Manchin ends pipeline push, easing path for spending bill

WASHINGTON (AP) — Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin has abandoned, for now, his push to speed up the permitting process for energy projects, easing the Senate’s path toward passing a stopgap spending bill that would keep the federal government running when the fiscal year ends at midnight Friday. A procedural vote Tuesday advancing the funding bill succeeded easily, 72-23, after Democrats announced that the West Virginia senator’s proposal would be stripped from the final legislation. It was clear that, with Manchin’s plan included, Democrats were falling far short of the 60…

Read More...

Continuing the conversation about continuing resolutions, and other happenings on the Hill

<em>Best listening experience is on Chrome, Firefox or Safari. Subscribe to Federal Drive’s daily audio interviews on </em><a href=”https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/federal-drive-with-tom-temin/id1270799277?mt=2″><i>Apple Podcasts</i></a><em> or <a href=”https://www.podcastone.com/federal-drive-with-tom-temin?pid=1753589″>PodcastOne</a>.</em></p> <p>The continuing resolution that Congress is debating is sort of like COVID. You know it&#8217;s coming, but how bad will it be? CRs can go for days or they can go for months. Last year&#8217;s went nearly halfway through the fiscal year. To find out how this one is shaping up, the <a href=”https://federalnewsnetwork.com/category/temin/tom-temin-federal-drive/”><em><strong>Federal Drive with Tom Temin </strong></em></a>talked with Loren Duggan, Bloomberg Government deputy news director.</p> <p><strong>Tom Temin: </strong>Loren,…

Read More...

Senate Dems ‘pushing to follow suit’ after House passes bill to block any future Schedule F

The Preventing a Patronage System Act cleared the full House in a vote of 225-204, showcasing an effort to prevent the possible return of the Trump-era Schedule F executive order. The bill would prohibit future White House administrations from creating any new federal job classification without congressional approval, but the timing on the Senate’s version of the legislation remains uncertain. Senate Democrats, led by Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), introduced a companion bill in August and applauded the passage of the bill in the House on Sept. 15. The lawmakers added…

Read More...

Meet the guy who oversaw the recovery of more than a billion dollars of stolen pandemic relief

Best listening experience is on Chrome, Firefox or Safari. Subscribe to Federal Drive’s daily audio interviews on Apple Podcasts or PodcastOne. The government showed how fast it could spend money when  Congress printed trillions for pandemic relief. Well, now it’s the morning after. Our next guest led a nationwide criminal investigation that so far has clawed back more than a billion dollars anyway, awarded to frauds under the Paycheck Protection Program and prevented maybe twice that much from going out in the first place. He’s an assistant special agent in charge with the…

Read More...

Congress cares about one thing now and its not 2023 appropriations

Best listening experience is on Chrome, Firefox or Safari. Subscribe to Federal Drive’s daily audio interviews on Apple Podcasts or PodcastOne. Congress trucks back to Washington this week with only a few legislative days left before the end of the fiscal year. They’ll have to deal with government funding among other things. Here with the outlook Bloomberg Government deputy news director Loren Duggan, who talked to the Federal Drive with Tom Temin. Interview transcript: Tom Temin:  Let’s begin with what’s the schedules precisely for the House and the Senate. Loren Duggan: Well,…

Read More...

White House expects CR ahead of fiscal 2023, seeks $47B in emergency spending

The Biden administration, expecting Congress will need more time to pass a comprehensive spending package for fiscal 2023, is requesting $ 47 billion in emergency funds to last through the end of the calendar year. Nearly half the funding would go toward the federal government’s response to COVID-19. That includes the rollout of updated booster shots approved this week by the Food and Drug Administration and restarting a program to deliver free COVID-19 rapid tests to households. The administration is also seeking emergency funding for the first quarter of fiscal…

Read More...