Thursday: House to vote on sexual assault training

The House will consider the second appropriations measure in as many days on Thursday.

It will take up the $3.3 billion Legislative Branch appropriations measure that funds House member offices, the Architect of the Capitol and Capitol Visitor Center, among other support services. It matches current spending levels, but is $122.5 million below the Obama administration’s request.

{mosads}The measure does not include funding for the Senate, apart from joint operations. Senators can add their own funding when the measure reaches the upper chamber. 

Also included in the bill is a provision that would maintain the four-year freeze on lawmakers’ pay.

Rep. Jim Moran (D-Va.) submitted an amendment to the House Rules Committee earlier this week that would create a $25-per-day housing stipend for members of Congress. It failed earlier this month in committee. His proposal was not made in order, however.  

The eight amendments made in order include a proposal from Rep. Jackie Speier (D-Calif.) to provide $500,000 for sexual harassment training for all House offices. Speier introduced a similar measure as a standalone bill earlier this month in light of a video showing Rep. Vance McAllister (R-La.) caught on camera kissing a staffer.

Other amendments include prohibiting funding for delivery of paper copies of the daily House calendar and disbursement statements to members’ offices. Many members say that the printed copies are no longer necessary since the data is all available electronically.

The Senate starts at 9:30 a.m. and less than two hours later will vote to end debate on three judicial nominations — Theodore Chuang and George Hazel to be U.S. District Judges for Maryland and Nancy Moritz to be a U.S. Circuit Judge for the Tenth Circuit.

Assuming cloture in invoked now that it takes only a simple majority, the Senate will proceed to confirm the Maryland nominees around 2 p.m. At that time, the Senate will also vote on the confirmation of Suzan LeVine to be U.S. ambassador to Switzerland and Liechtenstein. That is expected to be the end of the Senate’s work for the week.