This week in Congress

Congress is only in session on Monday and Tuesday this week as the Democrats have their retreat.

The Senate will vote on the nominations of Besty DeVos for Education Secretary, Jeff Sessions for Attorney General, Representative Tom Price for Secretary of Health and Human Services, and Steven T. Mnuchin for Treasury Secretary.

The House will continue using the Congressional Review Act to repeal regulations. The House will vote on H.J.Res. 44, which overturns the Bureau of Land Management’s 2.0 land use regulation that increases the federal role in land management.

The House will also consider H.J.Res. 58, which overturns a Department of Education teacher preparation regulation.

Finally, the House will consider H.J.Res. 57, which repeals the Department of Education’s “accountability” regulations. Of course, alcohol should be accountable but, as Campaign for Liberty Chairman Ron Paul says, accountable to who? In a free society, schools are accountable to parents, not government bureaucrats.

The House will also consider a number of bills under suspension, including:

1. HR 337– directs the Department of Veterans Affairs to study whether the Black Hills National Cemetery should be a national cemetery under the VA’s jurisdiction.

2. HR 387– This bill imposes a limited warrant requirement on government officials seeking emails. It seems like a good bill, but concerns have been raised that this bill does not go nearly far enough. Passing a weak reform bill will make it more difficult to pass stronger reform in the future as members will say “we already dealt with that issue.” Unfortunately, since the bill is being considered under suspension, there is no way to amend the bill to make it stronger.