Friday, January 8, 2021
This Week’s Dose
The 116th Congress came to an end with passage of coronavirus (COVID-19) relief and government funding legislation, and the 117th Congress was sworn in. With victories in two Georgia runoff elections, Democrats will take control of the Senate, giving President-elect Joe Biden unified, albeit extremely narrow control of Congress. The House and Senate certified Biden’s Electoral College victory.
Congress
The 117th Congress Convened with Narrow Democratic Control of Both Chambers. Newly elected members were sworn in on January 3, kicking off the 117th Congress. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) was reelected to her post as Speaker of the House of Representatives with the closest vote in recent history, underscoring the razor thin margin with which Democrats control the chamber. In Georgia, Democratic candidates for Senate Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff narrowly defeated Republican incumbents Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue, giving Democrats control of the Senate (a 50/50 split with Vice President-elect Kamala Harris available to break ties) for the first time since 2015. The Democratic victory and assumption of control of the Senate creates a path for President-elect Biden to pursue more ambitious healthcare policy than would otherwise have been possible, though the extremely narrow margin means that far-reaching ambitions will still be difficult. Recall that most legislation requires 60 votes to overcome the filibuster in the Senate, and Democrats may be unlikely to abolish the filibuster with such a narrow majority. Some policies can be passed using budget reconciliation (a process that requires only a simple majority), but reconciliation is available only for those policies with direct financial/budget implications. Expanding Affordable Care Act subsidies would fit; creating a public option might have more trouble advancing through reconciliation. Responding to the pandemic remains the number one priority for the President-elect and 117th Congress, and we expect further relief efforts to dominate the early days of the session.