Diving Deeper: Dysfunction, Impeachment, and Shipping Woes
With Emily Patrolia
Coming to you live from a fishing trip in St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands!
What We’re Watching This Week
Dysfunction days continue: Within 24 hours of its release, the bipartisan Senate border deal and foreign aid package was deemed dead on arrival by Republicans in both chambers. Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-NY) is still likely to hold the vote on Wednesday, a move that would force Senate Republicans to go on record voting against the bill. As we noted last week, this bill doesn’t have a direct impact on U.S. ocean policy, but it is an important context clue into how Congress is (or isn’t) working and what fights might be teeing up for the looming government funding deadlines.
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, who oversees the U.S. Coast Guard, is expected to be impeached in the House today. The House Rules Committee sent two impeachment articles to the floor, but it will be a tight vote with super-thin margins on the Republican side and all Democrats expected to vote no. One Republican so far, Rep. Ken Buck (R-CO-04), said he will vote against impeachment. If Mayorkas is impeached, the Democrat-controlled Senate is not likely to take any action that would be required to remove him from office.
The Federal Maritime Commission will hold a hearing tomorrow on international maritime shipping challenges in the Red Sea following weeks of attacks on maritime and naval vessels by Iran-backed Houthi militia. Maritime shipping and supply chain issues have been in the news a lot since 2020, and the attacks provide another reminder of how important—and sometimes fragile—our maritime shipping system is.
More Federal Funding Rumors Ahead of the March Appropriations Deadline
We still haven’t heard definitively about the federal funding subcommittee allocations (which, remember, dictate how much money gets funneled to federal agencies under each of the 12 government funding bills’ jurisdictions). Here’s a roundup of what’s been reported in the news so far:
Commerce-Justice-Science, which funds NOAA, the National Science Foundation, and NASA, has a lower allocation than the Senate version, per Sen. Jerry Moran (R-KS).
Interior-Environment, which funds the Department of Interior and EPA, will see about a three percent cut, per Rep. Mike Simpson (R-ID-02).
Energy and Water, which funds civil works activities of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Department of the Interior's Bureau of Reclamation, has a “fine” allocation, per Rep. Chuck Fleischmann (R-TN-03) and Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA).
Agriculture-FDA, which funds the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration (which regulates seafood), will see “a bump,” per Rep. Sanford Bishop (D-GA-02).
The Homeland Security bill, which funds the U.S. Coast Guard, may not have enough money now that the border deal—which would have increased the department’s budget—is dead, per Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT).
We’ll continue watching out for if/when the actual subcommittee allocation numbers are announced, as well as updates on the funding bills and associated explanatory statements.