The  117th    Congress  will  be  remembered  as  quite  impactful—we  provide  a review  of  the  last  two  years  on  Capitol  Hill.  We  also  look  at  the  2-year anniversary of the January 6 attacks on the U.S. Capitol. Inflation continues to cool  while  a  fight  over  the  debt  ceiling  looms.  President  Biden  now  has  a controversy of his own over the handling of classified documents following his tenure as Vice President. A newly enacted provision will make it more difficult to appoint “special envoys.” Biden traveled to the U.S. southern border for the first time as President, then went to Mexico City for the near-annual  “Three Amigos  Summit”. Divided government returns to Washington, and the 118th Congress  starts  its  work,  after  being  delayed  due  to  a contested  Speaker’s race—we  break  it  down  by  the  numbers  and  provide  an  overview  of  the Speaker’s  race,  new  House  rules,  and  newly  elected  Committee  chairs  you need  to  know.  There  were  several  massive  travel  complications  within  the United States in recent weeks that will spur additional scrutiny of the Federal Aviation Administration and the airline industry.

 

117th  Congress in Review

The  117th   Congress  opened  amid  the  crisis  and  carnage  of  January  6th   and closed  with  the  Select  Committee  to  Investigate  the  January  6th    Attack releasing  a  vast  trove  of  evidence  and  issuing  an  unprecedented  criminal referral to the Department of Justice of former President Donald Trump and senior  officials—historic  bookends  for  the  two-year  term.  Between  those events,  the  117th   Congress  will  be  remembered  as  highly  significant,  with Congress  and  President  Biden  getting  much  done  in  an  era  of  intense partisanship through several major legislative achievements.

Demonstrations  of  Bi-Partisanship  –  While Democrats controlled both the House  and  the  Senate,  several  impactful  pieces  of  legislation  passed  with bipartisan support. In November 2021, Congress passed a sweeping $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill to upgrade the nation’s roads, bridges, water systems, and broadband—19  Republican  Senators  and  13  House  members supported  the measure. Congress also passed the CHIPS  and Science Act, authorizing $52 billion for companies building computer chip factories and research facilities in the United States, with significant bipartisan support. The bill also authorized tens of billions of dollars to support federal research and development, as well as   regional  tech  start-ups,  which  the  administration  hopes  will  lead  to commercial  breakthroughs  in  new  fields  such  as  quantum  computing  and artificial intelligence. Congress also approved measures to tighten gun laws (the  first  significant  gun  control  legislation  in  decades),  protect  same-sex marriage,  make  lynching   a   federal   hate   crime,  reform   procedures   for certifying the electoral college vote, and sent tens of billions in military and economic  assistance   to  Ukraine  to  counter  Russian  aggression—all  with bipartisan support.

Democrats Go It Alone – There were also several major legislative victories for Congressional  Democrats  and  the  Biden  Administration  achieved  without Republican  support.  Democrats  twice  used  special,  filibuster-proof  budget rules to adopt broad swaths of their agenda without any GOP votes: in 2021, the American Relief Plan, and in 2022, the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).

A Lasting Impression on the Judiciary – In addition, the 117th  Congress left a lasting impression on the federal judiciary. In his first year, Biden appointed a larger  share  of  the  judiciary  than  all  but  President  Ronald  Reagan.  That confirmation pace slowed in 2022, but Biden successfully appointed 97 judges to the three main tiers of the federal judicial system: the district courts, appeals courts, and the U.S. Supreme Court. Most significantly, the nation’s first female African  American  justice  for  the  United  States  Supreme  Court,  Associate Justice  Ketanji  Brown  Jackson,  was  confirmed  on  April  7,  2022,  with  the support of three Republican Senators.

Two Years After the January 6 Insurrection

January 6, 2023, marked the two-year anniversary of the  insurrection  at the United  States  Capitol  Building.  Washington  marked  this  anniversary  with  a telling split-screen. At the White House, President Biden honored 12 people with  the  Presidential  Citizens  Medal,  one  of  America’s  most  distinguished civilian honors. The  individuals  were  chosen  for  having  made  “exemplary contributions  to  our  democracy”  and  showing  “courage  and  selflessness” around the events of January 6.

