Constitutional Law

CapHill Round-Up

Although Congress is back in session, it is President Obama who will likely garner much of the media light this week. As Politico notes, with a fiscal summit meeting at the White House today, an address to Congress tommorrow and the release of his budget, "Obama will overshadow anything Congress does this week."

Nonetheless, the Senate will likely consider a bill to bolster congressional representation of the District of Columbia. On Tuesday, the Senate is scheduled to vote on whether to move forward on S.160, the District of Columbia House Voting Rights. The Washington Post reports that the bill, which is supported by President Obama, would create a full House seat for the District. Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) told The Post that he believes the measure is "going to pass the Senate." The measure, according to the newspaper, is likely to move through the House soon.

The Senate may also consider the nomination of Hilda Solis to be Secretary of Labor. The Senate's calander for February is available here.

The House's schedule, from Majority Leader Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), is available here. According to the schedule, on Wednesday, the House may consider the Helping Families Save Their Homes Act, which is sponsored by Reps. John Conyers (D-Mich.) and Barney Frank (D-Mass.). In an interview with the Atlanta Georgia Bankruptcy Blog, Conyers discusses the bill, which is intended to curb the number of home foreclosures.

The House and Judiciary Senate Committees have scheduled hearings this week to study the merger of Ticketmaster/Live Nation and copyright issues involving cable and satellite companies.

Congressional aides, as well as White House officials, are praising the efforts of Obama's chief legislative liaison for playing a significant role in sheparding the stimulus package through Congress to the president's desk. Phil Schiliro, who has served as a congressional aide to Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) and a top aide to former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.), "played a pivotal role in getting Congress to pass the stimulus bill at warp speed," Politico reports. The article notes that Schiliro has worked to stay in the background during his career in public service, but will likely have difficulty shielding his involvement from media coverage of the Obama administration. Regarding his work on the stimulus package, Rep. Jim Cooper (D-Tenn.) lauded Schiliro for mastering the personalities, interests and agendas of lawmakers. "I bet he could tell you the name of every spouse, every child and every dog and cat of nearly each member," Cooper told Politico.

Full post as published by ACS Blog on February 23, 2009 (boomark / email).