Fast Facts for May 29, 2021
Just like that – the January 6th bipartisan commission to investigate the attack on the capitol – is dead.
The bipartisan bill that was taken up in the senate just failed.
Final vote 54 to 35.
Only 6 Republicans voted for it and 11 Senators didn’t even show up.
This very same bill passed the house with 35 Republican *yes* votes just last week.
The commission would have been very similar to the commission that investigated the September 11th attack and created the definitive investigative document about it.
The no-failed January 6th bipartisan commission would have ensured equal representation from democrats and republicans and made it clear that no one who sat on the commission was a current elected official or current elected member staffer. And it would have ensured the commissioners had specific expertise in law enforcement, civil rights, and national security.
So now what? It’s unclear. But it’s possible the house speaker will assemble a select committee to investigate. That special house committee would require testimony from key people who played a role on that day and the days leading up to it under subpoena power. Those hearings could drag on very publicly for months.
PLUS
The president just unveiled his proposal for how he thinks our government should spend money for the next fiscal year.
For 2022 – President Biden unveiled a $6 trillion spending request. It includes the $2.3 trillion infrastructure proposal which I explained in this video… the $1.8 trillion education and families plan which I explained in this video and $1.5 trillion in proposed discretionary spending.
Discretionary spending includes money for the military, education department, the CDC, combating climate change and a range of other programs.
This is on top of mandatory budget spending for programs like social security, Medicare, Medicaid and a range of other safety net programs.
Every year, the president outlines how he wants to see every federal dollar spent in his budget proposal. But it doesn’t end there. Congress has to negotiate, debate and pass a plan through both the House and the Senate. You may remember when I covered the budget process last year in these videos.
Biden’s new budget proposal represents the highest sustained levels of federal spending since World War II and forecasts deficits above $1 trillion throughout the next decade.
Before you freak out — these numbers are *only* proposals…everything can change. And if you remember what happened last year…congress couldn’t get its act together and agree on a budget and we came dangerously close to a government shut down – twice.
The end of the federal government’s fiscal year is September 30th. We’ll have to see whether a deal gets done, or congress kicks the can down the road.
Read the proposed Biden budget here.