Meanwhile,  on  Capitol  Hill,   the  moment  of  silence  to  contemplate  the January  6  assault  drew  mostly  Democrats,  followed  by  brief  remarks  from Democratic  leaders  new  and  incoming—Representatives  Nancy  Pelosi  and Hakeem Jeffries—and none from the Republican leadership. The opening of the 118th  Congress, scheduled for January 3, was delayed due to the inability to elect a Speaker of the House. A fight for Speaker is exceptionally rare in American politics, and this race for the gavel is the most drawn-out since before  the   American   Civil   War.  Divisions   within   the  incoming  House Republican majority were on full display as Representative Kevin McCarthy (R-CA),  who  eventually  secured  the  Speakership  on  January  7  in  the  15th ballot,  faced  stiff  opposition  from  a  segment  of  the  GOP  that  included several  members  accused  of  being  involved  with  the  January  6  protest planning,   brought   baseless   claims   of   election   fraud   about   the   2020 election, or excused the violence of January 6, 2021. Drawing a throughline from  the events of January 6, 2021, to the turmoil  and dysfunction  at the start of the 118th  Congress two years later, Congressman Mike Quigley (D- IL) said, “The stream of continuity here is extremism, elements  of Trumpism, norms  don’t  matter.  It’s  not  about  governing;  it’s  about  pontificating  and advocating an extremist point of view”.

Biden’s Documents Drama

Two  batches  of  classified  records  were  found  in  the  garage  of  President Bidens’ Wilmington, Delaware home, as well as the office he used following his Vice Presidency at the Biden-Penn Center’s Washington, DC offices. Biden said  he  was  surprised  when  he  learned  about  the  discovery,  that  he  didn’t know  what  was  in  the  files,  that  they  were  in  a  locked  closet  and  that  his lawyers immediately turned them over to the National Archives and Records Administration. The documents drama gives Republicans a fresh narrative to use  against  him  and  offers  a  distraction  from  a  separate  investigation  into Donald  Trump’s  documents  scandal.  Merrick   Garland,  America’s   attorney- general,  named  a  special  counsel  to investigate how classified documents from Joe Biden’s tenure as vice-president were left in his private possession.

Inflation Continues to Cool while Debt Ceiling Looms

The Consumer Price Index released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed that inflation eased to 6.5% last month–the lowest reading since October 2021. These most recent numbers help bolster the case for the Federal Reserve to continue a more moderate pace of interest rate increases. When the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) last met in December, it raised rates by 50 basis points, breaking a streak of four consecutive 75 basis point increases. The latest CPI raises expectations that the Fed will reconsider the size and pace of rate hikes going forward. A potential complicating factor is the looming debt ceiling.  On  January  13,  Treasury  Secretary  Janet  Yellen  announced  that  the United  States  would  hit  its  borrowing  limit  on  January  19,  requiring  the Treasury  to  begin  taking  “extraordinary  measures”  to  continue  paying  the government’s  obligations.  Yellen’s  letter  to  Congress  was the first sign that resistance by House Republicans to lifting the borrowing cap could put the U.S. economy at risk and signals the beginning of an intense fight in Washington this  year  over  spending  and  deficits.  Containing  that  fallout  from  a  default would initially be the responsibility of the Federal Reserve.

No More Special Treatment for Special Envoys

A  provision  in  the  FY2022  National  Defense  Authorization  Act  went  into effect on January 3 that requires special envoys reporting to the Secretary of State to be confirmed by the Senate. The  role  of  a special envoy can be  an important  one.  In  past  administrations,  the  State  Department  has  tapped senior diplomats as special envoys and special representatives for dangerous countries  like  North  Korea,  Syria,  Venezuela  and  Iran.  According  to  the American  Foreign  Service  Association,  the  State  Department  now  has  53 special envoys, including ones for the Arctic, Yemen, the Horn of Africa, and other regions or subject matters, such as climate change. The appointment of these individuals was made without the need for Senate confirmation. Now, in accordance  with  Section  5105  of  the  FY22  NDAA,  the  State  Department  is required  to  identify  officials  exercising  “significant  authority  pursuant  to  the laws  of  the United  States,” including special  representatives  and  envoys, and submit them for confirmation by the Senate.

