funding the government for the rest of the fiscal year is appearing less likely this week, but appropriators on both sides of the Capitol remain optimistic that an omnibus package can be approved before the current continuing resolution expires next Wednesday.

Look ahead: Senate Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Barbara Mikulski said that while six bills are virtually complete, a final omnibus bill is unlikely before the weekend.

2    2.     Senate Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow expressed optimism about the farm bill, saying this week negotiators are "just tying up loose ends."

Look ahead: Major differences remain ahead of a scheduled meeting of farm-bill conferees, with Sen. John Hoeven suggesting a number of amendment votes will be necessary before final passage.

      3.     President Obama is expected to shift his focus toward income inequality during his second term, outlining his plans during the upcoming State of the Union address.

Look ahead: The president will announce five "promise zones" in which the administration will use federal funds to aid community initiatives.

             4.  The president is meeting Thursday with leaders of the House and Senate intelligence committees—and with a trio of congressional critics of the National Security Agency—to discuss the agency's surveillance programs.

Look ahead: The president is expected to increase oversight of the National Intelligence Priorities Framework and restrict the NSA's access to Americans' phone records, according to sources.

       5.     Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, is "cautiously optimistic" members can craft a compromise agreement to fund the temporary extension of unemployment benefits proposed by Sens. Jack Reed and Dean Heller.

Look ahead: The bill is expected to clear a procedural hurdle, but Republicans will stop the measure cold during the next cloture vote if Reid does not allow an open amendment process.

The Top 5 Stories in Washington DC, Dec 19th

This Week In Washington

Top 5 Stories

1.      The Senate passed the bipartisan budget agreement on a 64-36 vote with nine Republicans joining Democrats in support of the bill.

Look ahead: Senate Appropriations Chairwoman Barbara Mikulski; her House counterpart, Rep. Harold Rogers; and their subcommittee chairs have already begun discussions and will be working through the holidays to craft a 12-bill omnibus package Congress will address when lawmakers return in January.

2.      The Senate voted 71-29 to invoke cloture on the National Defense Authorization Act, placing the measure on track for a vote.

Look ahead: The measure is expected to pass the Senate and head to President Obama for signature.

3.      US District Judge Richard Leon, a veteran of controversial cases involving the government, ruled this week the National Security Agency's compiling of Americans' phone records is likely unconstitutional.

Look ahead: Leon stayed his own opinion to allow the administration to appeal.

4.      President Obama plans to nominate Senator Max Baucus, who is retiring next year after six terms in the Senate, to serve as U.S. ambassador to China.

Look ahead: Baucus appears to have a clear path to confirmation, and his departure could trigger a domino effect on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

5.      Reps. Jim Matheson, D-Utah, Frank Wolf, R-Va., and Tom Latham, R-Iowa, all announced plans to retire following the 113th Congress.

Look ahead: The trio of retirements could present pickup opportunities for the opposing parties.

This Week In Washington, Dec 12th

This Week In Washington

Top 5 Stories This Week

1.      The budget agreement reached by House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan and Senate Budget Chairwoman Patty Murray includes a $63B spending increase for 2014 and 2015, but offsets these gains with $85B in deficit reductions over the next decade, a move that could make it palatable to conservatives.

Look ahead: The House is expected to pass the deal, and Senate Republicans say it is likely to pass the upper chamber, as well.

2.      Leaders of the House and Senate Armed Services Committees announced a compromise bill that includes some changes to the handling of sexual assault, but falls short of the amendment offered by Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand.

Look ahead: The House could vote as early as Thursday on the bill, but it could instead occur Friday.

3.      The Senate confirmed Patricia Millett to serve on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, and later confirmed Rep. Mel Watt, D-N.C., as director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency. The body confirmed Cornelia Pillard for the D.C. Circuit early Thursday morning.

Look ahead: Majority Leader Harry Reid, threatened to hold the Senate through the weekend to confirm the remaining presidential nominees.

4.      The Federal Reserve, SEC, FDIC, CFTC, and OCC adopted the Volcker Rule, a critical provision of the Dodd-Frank financial-reform law that aims to seeks to reduce risk-taking among banks.

Look ahead: Banks have until July 21, 2015 to come into compliance with its regulations.

5.      House and Senate negotiators conceded a final farm bill will not be ready this year, but expressed optimism agreement could be reached next month.

Look ahead: House Agriculture Committee Chairman Frank Lucas filed a short-term extension of the legislation through the end of January.

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THE MEYERS GROUP ANNOUNCES NEWEST PRINCIPAL

Healthcare Practice Continues to Grow

Washington, DC - George Meyers, founder and managing partner of the Meyers Group, announced today that the firm has added John Mize to its team of principles. Mr. Mize will work with clients to develop and execute their business strategy relating to the federal healthcare sector.

 “John’s decade of business development experience in the healthcare sector will be a true value to our clients,” Mr. Meyers said. “He has significantly increased the revenue of every company he has worked for, which I saw firsthand while working with John at Cassidy & Associates.  As we enter into a new healthcare era with the passage and enactment of the Affordable Care Act, our clients can be confident that their federal business will continue to thrive and grow.”

Mr. Mize has experience in comprehensive biological sample management and has led teams developing federal divisions for two healthcare providers.  He helped a client create their Federal division that grew from approximately $400,000 in annual sales to over $6 million within three years.  

