Can the FAA bill avoid the House NDAA’s partisan fate?

“We’re not going to continue to be trapped by gamesmanship of trying to get folks involved in voting for the things that they’re fundamentally opposed to,” a House Dem tells Supercreator Daily.

Jul 19, 2023

Rep. Troy Carter is concerned House Republicans may corrupt an aviation authorization bill this week as they did with the annual Pentagon bill last week. Photo by Mariam Zuhaib/AP

THE LATEST HOUSE BIPARTISAN TEST: FAA REAUTHORIZATION

The National Defense Authorization Act went off the rails last week after House Republicans adopted a series of amendments against abortion rights, LGBTQ+ people, and diversity, equity, and inclusion programs that proved too toxic for most Democrats to support.

As the House today begins consideration of a bill to reauthorize the Federal Aviation Administration, there are worries that far-right attacks on so-called “culture war” issues will corrupt yet another historically bipartisan piece of legislation.

“Unfortunately, we find some who would rather tinker with policy and make it political where it shouldn’t be. But my fear is that they will do it again,” Rep. Troy Carter (D-LA), a member of the House Transporation Committee, said to Supercreator Daily. “And I will tell you if it happens again, there's going to have a very similar outcome. We’re not going to continue to be trapped by gamesmanship of trying to get folks involved in voting for the things that they’re fundamentally opposed to.”

House Democratic Caucus Chairman Pete Aguilar (D-CA) told reporters on Tuesday that House Republicans embracing these controversial issues is the only way they can govern.

“That’s who House Republicans are today is bipartisan in committee and then something happens on the way to the floor: The MAGA wing of the party grabs them and tells them we have to make this extreme in order for it to pass and time and time again, Republican leadership just allows it,” he added.

The FAA is the largest transportation agency in the US government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the nation as well as over surrounding international waters. Every five years, the reauthorization bill gives members a chance to resolve problems for air travel workers and consumers.

The House Transportation Committee unanimously approved its version of the reauthorization bill by a 63-0 vote last month. It includes provisions to improve FAA operations, encourage aviation innovation, and enhance the passenger experience. (The Senate Commerce Committee introduced their own FAA reauthorization bill last month too but has yet to complete a markup of the legislation or take a vote on it.)

Despite opposition to any controversial amendments of the 100-plus approved for debate and votes, the FAA bill is one of several pieces of legislation Congress must pass by the end of the year.

“I would note that we have to be mindful of every single comma, period, and line in a bill to make sure that although we may like some parts of it, there aren’t unintended consequences that come in the form of amendments and it causes to not be for the larger value,” Carter said.

And as with the Pentagon bill, there’s always the upper chamber to moderate the extremist impulses of House conservatives.

“We still have the Senate though that is controlled by Democrats,” Carter added. “It is my belief, I hope that these things will be cleaned up once it gets to the Senate and sent to the President’s desk in a format that these members can’t defy.”

👋🏾 HI, HEY, HELLO! Welcome to Supercreator Daily, the essential guide to the politicians, power brokers, and policies shaping the American creator experience. Good Wednesday morning. It’s July 19, 2023.

NEW DEMS UNVEIL ECONOMIC POLICY AGENDA

It’s been all about Bidenomics lately as the White House looks to refine a winning message that amplifies the impact of President Biden’s domestic agenda and makes the case for why voters should elect him to advance it further.

The administration got an assist on Tuesday from the New Democrat Coalition — a group of almost 100 consensus-driven House Democrats — in the form of a new in-depth policy plan designed to continue lowering costs, fighting inflation, and expanding the middle class.

The plan is organized into eight issue areas where New Dems say Congress can make tangible economic progress. They include bolstering supply chains, investments in the clean-energy transition, increasing affordable housing, and reducing out-of-pocket costs by restoring the expanded Child Tax Credit.

And it follows the inflation action plan the Coalition released last June when the US inflation rate hit its peak. In the year since, inflation has gone down each month as New Dems worked with the broader House Democratic Caucus to pass historic legislation that invested in infrastructure, semiconductor manufacturing, and affordable health care.

But most of the progress documented in the agenda was made when Democrats controlled the House, Senate, and White House. But in six months of Republican leadership in the House, it has lurched to the right under pressure from conservatives to eschew the compromises New Dems thrive on in favor of extremist policies that ultimately die in the Senate.