Biden at the Border

President Joe Biden visited the U.S.-Mexico border on January 8 for the first time as president. The trip came following calls from Republicans who believe the trip is overdue. In addition to Republicans, some border-district Democrats in Congress and even Democratic mayors have criticized Biden for failing to address  record  levels  of  border  crossings.  The  president’s  flight  was  met  by Texas Governor Greg Abbott, a strident critic of Biden and his administration for the federal response to migration on the southern border. The Republican governor  hand-delivered  a  letter  to  Biden  outlining  what  he  described  as “chaos” on the border. Migration across the Western Hemisphere has posed an urgent challenge for Biden, who, in his first few months in office, faced a surge of unaccompanied migrant children at the border and, later, the abrupt arrival of thousands of Haitian migrants. Since 2021, there have been more than 2.4 million  arrests  along  the  U.S.-Mexico border,  according  to  US  Customs  and Border Protection data.

Three Amigos Summit

President  Joe  Biden,  Mexico’s  President  Andrés  Manuel  López  Obrador,  and Canadian  Prime  Minister  Justin  Trudeau  met  for  the  near-annual  North American  Leaders’  Summit,  also  known  as  the  “Three  Amigos  Summit,”  in Mexico City in early January. The leaders offered a unified front and sought to downplay   their   frustrations   with   one   another   on   migration   and   trade. Nevertheless, tensions were front and center when Biden and López Obrador met on January 9, with the Mexican president complaining of “abandonment” and “disdain” for Latin America. The broader agenda focused on strengthening crucial  longer-term  cooperation  to  make  the  continent  more  economically competitive and better positioned to confront global challenges. In the joint declaration  closing  the  10th   North  American  Leaders’  Summit,  the  leaders expressed    a    commitment    to    fortify    the    region’s    security,    prosperity, sustainability, and inclusiveness through commitments across several pillars: diversity,   equity,   and   inclusion;   climate   change   and   the   environment; competitiveness; migration  and  development; health; and  regional security. While meeting with Prime Minister Trudeau, Biden also committed to visiting Canada this year. 

Return of Divided Government to Washington

118th  Congress by the Numbers

Now that the House finally has a Speaker, the 118th  Congress can officially get started. Here’s  a brief review of the 2022 midterm vote and a quick sketch  of what the new House and Senate look like.

Turnout  –  The  2022  election  saw  all  435 House  seats  and  thirty-five  Senate seats on the ballot. Some 112 million people voted in the 2022 elections. That equates to a turnout rate of 46.8 percent, which is substantially lower than the 66.6 percent voter turnout in 2020. That drop-off was expected, as turnout in midterm  elections  always  lags  turnout  in  a  presidential  year.  But  the  2022 turnout was also down from 2018, when it hit a modern record of 49.4 percent. In terms of how people voted, 47,019,738  votes  were  cast either by mail (55 percent) or by early in-person voting (45 percent). That equates to 41.9 percent of all votes cast.

Results  –  Republican  candidates  for  the  U.S.  House  picked  up  54.5  million votes, or 50.6 percent of the total. Democratic House candidates picked up 51.5 million votes or 47.8 percent. The remainder of the vote went to third-party candidates. Those votes translated into the Republicans winning 222 House seats and the Democrats winning 213 (Democratic Representative A. Donald McEachin of Virginia died three weeks after Election Day; therefore, Democrats started the Congress with 212 seats). This represented a net gain of ten seats for  Republicans.  The  November  vote  did  not  produce  the  “red  wave”  that House Republicans were expecting.

In the Senate, Democrats picked up one seat, breaking what had been a fifty- fifty   tie.   (Technically,   the   Senate   has   forty-eight   Democrats,   forty-nine Republicans, and three Independents, which caucus with the Democrats.) The Senate began the 118th  Congress with seven new members—two Democrats and  five  Republicans.  The  Senate  will  add  another  new  member  shortly following the resignation of Republican Senator Ben Sasse of Nebraska.

 

Diversity – The 118th  Congress is the most racially and ethnically diverse in U.S. history. It has 133 members who identify as Black, Hispanic, Asian American, American Indian, Alaska Native, or multiracial. The Senate gained its first Native American member in eighteen years when Oklahomans elected Republican Markwayne  Mullin, a member of the Cherokee  Nation. Otherwise, the racial and  ethnic  makeup  of  the  Senate  remained  unchanged,  with  three  Black senators  (two  Democrats  and  one  Republican),  six  Hispanic  senators  (four Democrats  and  two  Republicans),  and  two  Asian-American  senators  (both Democrats).  The  House  has  121  representatives  who  are  people  of  color, including Hakeem Jeffries of New York, who made history as the first African American to be named a party leader when House Democrats selected him as minority leader.