Mr. Mize’s career has led him both inside and outside of the Washington beltway – giving him a unique perspective of the industry.  His experiences includes working as the business development manager at biotech firms like BioStorage Technologies Inc., and Healthsense Incorporated in the mid-west, as well as NovaSom Incporporated and Cassidy & Associates, in the Washington, D.C. area.

Mr. Mize is a graduate of the University of Oregon. As a parent of a daughter with autism spectrum, he is very active in the Autism community.

###

PRESS CONTACT: KAITLIN BULAVINETZ

kbulavinetz@gmeyers.com 

410.802.5030

This Week In Washington, Nov 27

This Week In Washington

Top 5 Stories This Week

1.     During negotiations in Geneva, the P5+1 nations and Iran reached an interim agreement to curb the Islamic republic's nuclear program in exchange for relief from international sanctions.

Look ahead: The historic shift in U.S.-Iranian relations, punctuated by the signing Saturday of a six-month, nuclear-freeze deal both Israel and Saudi Arabia had loudly opposed, could potentially transform the entire region.

   2.     Following the Senate's failure to advance the National Defense Authorization Act this week, the House and Senate Armed Services Committees are pushing for passage before the end of the year.

Look ahead:  If senators fail to reach an agreement, Armed Services Committee members in both chambers are considering using a legislative maneuver that would skip passage of the legislation in the Senate and instead go to a conference committee.

   3.      The Obama administration will delay small-business enrollment under the Affordable Care Act for one year.

Look ahead: With the administration's deadline to fix the Obamacare website less than a week away, one question is bound to weigh heavily on the debate over the system: How well does it have to operate to be considered "fixed"?

    4.      The Treasury Department proposed new regulations on the political activity of tax-exempt groups; the guidance is designed to create clear enforcement parameters for the IRS.

Look ahead: The regulations on political activity are subject to additional deliberations and a public-comment period, and are unlikely to be finalized before the 2014 elections.

    5.      The Supreme Court has agreed to hear two private companies' challenges to the Affordable Care Act's contraception mandate.

Look ahead: The Court is expected to hear the cases in March and issue decisions by June.

Happy Thanksgiving.

5 Top Stories in Washington DC Nov 22

This Week In Washington

Top 5 Stories

 1.      The Senate approved a rules change that eliminates the filibuster on all presidential nominees except those to the Supreme Court, after Majority Leader Harry Reid invoked the "nuclear option."

Look ahead: The new system could ease the way for President Obama's nominees, but Republicans warned that Democrats could regret the change when the GOP regains control of the White House and Senate.

 2      House Republicans are mounting a messaging campaign designed to wage a cascading series of attacks on the Affordable Care Act.

Look ahead: A memo distributed to members this week outlines the strategy, which involves soliciting comments from individuals affected by the health care law.

3.      While some observers are cautiously optimistic Senate Budget Chairwoman Patty Murray, D-Wash., and House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis., could reach a narrow agreement to replace some of the sequester cuts, but others remain at odds over the appropriate strategy.

Look ahead: With few signs of progress emerging from the budget conference committee's negotiations, at least two of its members, Sens. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., and Ron Johnson, R-Wis., have already begun discussing a Plan B.

4.      Senate Republicans blocked a vote on amendments to the defense authorization bill that addressed military sexual assault, citing Majority Leader Harry Reid's apparent unwillingness to allow debate on GOP amendments.

Look ahead: A proposal from Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., that would remove military sexual assault cases from the military chain of command has the backing of 53 senators, but lacks the requisite 60 votes.

5.      Secretary of State John Kerry announced the United States and Afghanistan have agreed to terms for the Bilateral Security Agreement governing relations between the countries after 2014.

Look ahead: Afghan President Hamid Karzai endorsed the pact before a gathering of elders, but sought to defer signing it, leaving his successor to formalize the agreement following the April elections.

Top 5 Stories in Washington DC, Nov 15th

This Week In Washington

Top 5 Stories

 1.  President Obama acknowledged the rollout of the Affordable Care Act "has been rough," and extended the law's grandfather clause to allow insurers to continue enrolling consumers through 2014 in plans that do not meet the law's requirements.

Look ahead: House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said House Democrats have their own plan to resolve the insurance cancellations triggered by the health care law.

2     2.  The Health and Human Services Department released the long-awaited enrollment numbers for the Affordable Care Act, revealing 106,185 people have selected a plan using the exchanges.

Look ahead: Government and contract workers report HealthCare.gov can handle only half its projected volume, and technical issues may not be resolved by the Nov. 30 deadline set by the administration.

3        3.  The budget conference committee remains far from a deal, with House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan and Senate Budget Committee Chairwoman Patty Murray negotiating on behalf of their respective parties.

Look ahead: Ryan conceded the panel—which will not convene again until after Thanksgiving—may miss the Dec. 13 deadline for an agreement.

4       4.  The Obama administration is urging the Senate to hold off on strengthening sanctions against Iran, with Secretary of State John Kerry telling the Banking Committee on Wednesday the move could jeopardize negotiations.

Look ahead: A faction of Armed Services Committee members is pushing the Banking Committee to lead the charge on sanctions, in order to avoid attaching the controversial measure to the defense-authorization bill.

5    5.      The Senate on weighed the nomination of Janet Yellen to lead the Federal Reserve; the Fed vice chairwoman told lawmakers that while the economy has made "good progress" since the recession, the central bank's quantitative easing measures should continue.

Look ahead: If confirmed by the Senate as expected, Yellen will arguably be the most powerful woman in Washington.

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