Congress did more than bathrooms this week

Maybe let’s talk about that other stuff!

I want to start this morning by asking you two questions. Think of all the news you consumed this week and tell me:

1. How much did you hear about the bathrooms in the Capitol?

2. How much did you hear about legislation being passed in the Capitol?

If your answer to the first question was “a lot” and your answer to the second question was “not much”… well, then, I think that might speak to a bit of a problem in the media industry. And not just a small problem, either, but one that serves to worsen our politics and further skew politicians’ incentives away from productive governance and towards shouting on TV.

I know I can’t fix that problem alone — but, hey, I’m going to do what I can. Keep reading for a look at what your elected representatives in Washington got done this week… plus the latest on Matt Gaetz… plus the answer to a popular reader question.

NON-PROFITS AND HOSTAGES

The highest-profile bill to advance in Congress this week was the Stop Terror-Financing and Tax Penalties on American Hostages, which would empower the Treasury Department to revoke the tax-exempt status of non-profit groups it deems to have provided “material support or resources” to terrorist organizations.

This bill has had an interesting trajectory. It was approved unanimously by the House Ways and Means Committee in September — which should have set it up for easy passage. But then, when it was voted on by the full House last week, the measure received only 52 Democratic backers and failed to notch the needed two-thirds support. In a follow-up vote this week (needing only a simple majority), the bill dropped to 15 Democratic supporters and narrowly passed, 219-184.

What changed? The election. Democrats, who previously supported the bill as a bipartisan anti-terrorism measure, grew worried that the measure would give the Trump administration carte blanche to punish non-profits it perceived as political enemies. The bill’s bipartisan buy-in sputtered as a result.

One more interesting thing to note: the measure also includes a provision stopping the IRS from imposing late fees on Americans who missed tax payments because they were being held hostage abroad. Several Americans have spoken out about this issue, including journalist Jason Rezaian, who was hit with a $6,000 tax bill after his release from being wrongfully imprisoned in Iran. The Senate unanimously passed a standalone bill fixing this problem in May, but the issue is now unlikely to be resolved this year after the House merged it with the non-profit bill, which is DOA in the upper chamber.

FINANCIAL AID

A lot of you are probably familiar with the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), the form college students have to fill out to determine their eligibility for financial aid.

The FAFSA process has been plagued with delays in recent years: the Education Department generally tries to get the form out in the fall, but last year’s version wasn’t made available until December 31, just one of several bureaucratic snafus that has made it difficult for students to get the aid they need. This year’s version was made available this week, earlier than last year but still later than usual.

To avoid such delays in the future, both chambers of Congress unanimously passed the FAFSA Deadline Act this week, requiring the Education Department to make the form available by October 1 each year. (January 1 is the current statutory deadline.) Going forward, the Education Secretary will have to certify by September 1 that the department can meet the October 1 deadline — and testify before Congress if the secretary thinks they won’t be able to.

RFK STADIUM

For more than three decades, the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium here in D.C. played host to the Washington Redskins. But the NFL team, now known as the Commanders, left for Maryland in 1996; after a succession of other sports teams came and went, the stadium has sat empty for the last seven years. It is now in serious disrepair.

D.C. officials want to reinvigorate the 174-acre riverfront property, turning the eyesore into a mixed-use development featuring restaurants, shops, housing, park space — and possibly a new stadium to lure the Commanders back from Maryland. The only problem? The U.S. government owns the land. Enter the D.C. Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium Campus Revitalization Act, which would transfer control of the site to the D.C. local government for 99 years.

The bipartisan bill passed the House, 348-55, in February; this week, a Senate committee voted 17-2 to send it to the floor. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle described the measure as a “win-win,” since D.C. will be able to redevelop the land and the federal government will no longer have to pay for maintaining it.

VETERANS

The House voted 389-9 this week to pass a major package for veterans, the Senator Elizabeth Dole 21st Century Veterans Healthcare and Benefits Improvement Act.

“For nearly the entire 118th Congress, the House and Senate committees on Veterans Affairs have worked together to develop a bipartisan package of common-sense proposals,” House Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Mike Bost (R-IL) said on the House floor. “The Dole Act is a result of that work and would enhance, reform and modernize nearly every part of the VA.”

The biggest change in the package is a move towards giving aging veterans the flexibility to access care at home, rather than at a VA nursing home. Currently, the VA will only cover 65% of the costs of home-based care for veterans; under the Dole Act, the agency would cover 100% of the costs, just as they would if the veteran lived at a VA nursing home.

The bill would also fund mental health counseling for veterans’ home-based caregivers, and ensure that the families of veterans who chose to die at home can still receive burial and funeral allowance. (Currently, that allowance is only available to survivors of veterans who die at VA facilities.) “The Dole Act would change the landscape for elderly veterans and finally give them a choice in where they choose to live out their sunset years,” Bost said.

Other provisions in the bill include creating a stipend that will allow the VA to help homeless veterans purchase food, shelter, clothing, and other necessities, and a boost in funding for nonprofits that help give them short-term transitional housing.