Women in Congress – The 118th  Congress will also have the largest number of women members, where they will hold 149 seats or 27.9 percent of the total. That tops the previous record of 147 seats, which was set by the 117th Congress. Women hold twenty-five seats in the Senate. Fourteen of them are Democrats, nine  are  Republicans,  and  there  is  one  Independent.  In  the  House,  the Democratic  caucus has ninety-one women, and the Republican caucus  has thirty-three women. With Nancy Pelosi’s term as Speaker of the House having ended,  no  woman  is  the  party  leader  in  either  the  House  or  Senate.  The highest-ranking  woman  in  congressional  leadership  is  Katherine  Clark  of Massachusetts, serving as House Democratic whip. Democrat Patty Murray of Washington State is the Senate President Pro Tempore. That makes her third in  the  line  of  presidential  succession.  She  is  the  first  woman  to  hold  the position. This Congress is also the first in which the checkbook of government will be controlled by women, as the Chairs and Ranking Member of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees will all be held by females.

Organizing the 118th  Congress

The fight for the Speaker’s gavel took 15 rounds of voting over four days. When Kevin  McCarthy  finally  emerged  victorious  in  the  early  hours  of  Saturday, January  7,  Washington  had  borne  witness  to  chaos  and  discord  in  the Republican  Conference,  as  well  as  remarkable  unity  within  the  Democratic Conference as House Democrats logged hundreds of votes for Congressman Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) while Republicans split on whether to give McCarthy the gavel. Once the Speaker had been  elected, the House  got  down to the business of organizing  itself, first  through  a rules package  to govern House procedure for the next two years. On January, 9, the House narrowly passed a set of rules, the terms of which were central to closed-door negotiations last week   between   McCarthy   allies   and   detractors.   The   most   controversial provision  included  in  the  rules  is  the  single-member  motion  to  vacate  the chair, which allows one lawmaker to force a vote on ousting the Speaker. The rules  package  also  reinstates  the  “Holman  Rule,”  which  gives  members  the ability to propose amendments for appropriations bills that would decrease the salaries of specific federal workers. The new rules package also directs the Congressional Budget Office to examine the inflationary impact legislation will have, in addition to the budgetary impact. “PAYGO,” the “pay-as-you-go” rule that requires legislation that would increase mandatory spending to be offset with spending cuts or revenue increases, will be replaced with “CUTGO,” a “cut- as-you-go”   variation   first   instituted   by   Republicans   in   2011   that   requires increases to be offset with equal or greater mandatory spending decreases. The incoming Majority has signaled it will scrutinize the Biden family, the Biden administration,  and  large  segment  of  the  private  sector.  The  new  Rules package suggests that the new Republican leadership in the House will make good on its promise to pursue an aggressive oversight agenda, and Section 2(e)  “restores  the  requirement  that  each  standing  committee  (except  the Committees on Appropriations, Ethics, and Rules) vote to adopt an…oversight plan.”

House   Republicans   were   also   able   to   address   several   hotly-contested Committee  chairmanships—Committee  chairs  are  usually  selected  in  the weeks   following   the   election,   but   consideration   for   some   committee leadership posts was delayed as part of the broader battle over the Speaker’s gavel. The most contested Committee Chair race was for the powerful Ways and  Means  Committee, which  went  to Representative  Jason  Smith  (R-MO). Chairman Smith will play a pivotal role in negotiations about raising the federal debt ceiling later this year, as well as the debate about cutting government spending and benefits programs. Congressman Jodey Arrington (R-TX), a self- proclaimed  “far-right  ideological  conservative,”  will  chair  the  House  Budget Committee—Arrington has said Republicans should use an upcoming debt- limit deadline to prompt negotiations on the solvency of major programs such as Social Security and Medicare, setting up a potential conflict with the White House and Democratic-controlled Senate. Representative Virginia Foxx (R-NC) will  head  the  House  Education  and  Workforce  Committee,  circumventing Republican term limit rules. Finally, House Republican leaders on nominated Representative  Mark  Green  (R-TN)  as  chairman  of  the  House  Homeland Security  Committee.  Green,  a  conservative  boarder-security  hawk,  said  he wants  to  restructure  the  Department  of  Homeland  Security  (DHS).  The committee will also ramp up oversight on cybersecurity, federal emergency response, transportation security, and other DHS matters.

