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By Cecile Entleitner, Associate, Blakey & Agnew
Passing substantive, bipartisan legislation has never been a simple task. However, based on historic data, there are a few factors that can complicate matters even more. Circumstances such as election cycles, divided governments, and partisan polarization have all contributed to congressional gridlock on legislation in the past.
Considering the 116th Congress is gearing up for a presidential election year, the two legislative chambers are controlled by different parties, and the political climate is highly polarized, current conditions seem far from ideal. With the addition of congressional investigations and an impeachment inquiry, many industry stakeholders are wondering how these developments will affect Congress' ability to pass new legislation.
During his State of the Union address in February, President Trump called for an end to the investigations against him, adding that "if there is going to be peace and legislation, there cannot be war and investigation." He reiterated this sentiment again in May when he cut short a meeting with Democratic leadership to discuss a $2 trillion infrastructure plan. Following the heated meeting he tweeted that Congress "can't investigate and legislate simultaneously."
On September 24, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) announced the launch of a formal impeachment inquiry into President Trump. She emphasized her intention to continue working on legislation in subsequent news conferences, and maintained that the inquiry would not distract from legislative priorities. Responses from other lawmakers and policy experts have been mixed, some believe impeachment will overshadow all other business on Capitol Hill. Congressman Rodney Davis (R-IL), Ranking Member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Highways and Transit, said regarding surface transportation reauthorization talks that he hopes "it doesn't get sidetracked, but history shows us that impeachment will suck the energy and the air out of everything out here in Washington." Others see possibilities for the advancement of key legislation, especially on issues with broad bipartisan support such as transportation and trade.
Although some historians warn that previous impeachment proceedings should not be compared to today's circumstances due to each event's unique nature, legislative progress under the Nixon and Clinton presidencies might actually offer a little hope. Both the 93rd Congress under President Nixon and the 106th Congress under President Clinton were able to move forward on several important issues, including a major transportation bill in 1998, while
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simultaneously conducting investigations or impeachment proceedings.
Several infrastructure-related proposals are still pending as Congress takes its two-week recess until mid-October. Among them is a new five-year surface transportation reauthorization proposal that was approved by the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works in July. The $294 billion bill includes provisions authorizing several new and existing infrastructure grant programs, as well as highway formula funding distributed to state Departments of Transportation. Even though the current authorization (the 2015 Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act) does not expire until September 2020, a lot of work remains to be done by other relevant congressional committees before a final reauthorization bill can be passed.
Also high on Congress' to-do list for the coming weeks is passing a fiscal year 2020 (FY20) appropriations package. These spending bills must be passed annually to ensure federal agencies, including the U.S. Department of Transportation, receive funding for the upcoming year. While the full House of Representatives passed their FY20 Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development (THUD) funding bill in June and the Senate Appropriations Committee approved their THUD proposal mid-September, lawmakers were not able to finalize their negotiations prior to the September 30 deadline. Instead, they passed a continuing resolution which provides funding at fiscal year 2019 levels through November 21, allowing some additional time to reach a final appropriations deal. The continuing resolution was signed into law by President Trump on September 27.
Previous instances of congressional investigations and impeachment inquiries of past administrations may provide some insight to the effects these circumstances have had on legislation. However, several experts have called the current developments unprecedented so it remains to be seen how Congress and the President will move forward on important policy issues such as infrastructure.
Blakey & Agnew, LLC is a public affairs and
communications consulting firm based in
Washington, DC.
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