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We’re tracking the U.S. Congress to make our government more open and accessible.
What's Congress been up to in January 2024?

Keeping the Government Open

There have been a few votes in Congress since the start of the year. The one consequential vote was on 1/18 to pass another short-term continuing resolution to keep the government running. The Senate voted 77-18 and the House 314-108. The resolution included deadlines of 3/1 and 3/8, so they'll have to do this again in a few weeks. There's more detail in the Washington Post.

Otherwise, Congress has been using the tool of "Congressional disapproval" created by the Congressional Review Act of 1996 to attempt to end various regulations active or soon to be active under the Biden Administration.

Senate

Late last year, both chambers disapproved of a requirement for financial institutions to collect and report to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau credit application data for small businesses. President Biden vetoed it in December 2023. On 1/10, the Senate failed to override the veto 54-45. (Successful override votes are extremely rare.)

House

On 1/11, a disapproval of a waiver on buy America requirements for electric vehicle chargers passed 209-198 after passing the Senate last November. President Biden vetoed the bill on 1/24. An override vote could still happen.

On 1/12, the House passed 206-177 a disapproval of a National Labor Relations Board rule that would have expanded the definition of a "joint employer". The conventional view is that this rule would make it easier for employees to unionize. It still has to be voted on in the Senate, so it may not get further than House passage.

— 01/26/2024 11:19 a.m.