Becker & Poliakoff

Becker’s Washington Weekly: Week of January 3, 2022

Becker’s Washington Weekly: Week of January 3, 2022

Happy 2022!

The Administration and the Senate

The Biden Administration hopes to continue progress towards passing the Build Back Better Act (BBB) this year after Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) shockingly announced his opposition to the measure in the twilight of 2021. The Administration and Congress will likely either continue negotiations to further scale back the bill or pass certain measures as individual bills. This process will unfold in the coming weeks and months.

Senate Leader Schumer (D-NY) also hopes to continue progress on (1) voting rights legislation that would restore previously weakened provisions of the Voting Rights Act and (2) measures to strengthen U.S. competition against China.

Meanwhile, AT&T and Verizon delayed starting their new 5G services for two weeks at the request of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg for fear that the service might interfere with aircraft electronics and create safety risks. The Federal Aviation Administration plans to issue hundreds of notices of specific restrictions when the service resumes because of possible safety hazards.

Additionally, the Senate Banking Committee is planning to consider the renomination of Jerome Powell as Chair of the Federal Reserve. His renomination remains uncertain as several Democratic Senators have announced their opposition to his chairmanship.

The Senate will host a handful of hearings this week, including the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee’s hearing on community development financial institutions and underserved communities.

The House will return to session next week.

Becker’s Federal Lobbying Team will continue to monitor these developments as they evolve and will share with you as soon as information becomes available.