NATCA Bookshelf

GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS DEPARTMENT CONGRESSIONAL SCHEDULE The House and Senate returned to D.C. on Monday, Nov. 14 following an election day in which Donald Trump defeated Hillary Clinton to become the 45th President of the United States. Trump and his Vice President-elect, Mike Pence, will be sworn into the White House on Jan. 20, 2017. In the upcoming weeks, GA staff will provide updates about leadership and committee changes, new faces in the 115th Congress, and legislative issues that the new Congress will need to address in its early months. In the meantime, see below for details about the 2016 election and what the lame duck session of Congress might look like. DONALD TRUMP ELECTED PRESIDENT IN 2016 ELECTION On Tuesday, Nov. 8, Donald Trump defeated Hillary Clinton. On the same night, Republicans maintained control of both the House and Senate. While a couple of races remain uncalled as of Nov. 15, we know that the Republicans kept their losses at a minimum in the House and held control of the Senate. So far, only 12 Congressional seats changed party hands this cycle. Click here to read NATCA President Paul Rinaldi and Executive Vice President Trish Gilbert's statement following the results of the presidential election. Election Snapshot: Below is a quick snapshot of the election results as of Nov. 15. Electoral College Votes: 290 Trump, 232 Clinton Popular Vote: 47.2 percent Trump, 47.9 percent Clinton 115th House: 238 Republicans, 193 Democrats 115th Senate: 51 Republicans, 48 Democrats Uncalled Races: In the Senate: Louisiana; In the House: CA-07, CA-49, LA-03, LA-04. LAME-DUCK SESSION BEGINS With the elections behind us, lawmakers are back in Washington, D.C., for the lame- duck session of Congress, which started on Monday, Nov. 14. Aside from leadership elections, the top priority for lawmakers during the lame duck will be to find an agreement to fund the federal government through the remainder of fiscal year (FY) 2017. The funding deal Congress reached before adjourning in September runs through Dec. 9 and included one of the 12 annual appropriations bills (Military Construction and Veterans Affairs), leaving the rest of the appropriations bills on unaddressed with a continuing resolution (CR) that temporarily funds the government through Dec. 9th at FY2016 levels. Further, the surprising election of Donald Trump could mean an unpredictable lame duck. Government Funding Bill: While the current Continuing Resolution (CR; PL 114-223) funds the government until Dec. 9, 2016, the election of Trump has created new divisions among Republican lawmakers over how to proceed. While some are pushing to finish up next month, others want to punt all major spending decisions until next year, and avoid negotiations with outgoing Democratic President Barack Obama. In the first scenario, Congress would finish up Fiscal Year 2017 appropriations in the next few weeks, which would clear the decks going into the new 115th Congress and allow President-Elect Trump to move quickly on other agenda items, such as the debt limit which will need to be raised sometime around March 2017. Or, Congress could kick the can down the road and pass a short-term CR that would continue government funding into the New Year. This option would prevent a showdown between the Republican Congress and the current Democratic President. This scenario would also mean more conservative policy riders and lower spending

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