115th United States Congress

[Andalusian girls]

as i'm tired of our basic Trump or presidential election taxonomy to cover every aspect of American politics. to stats !

Senate:
52 Republicans, 46 Democrats, 2 independents (who caucus with Dems)

Majority Leader: Mitch McConnell
Assistant Majority Leader: John Cornyn

Minority Leader: Chuck Schumer
Minority Whip: Dick Durbin

House:
241 Republicans, 194 Democrats (+ 6 non-voting members from the territories)

Speaker: Paul Ryan
Majority Leader: Kevin McCarthy

Minority Leader: Nancy Pelosi
Assistant Minority Leader: Jim Clyburn

representation in both chambers remains stagnant for the ladies at 19%, but there are record numbers of Hispanic, black, and Asian representatives combining for 19% themselves. that in a society that is, of course, 50% female and 37% minority.

[Andalusian girls]

a handful of items of note from the past couple days-

Congress passes waiver for Mattis to serve as Defense Secretary ensuring a successful confirmation.

McCain to introduce five-year spending outline focused on ramping up defense expenditures from $610 billion in 2017 to $700 billion in 2018 to $800 billion in 2022.

a few dozen Democratic representatives state they will boycott the inauguration of a president they view as illegitimate.

Senate Intelligence Committee vows to investigate possible links between Russia and the president-elect.

[Ragnus]

1: I'm still disappointed in the Democrats for having Pelosi keep her job. They need to instill a feeling of change and having her there still completely subverts that.

2: I honestly don't know how the Dems protesting Trump's inauguration is going to go over. It still screams of sour grapes that will play right into Trump's game plan. It's easy to attack the minority opposition when they're literally making it clear that they're not willing to work with you from the start.

3: Just a personal note: This story actually made me realize the fact that Congress is a completely nationalized body when you're a member. There's no more voting in the interest of your state when there's a party line you're expected to keep.

http://www.vox.com/policy-and-politi...nate-democrats

[Athas]

It's easy to attack the minority opposition when they're literally making it clear that they're not willing to work with you from the start.

Easy to do but if the last several years are any indication, no one seems to care.

[Kincard]

the state department's shitty digital infrastructure didnt matter before this election either

[myreality]

https://www.theguardian.com/environm...-federal-lease

Though recreation on federal lands creates $646bn in economic stimulus and 6.1m jobs, Republicans are setting in motion a giveaway of Americans’ birthright

In the midst of highly publicized steps to dismantle insurance coverage for 32 million people and defund women’s healthcare facilities, Republican lawmakers have quietly laid the foundation to give away Americans’ birthright: 640m acres of national land. In a single line of changes to the rules for the House of Representatives, Republicans have overwritten the value of federal lands, easing the path to disposing of federal property even if doing so loses money for the government and provides no demonstrable compensation to American citizens.

At stake are areas managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), National Forests and Federal Wildlife Refuges, which contribute to an estimated $646bn each year in economic stimulus from recreation on federal lands and 6.1m jobs. Transferring these lands to the states, critics fear, could decimate those numbers by eliminating mixed-use requirements, limiting public access and turning over large portions for energy or property development.

The republicans seem bent on destruction, they have been holding this in for many years and just releasing it all at once.

[Kachiko]

Easy to do but if the last several years are any indication, no one seems to care.

Arguably, people did care as they kept on voting in the party that was fighting against what they felt was a Democratic agenda not aligned with the rest of the country. People love Obama, which is all fine, but every election, since 2010, people have been voting out the other Democrats until they are in the situation they are in now. Doing stupid shit like boycotting our peaceful transition of government, and not recognizing the incoming president as legitimate, which was a "horrific thought" if Donald Trump and his supporters would do it, is the kind of bile backwash that America has come to despise. Most of those senator/congressman are in pretty safe districts, so there's little recourse, and they won't get criticized by the media either, but enough people are paying attention to see what's going on and if it doesn't stop, the Democratic party is in for some real, and long-lasting hurt.

A much better protest would be to skip the State of the Union speech after going to the inauguration. At that point, you've paid respects to the office, and can start your disagreement with him at the next major speech he would give, addressed specifically to you.

[Talint]

House Republicans revive obscure rule that allows them to slash the pay of individual federal workers to $1

The use of the rule would not be simple; a majority of the House and the Senate would still have to approve any such amendment. At the same time, opponents and supporters agree that the work of 2.1 million civil servants, designed to be insulated from politics, is now vulnerable to the whims of elected officials.

The revival of the Holman Rule was the brainchild of Rep. H. Morgan Griffith (R-Va.), who is intent on increasing the powers of individual members of Congress to reassign workers as policy demands.

He favors a strategic application, likening it to a bullet from a sniper rifle rather than a shotgun. It’s unlikely — but not impossible — that members will “go crazy” and cut huge swaths of the workforce, he said.

[Deftscythe]

I guess now we know why Trump wanted that list of people working on climate change at the energy department.

[Byrthnoth]

Well, or weeks ago when that was first reported.

[myreality]

https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-...house-bill/193

H.R.193 - American Sovereignty Restoration Act of 2017

This bill repeals the United Nations Participation Act of 1945 and other specified related laws.

The bill requires: (1) the President to terminate U.S. membership in the United Nations (U.N.), including any organ, specialized agency, commission, or other formally affiliated body; and (2) closure of the U.S. Mission to the United Nations.

The bill prohibits: (1) the authorization of funds for the U.S. assessed or voluntary contribution to the U.N., (2) the authorization of funds for any U.S. contribution to any U.N. military or peacekeeping operation, (3) the expenditure of funds to support the participation of U.S. Armed Forces as part of any U.N. military or peacekeeping operation, (4) U.S. Armed Forces from serving under U.N. command, and (5) diplomatic immunity for U.N. officers or employees.

[Drai]

So that's basically the "Fuck the UN" bill that I've heard rumblings about, that's actually a REALLY huge deal, what are the odds it gets passed even with Republican majority?

[tyven]

Was introduced 3 weeks ago and has 0 cosponsors. Probably doesn't even see the committee floor

[Serra]

Well, its support will be a good measure of how willing Congressional Republicans are to buy into Trump's isolationist message.

[Kincard]

"The bill was introduced to Congress two weeks prior to Donald Trump's inauguration and has been submitted to each new Congress for the last 20 years."

[Olo401]

"The bill was introduced to Congress two weeks prior to Donald Trump's inauguration and has been submitted to each new Congress for the last 20 years."

Similarly, the bill/rule exempting Congress from any criminal prosecution for its own actions is also introduced at the beginning of every GOP-run Congress that I've seen come in.

[Kincard]

is there seriously anyone in the government who consistently propose withdrawing from the UN, or is it just done to appease anti-government crazies

[Niiro]

"one of these days, Alice"

[archibaldcrane]

Here's an explainer of the Cassidy-Collins ACA-replacement plan, if anyone is curious. It probably won't be the solution, but it is an actual compromise:

http://www.vox.com/policy-and-politi...assidy-collins

The simplest bullet points:

The Cassidy-Collins proposal, explained
The Patient Freedom Act would, as described by Sens. Cassidy and Collins, give states three options:

Continue to run the Affordable Care Act as is without any changes
Switch to a different health insurance expansion that emphasizes auto-enrolling all uninsured residents into a federally subsidized catastrophic plan
Offer no coverage expansion at all, and the state would lose the money it currently receives for insurance subsidies and Medicaid expansion

[Fiye]

This happened.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/hawaii-re...230557764.html