In  addition  to  standing  committees,  the  House  authorized  the  creation  of several special and select committees. Lawmakers voted 365-65 to set up the House Select Committee on Strategic Competition between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party. Under the Chairmanship of Congressman Mike Gallagher (R-WI), the panel will assess the myriad military, economic and technological  challenges  posed  by  China.  In  a  party-line  vote,  lawmakers approved the formation of the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the  Federal  Government,  which  will  sit  in  the  House  Judiciary  Committee chaired  by  Congressman  Jim  Jordan  (R-OH).  This  new  subcommittee  is designed to probe the “weaponization” of the federal government, giving the panel  access  to  sensitive  intelligence  and  the  power  to  oversee  ongoing criminal investigations. Finally, the House approved the creation of a special investigative   panel   focused   on   the   coronavirus   pandemic,   the   Select Subcommittee   on   the   Coronavirus   Pandemic.   This   panel   replaces   the Democrat-led  legislative  body  that  had  focused  its  work  on  monitoring emergency coronavirus aid for fraud and will, instead, focus on examining the origins   of   the   pandemic,   including   federal   funding   of   gain-of-function research, as well as the distribution of trillions of dollars in federal assistance, federal COVID-19-related mandates, and the impact of school closures.

House Republicans’ Opening Salvo

In the first full week of the 118th Congress, the Republican-controlled House of Representatives passed several measures that serve as an opening salvo to the Biden  White  House  and  Democratic-controlled  Senate.  One  of  the  new majority’s  first  legislative  moves  was  voting  on  legislation  that  would  cut billions  in  funding  for  the  Internal  Revenue  Service  (IRS)  that  Democrats passed to help crack down on tax cheats.  This focus on the IRS comes after years  of  complaints  from  the  party  that  the  agency  had  unfairly  targeted conservative groups. In the post-Roe v. Wade abortion environment, women’s reproductive rights proved to resonate as an issue during the 2022 campaign. One of the first measures approved by the House of Representatives was the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act, which passed on a vote of 220-210. This legislation could subject doctors who perform abortions to criminal penalties.  The  House  also  approved  a  measure   condemning  attacks  on facilities, groups, and churches that oppose abortion rights. Neither measure has enough votes to pass the Senate. This indicates that the Republican House Majority will be seeking to undercut the policy accomplishments of Democrats over the past two years in the absence of advancing substantive legislation.

Travel Chaos Leads to Congressional Scrutiny

There were several massive travel complications within the United States in recent weeks. As millions of Americans took to the skies over the Christmas holiday, over 30,000 flights were canceled in the last ten days of December. A historic winter storm swept much of the nation over the Christmas holiday, with the powerful Arctic front placing about 60 percent of the U.S. population under some form of winter weather warning or advisory. While every airline was  affected,  and  the  weather  was  partly  to  blame,  one  carrier  stood  out: Southwest, which over the last ten days of the year, canceled as many flights as it had done in the previous ten months.  The storm was the catalyst that started   the   whole   event,   but   the   major   problem   was   that   Southwest’s scheduling  IT  infrastructure  was  outdated  and  couldn’t  handle  the  massive cancellations that had to happen that day when the weather event occurred, leaving   tens   of   thousands   of   frustrated   passengers.   Key   Washington policymakers ranging from Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg to Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA), the chairwoman of the Senate Commerce Committee, are  zeroing  in  on  Southwest’s  archaic  scheduling  system  and  promised  to investigate  the  cause  of  the  meltdown  and  its  impact  on  travelers.  As  the airline  industry sought to return to normal  operations  following the holiday blitz,   a   Federal   Aviation   Administration   (FAA)   system   outage   caused thousands  of  flight  delays  and  cancellations  across  the  United  States  on Wednesday,  January  10.  That  morning,  The  FAA  briefly  halted  all  domestic flight departures across the United States for several hours, resulting in nearly 10,000 flights to, from, and within the United States being delayed and more than  1,300  flights  canceled. The  FAA  outage  sparked  bipartisan  concern  in Congress—the   Administration   is   currently   without   a   permanent   leader, Biden’s nominee for the role has faced criticism, and the agency will be under intense scrutiny this year by Congress when the five-year FAA Reauthorization Act signed in 2018 expires.

