AFSA International Legislative Committee Bulletin 2015-001
CMSgt (Ret.) James E. Lokovic
Vice Chairman, AFSA International Legislative Committee
[email protected]
January 4, 2015
1. 114th Congress Begins 6 January. Members of the 114th Congress will be formally
sworn in on Tuesday. Republicans will have control of both houses of Congress for at
least the next two years. Their Senate majority will be 54 to 46. In the House,
Republicans will control 246 of the 435 voting seats. Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., will
be the Senate Majority Leader (replacing Democrat Harry Reid, Nev.) and will control all
legislation on the Senate floor. On the House side, Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio, is
expected to return as the Speaker of the House, although that selection will not be
finalized until 6 January.
There will be 74 new members at the start of the 114th Congress: 63 representatives in
the U.S. House of Representatives, and 11 senators in the U.S. Senate. As is custom, our
HQ lobbying team will make it a point to meet with every one of the “freshman” to
introduce our association, offer our services, ensure they understand what an enlisted
servicemember is, and inform them about the specific challenges enlisted members and
their families face and the legislative targets our members have tasked us to pursue.
Having already gone through freshman orientation, yesterday (3 January) the “newbies”
picked up their office keys and are already very busy moving into their offices, setting up
social media, searching for housing, nailing down staff assignments, etc.
While a new Congress normally does very little prior to the President’s State of the
Union Address, leaders of both houses now have indicated they plan to vigorously pursue
legislation that passed the House last Congress (often by bipartisan votes), but was never
considered by the Senate of the 113th Congress. So we may see legislative action as early
as this upcoming week.
2. House Committee Chairs. An article in the Washington Post tells us that the
following members of the House (all Republicans, of course) will chair key committees:
 Agriculture – Michael Conaway, Texas
 Appropriations – Rep. Hal Rogers, Ky.
 Armed Services – Rep. Mac Thornberry, Texas
 Budget – Rep. Tom Price, Ga.
 Education and Workforce – Rep. John Kline, Minn.
 Energy and Commerce, Rep. Fred Upton, Mich.
 Financial Services – Rep. Jeb Hensarling, Texas
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Foreign Affairs – Rep. Ed Royce, Calif.
Homeland Security – Rep. Michael McCaul, Texas
Intelligence – Rep. Devin Nunes, Calif.
Judiciary – Rep. Robert Goodlatte, Va.
Natural Resources – Rep. Rob Bishop, Utah
Oversight and Government Reform – Rep. Jason Chaffetz, Utah
Transportation and Infrastructure – Rep. Bill Shuster, Pa.
Veterans Affairs – Rep. Jeff Miller, Fla.
Ways and Means – Rep. Paul Ryan, Wisc.
Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/federal_government/new-gop-faces-atthe-helm-of-9-house-committees/2015/01/03/a2222b5a-934b-11e4-a66f0ca5037a597d_story.html
3. Senate Committee Chairs. An article by ABC News names the Senate committee
chairs (again, all Republicans).
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Agriculture – Sen. Pat Roberts, Kan.
Appropriations – Sen. Thad Cochran, Miss.
Armed Services – Sen. John McCain, Ariz.
Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs – Sen. Richard Shelby, Ala.
Budget – Sen. Mike Enzi, Wyo.
Commerce, Science and Transportation – Sen. John Thune, S.D.
Energy and Natural Resources – Sen. Lisa Murkowski, Alaska
Environment and Public Works – Sen. James Inhofe, Okla.
Finance – Sen. Orrin Hatch, Utah
Foreign Relations – Sen. Bob Corker, Tenn.
Health, Education, Labor and Pensions – Sen. Lamar Alexander, Tenn.
Judiciary – Sen. Charles Grassley, Iowa
Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs – Sen. Ron Johnson, Wisc.
Veterans Affairs – Sen. Johnny Isakson, Ga.
Source: http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/gop-senate-chairmen-aim-undoobama-policies-27976929
4. Key Budget-related Dates to Watch. An article in The Hill points out key budget
dates for the first session of the 114th Congress:
 First Monday in February – By law, the President “must” submit his budget
proposal for the following fiscal year; however, in the past two years he has been
late in producing his plan.
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 27 February – Department of Homeland Security funding runs out. This
appropriations area was left out of the fiscal-year-long “cromnibus” funding
legislation that Congress passed in December.
 15 March – Extension of Debt Limit runs out.
 1 April – Republican Budget Resolution for FY 2016 – Leaders of both chambers
have indicated they plan to produce their FY 2016 resolution by this date.
 30 September – Shutdown deadline. 1 October will be the start of Fiscal Year
2016. By that date, new spending authority must be passed. Republican leaders
have indicated they want to return to “regular order” where appropriations
committees develop legislation as it has historically be done, but which was
abandoned by the Senate for the past few years. In recent years, the Senate has
stopped progress on funding legislation, resulting in last-minute, non-debated
compromise legislation.
 Source: http://thehill.com/policy/finance/227969-budget-war-looms-for-obamagop
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