New Dems Chairman Annie Kuster (D-NH) told Supercreator Daily that although the new plan is a blueprint for if Democrats retake the House next year, she and her members would keep looking for opportunities to work across the aisle on topics such as housing, child care, and job training.

A divided Congress means the bills that do make it to President Biden’s desk bear little resemblance to how they looked coming out of the House.

“And so we’re looking in those spaces in between where we can get work done. It may be by amendment, it may be working with a Senate colleague to get an amendment, then a bill comes back,” she said. “So we haven't given up.”

DEMS LAUNCH NEW VOTING RIGHTS PUSH

Sen. Raphael Warnock’s victory in a runoff election in Georgia last December expanded Senate Democrats’ majority by one seat when some forecasters predicted they could lose control of the chamber altogether.

But Warnock, who also serves as the senior pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, said his triumph required his campaign and his supporters to overcome the restrictions imposed by a statewide anti-voter law signed into law in 2021.

The Georgia law is one of several that would be impacted by the Freedom to Vote Act, a landmark bill Warnock and a group of congressional Democrats reintroduced on Tuesday before a standing-only crowd of voting rights supporters in the Lyndon B. Johnson Room of the Senate.

The bill would set minimum national standards to protect voting rights and expand ballot access while strengthening protections for local election workers, banning secret money in elections, and ending extreme gerrymandering.

The announcement comes after House Republicans introduced the ACE Act, a so-called election integrity package featuring 50 standalone bills with provisions that require photo ID to vote in federal elections, ban unsolicited mail ballots, and allow conservative political speech to be weaponized.

Aguilar told Supercreator Daily that when Republicans say election integrity, it’s code for voter suppression.

“They want to reduce the number of people, predominantly in Black and brown communities, who turn out to vote,” he said. “But we’re going to continue to say time and time again that everybody who has a right to vote should be able to exercise the franchise to vote. Republicans do not believe in that — their policies reflect that. And they continue to push conspiracy theories when it comes to election rules and election law.”

Rep. Jasmine Crockett, a first-term progressive from Texas, a state with one of the most restrictive anti-voter laws in the country, said that instead of reforming their unpopular policies, Republicans double down on their attempts to make it harder to vote.

“That’s the only way they can win,” she told Supercreator Daily. “But that’s not how democracy works.”

The Freedom to Vote Act passed the House in 2021 but failed to receive the 10 Senate Republicans required to break the filibuster. It would require states to offer same-day voter registration and make Election Day a federal holiday. It would also require all voting machines used in all federal elections to be made in America to reduce the risk of foreign interference. And it would introduce voluntary public financing for campaigns to dilute the influence of undisclosed big money.

The bill was supported by every Senate Democrat last Congress and maintains that status in the current one. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has designated the Freedom to Vote Act as S 1 to reflect the importance of the legislation to the caucus. (House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) has tagged it HR 11, the highest designation possible since Democrats don’t control the House.)

Rep. Terri Sewell (D-AL), a co-sponsor of the Freedom to Vote Act, is also expected to reintroduce the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act in September, which would fully restore the protections in the Voting Rights Act of 1965 the Supreme Court gutted in 2013.

TODAY IN POLITICS

All times Eastern

9 a.m. The House will meet and immediately recess.

9:45 a.m. The Senate will meet. Votes are expected but have not been scheduled.

11 a.m. The House will reconvene to hear President Isaac Herzog of Israel speak before a joint meeting of Congress. Vice President Harris will preside.

11:30 a.m. First Lady Dr. Jill Biden will join a call with the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, community health leaders, and patient advocates to speak about a new proposed rule for services and support that patients can receive as they navigate their cancer journey.

11:45 a.m. Dr. Biden will join a meeting of state leaders about affordable child care and give closing remarks.

12:15 p.m. President Biden will receive his daily intelligence briefing with Vice President Harris.

3 p.m. The president will meet with his Competition Council to announce new actions by the administration to increase competition.

3:50 p.m. The vice president will hold a bilateral meeting with President Herzog.

6 p.m. President Biden and Dr. Biden will host the White House Congressional Picnic. Vice President Harris will attend.

9 p.m. The House will complete work on a bill to ban public schools and colleges that receive federal funds from housing undocumented immigrants and begin consideration of the FAA reauthorization bill. Last votes are expected at 11 p.m.

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