“Who’s Who” – Personnel Updates from the Biden Administration

** Appointees requiring Senate confirmation need to have their nomination papers resubmitted at the start of a new Congress **

Department  of  Agriculture  –  Dr.  Jose  Emilio  “Emilio”  Esteban,  PhD, DVM

was confirmed as Under Secretary for Food Safety.

Department   of   Defense   –   Russell   “Russ”   Rumbaugh   was  confirmed  as Assistant  Secretary  of  the  Navy  (Financial  Management  and  Comptroller); Franklin   R.   Parker  was  confirmed  as  Assistant  Secretary  at  Office  of  the Assistant  Secretary  of  the  Navy  (Manpower  and  Reserve  Affairs);  Milancy Danielle  Harris  was  confirmed  as  Deputy  Under  Secretary  of  Defense  for Intelligence and Security. 

Department  of  Housing  and  Urban  Development  –  Dr.  Kimberly  McClain was      confirmed      as      Assistant      Secretary      for      Congressional      and Intergovernmental Relations.

Department   of   State  –  Richard   R.   Verma  was  nominated  to  be  Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources, Brian P. McKeon, resigned. Elizabeth  H.  Richard  was  nominated  for  Coordinator  for  Counterterrorism. Andrew  P.   Miller  is  now  Deputy  Assistant  Secretary  for  Israeli-Palestinian Affairs,   Bureau   of   Near   Eastern   Affairs.   The   following   Ambassadorial nominations were received by the Senate: B. Bix Aliu for Montenegro; Arthur W. Brown for the Republic of Ecuador; Ana A. Escrogima for the Sultanate of Oman;   Kathleen    A.    FitzGibbon   for   Niger;   Robert    William    Forden    for Cambodia; Eric  M.  Garcetti  for the Republic of India; Geeta  Rao  Gupta  was nominated  to  be  Ambassador  at  Large  for  Global  Women’s  Issues;  Eric  W. Kneedler for Rwanda; Yael Lempert for the Kingdom of Jordan; Mark W. Libby for Azerbaijan; Jean  Elizabeth  Manes  for Colombia; Ervin  Jose  Massinga  for Ethiopia; Richard Mills, Jr., for Nigeria; Michael Alan Ratney for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; Elizabeth Rood for Turkmenistan; Karen Sasahara for Kuwait; Stephanie   Syptak-Ramnath   for  Peru;  Dorothy   Camille   Shea   for  Deputy Representative  of  the  United  States  of  America  to  the  United  Nations; Stephanie  Sanders  Sullivan  for  the  African  Union;  Martina  Anna  Tkadlec Strong  for to the United Arab Emirates; and Donna  Ann  Welton  for Timor- Leste.

Department of the Treasury – Ned Shell is Counselor to the Under Secretary at Office of Domestic Finance.

United   States   Trade   Representative   –  Douglas   J.   “Doug”   McKalip   was confirmed  as  Chief  Agricultural  Negotiator.  Victor   D.   Ban   is  now  Special Counsel  at  Office  of  Intergovernmental  Affairs   and  Public  Engagement. Roberto     C.     Soberanis     is    Assistant    U.S.    Trade    Representative    for Intergovernmental Affairs and Public Engagement. 

White  House  –  Subhan  N.  Cheema  is  the  Communications Director in the Office of Science and Technology Policy; Erica  K.  (Knievel) Songer is Counsel to the Vice President and Special Assistant to the President.

Congressional Staff You Need to Know

House  Leadership  –  Speaker  Kevin  McCarthy’s  key aides are Chief of Staff Dan Meyer, Policy Director Brittan G. Specht, Deputy Chief of Staff James Min, and Head of Communications Matt Sparks.  Majority  Leader  Steve  Scalise’s primary  advisors  are  Chief  of  Staff  Brett  Horton,  Communications  Director Lauren Fine, Director of Member Services Bart Reising, Policy Director Francis John Brooke Jr., and Floor Director Ben Napier. Majority  Whip Tom Emmer’s key  personal  are  Chief  of  Staff  Robert  Boland,  Communications  Director Samantha  Bullock,  Policy  Director  Ian  Foley,  and  Floor  Director  David  M. Planning.  Minority  Leader  Hakeem  Jeffries’  senior  aides  are  Chief  of  Staff Tasia Jackson, Executive Director Gideon K. Bragin, Communications Director Christiana   “Christie”   Stephenson,   Policy   Director   Zoë   Oreck,   Director   of Member Services Moh Sharma, and Floor Director Nnemdilim “ND” Ubezonu. Minority   Whip   Kathleen   Clark’s   senior  staff  are  Chief  of  Staff  Brooke  A. Scannell, Communications Director & Senior Advisor Kathryn Alexander, and Director of Whip Operations and Member Services Michael D. Reed.