VOTING BY MAIL

It’s not every day you see a bipartisan election reform bill pass the House, 396-6.

Now, admittedly, the Vote by Mail Tracking Act isn’t a huge reform. It would mandate that all mail-in ballots include a Postal Service barcode that ensures voters can track them after sending — something 47 states already offer. But as a native one of the three states (Missouri, Illinois, and Wyoming) that doesn’t ensure statewide ballot tracking, I’m not gonna complain.

“Regardless of party affiliation, every voting American wants to be confident that their ballot will get processed,” Rep. Katie Porter (D-CA), the bill’s sponsor, said on the House floor, adding: “Who hasn’t tracked an order of clothing or medicine at least one? I don’t know about you, but it’s comforting to know what city my new shoes are in when they’re being shipped so I know they’re truly on the way. Ballots are so much more important than shoes.”

ODDS AND ENDS

Remember when Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was in the hospital, unable to perform his duties, earlier this year and nobody — not even the White House — knew about it? Yeah, that probably shouldn’t happen again. The Securing Chain of Command Continuity Act would require that whenever a National Security Council member is medically incapacitated, the White House and congressional leaders be notified within 24 hours. The measure passed the House unanimously in May; this week, it was advanced unanimously by a Senate committee.

The Senate unanimously approved the Think Differently About Emergencies Act and the BOLD Infrastructure for Alzheimer's Reauthorization Act. The former which would require FEMA to report to Congress on how to better help people with intellectual and developmental disabilities who are impacted by natural disasters. The latter will boost funding for Alzheimer’s research. Both measures have already passed the House, so they now go to the president’s desk.

The House approved resolutions condemning antisemitism and reaffirming U.S.-Filipino ties. The Senate passed a bill to name a post office for Dianne Feinstein and a resolution celebrating the 75th anniversary of the Antiquarian Booksellers’ Association of America.

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More news to know

Donald Trump with his new AG nominee, Pam Bondi. (Photo via Bondi)

Republican firebrand Matt Gaetz withdrew his nomination to be Attorney General on Thursday, a mere eight days after President-elect Trump put him forward for the post. Gaetz’s nomination had been dogged by a long-running ethics investigation; minutes before he withdrew, CNN had contacted him with questions about testimony from a woman that she had two sexual encounters with Gaetz when she was 17 and he was 35, including a previously unreported encounter that included another woman.

“While the momentum was strong, it is clear that my confirmation was unfairly becoming a distraction to the critical work of the Trump/Vance Transition,” Gaetz said in a statement. According to the New York Times, four Republican senators were seen as “implacably opposed” to his nomination: Sens. Susan Collins (ME), Lisa Murkowski (AK), and Mitch McConnell (KY), plus Sen.-elect John Curtis (UT).

In Gaetz’s place, Trump has already announced his new AG pick: Pam Bondi, the former attorney general of Florida. Bondi is a longtime Trump ally, dating back to a 2013 donation his foundation made to a group supporting her re-election at the same time as her office was reviewing fraud allegations against Trump University. (Bondi did not bring charges.) She later served on Trump’s defense team during his second impeachment trial.

ASK GABE

With Gaetz out, what does that mean for his position, since he has resigned? Will there be a special election? Does he get to take back his old position? — Benji B.

Can Matt Gaetz come back as a congressman since he was elected for the next session? — Nancy W.

Since Matt Gates resigned from this Congress but was elected to the next Congress which will be seated in January, 2025, will he actually be allowed to take that 2025 seat? — Rhoda B.

Popular question! This sort of lands us in uncharted territory. We know for sure that Gaetz has resigned from his seat in the 118th Congress, the one that’s currently ongoing. But Gaetz was also elected in November to the 119th Congress, which is set to start on January 3. Did he pre-emptively resign from that, too?

In his formal letter of investigation, Gaetz wrote that he does “not intend to take the oath of office” in the 119th Congress — which would certainly seem to leave some wiggle room. Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) hasn’t yet scheduled a special election for the post, so — in all likelihood — if Gaetz wants to show up on January 3 to take his seat, he could.

The question is: does he want to?

I always thought it was a bit odd that he made a show of resigning in the first place, since it always seemed to me that he was a long-shot at being confirmed. That suggests that perhaps he wanted to leave the House anyways, and this just let him do it on his own terms.

If he were to return to the House, the ethics investigation he has tried to escape would presumably continue, meaning Gaetz would continue to face a steady series of embarrassing revelations. I also don’t think you can discount the possibility that he’d be expelled.

Under House rules, any Democratic member could force an expulsion vote, which would require two-thirds support to prevail. Last year, 105 Republicans crossed party lines to expel George Santos; expelling Gaetz would probably be more of an uphill battle, but there’s no question that a lot of House Republicans despise him, so it isn’t something to rule out.

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The day ahead

• President Biden will host a dinner on the White House South Lawn for members of his administration and longtime supporters.

• Vice President Harris is on vacation in Hawaii.

• The House and Senate are off until December.

• The Supreme Court will hold its weekly conference.