Advocacy Monthly - May 2024
Recent Legislative Happenings
Congress was busy this May!
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s motion to vacate the presiding officer of the House (i.e., Speaker Johnson) failed.
The bipartisan FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024 passed and was signed into law.
2 vacancies in the House were filled through special elections, with 4 more outstanding.
Sen. Rick Scott announced his candidacy for Republican leadership in the Senate.
Another motion to vacate came to a vote early this month and remained mercifully brief, in contrast to the dramatics of the previous year. As threatened, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene introduced her motion to eject Speaker Mike Johnson from his Speakership. As promised, a vast majority of Republicans and Democrats immediately voted down the resolution. As predicted, the floor returned to its regular agenda.
This month both chambers of Congress overwhelmingly passed the bipartisan Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Reauthorization Act of 2024. The bill passed the Senate on May 10th by a vote of 88 to 4. The House then passed the Senate version on May 15th by a vote of 387-26 and the bill was signed into law by President Biden the following day. The FAA reauthorization extends the FAA’s authority through Fiscal Year 2028. The bill seeks to strengthen aviation safety standards, address passenger refunds and airline consumer violations, and increase infrastructure investments in airports across the country.
A few changes and announcements were made in both chambers. While not occurring in the month of May, Rep. Donald Payne Jr. passed away at the end of April after a heart attack. The New Jersey Democrat had served for nearly 12 years as a Representative, and leaves NJ-10 vacant. In the House, two vacancies were filled on both sides of the aisle. Democratic candidate Tim Kennedy won the special election for NY-26 (the seat left vacant by Rep. Brian Higgins), and Republican candidate Vince Fong also won the special election for CA-20 (the seat left vacant by Rep. Kevin McCarthy). While Fong has yet to be sworn into the 118th Congress due to the recency of the vote, the new breakdown following these elections will be 218-213, with 4 remaining vacancies.
In the Senate, Sen. Rick Scott announced another bid for Republican leadership. The Floridian, who had previously challenged Sen. Mitch McConnell for the leadership role, will be running against Sen. John Thune and Sen. John Cornyn. During the 2022 leadership elections, Scott lost in his bid by a vote of 36-10 against the veteran McConnell. However, with McConnell’s decision to take himself out of consideration for the role, the long odds Scott has previously faced now seem significantly shorter. Scott, a staunch conservative, has signaled he would push back against legislation which carries primarily Democratic support, and has previously been endorsed by former President Donald Trump. The current Senate division is 51-49, with Republicans expecting to pick up seats. While we are still months from the elections, keeping note of the potential leadership changes will be important—particularly if the Senate flips control.