Senate Leadership – Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s key advisors are Chief of  Staff  Mike  Lynch,  Communications  Director  Alex  Nguyen,  Director  of Economic  Development  Jon  Cardinal,  and  Director  of  Engagement  Cietta Kiandoli.  Majority   Whip   Dick   Durbin’s   senior  staff  are  Chief  of  Staff  Pat Souders,   Communications   Director   Emily   Hampsten,   and   Director   of Operations Sally Brown-Shaklee.  Minority  Leader  Mitch  McConnell’s  senior staff are Chief of Staff Sharon Soderstrom, Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations Stefanie   Muchow,   Deputy   Chief   of   Staff   for   Policy   Scott   Raab,   and Communications Director David M. Popp.  Minority  Whip  John  Thune’s  key advisors Chief of Staff Geoffrey Antell, Communications Director Ryan Wrasse, and General Counsel Cindy Herrle.

Key House Committee Staff – Agriculture Committee majority staff director is Parish Braden, the minority staff director is Anne Simmons. Appropriations Committee  majority staff director is Anne Marie Chotvacs, the minority staff director is Robin Juliano. Armed Services Committee majority staff director is Chris Vieson, the minority staff director is Brian J. Garrett. Education and the Workforce  Committee  majority staff director is Cyrus Artz, the minority staff director  is  Véronique  Pluviose-Fenton.  Energy  and  Commerce  Committee majority  staff  director  is  Nate  Hodson,  the  minority  staff  director  is  Tiffany Guarascio.  Financial   Services   Committee   majority  staff  director  is  Matt Hoffmann, the minority staff director is Charla G. Ouertatani. Foreign  Affairs Committee   majority  staff  director  is  Brendan  Shields,  the  minority  staff director Sophia LaFargue. The  Homeland  Security  Committee  majority staff director  is  Kyle  D.  Klein, the  minority staff  director is  Hope  Goins.  Judiciary Committee majority staff director is Chris Hixon, the minority staff director is Amy  Rutkin.  The  Oversight  and  Accountability  Committee  majority  staff director is Mark Marin, the minority staff director is Julie Tagen. Transportation and   Infrastructure   Committee   majority  staff  director  is  Jack  Ruddy,  the minority  staff  director  is  Kathy  Dedrick.  The  Ways  and  Means  Committee majority  staff  director is  Gary  Andres, the  minority staff  director  is  Brandon Casey.

Key    Senate    Committee    Staff    –    Agriculture,    Nutrition,    and    Forestry Committee majority staff director is Erica Chabot, the minority staff director is Fitz  Elder  IV.  Appropriations   Committee   majority  staff  director  is  Chuck Kieffer,   the   minority   staff   director   is   Bill   Duhnke   III.   Armed    Services Committee majority staff director is Elizabeth King, the minority staff director is John Keast. The Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee majority staff director is Laura Swanson, the minority staff director is Lila Nieves-Lee. The Budget   Committee   majority  staff  director  is  Warren  Scott  Gunnels,  the minority staff director is Nick Myers. Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee  majority  staff  director  is  Lila  Helms,  the  minority  staff  director position is currently vacant. The Energy  and  Natural  Resources  Committee majority  staff  director  is  Renae  Blank,  the  minority  staff  director  is  Richard Russell. Senate Finance Committee majority staff director is Josh Sheinkman, the  minority  staff   director  is   Gregg   Richard.   Senate   Foreign   Relations Committee   majority  staff  director  is  Damian  Murphy,  the  minority  staff director   is   Chris   Socha.   The   Health,    Education,    Labor,    and    Pensions Committee majority staff director is Evan Schatz, the minority staff director is David   Cleary.   Senate    Homeland    Security    and    Governmental    Affairs Committee   majority  staff  director  is  David  Weinberg,  the  minority  staff director is Pam Thiessen. Senate Judiciary Committee majority staff director is Joe Zogby, the minority staff director is Kolan Davis.