Tax and Spending Tweaks by the Hundreds: BGOV Starting Line

Sue Him, Then Shake His Hand

Today’s edition looks forward to the week ahead in Washington.

Among the highlights: state executives who’ve shown, well, some irritation at President Donald Trump’s early moves could have their tongue-biting tested when they’re guests at the White House for the National Governors Association winter meeting.

A governor to watch: J.B. Pritzker of Illinois championed resistance to the president while his big-state counterparts in Sacramento and Albany took a muted approach. It was Pritzker (D) who trolled Trump with a video mocking the declaration to take the Gulf of Mexico off the map.

“A great lake deserves to be named after a great state. So today, I’m issuing a proclamation declaring that hereinafter, Lake Michigan shall be known as Lake Illinois,” the governor said. “I’ve also instructed my team to work diligently to prepare for an important announcement next week regarding the Mississippi River. God bless America and bear down.”

Over the years, the NGA made cooperative work on shared challenges its raison d’etre; the new administration, with its determination to cut programs states count on, tests that bipartisanship.

Plus Bloomberg Government’s correspondent in Albany, Zach Williams, notes nearly half of the governors went to court to fight Trump on birthright citizenship, federal funding, and more, including a new suit filed yesterday.

Topics on the non-White House part of the Feb. 20-22 conference agenda include education, overhauling energy permits, workforce innovation, and handling issues at the border and ports of entry.

Read More: Pennsylvania Sues Trump Agencies Over $5.5 Billion Freeze

Budget All-Nighter is a Possibility

While the House is out next week for a district work period, the Senate will be in session, though we can’t yet say when senators will be voting on their budget priorities.

Budget resolutions require some creative scheduling because they can monopolize floor time for dozens of hours.

Debate on amendments doesn’t count against the overall time limit, so it’s not unusual to see hundreds of them filed. Then the Senate just powers through, taking amendment votes back to back to back to back for as long as it takes, often going overnight in an amendment “vote-a-rama” (hat tip to former Sen. Trent Lott (R-Miss.) for coining that term.)

Read Budget Headlines:

• House Leaders Win Over Conservatives on Plan for Spending Cuts
• House Panel Advances Tax, Budget Plans Embraced by Hardliners
• Shutdown Looms in a Month as Congress’ Funding Talks Founder
• BGOV Budget Brief

More Nominations Ready for the Floor

The Senate confirmed 16 of Trump’s appointees so far, moving at a fast pace Republicans want to extend. Look for votes early in the week on Howard Lutnick to be Commerce Secretary and Kelly Loeffler to lead the Small Business Administration. Kash Patel’s nomination to be FBI director also advanced out of committee, so he’s another possibility for a floor vote.

Committee action is scheduled for two other Trump cabinet picks. The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee will vote on Linda McMahon’s nomination to be education secretary, and hold a confirmation hearing for Lori Chavez-DeRemer, Trump’s nominee to lead the Labor Department.

Chavez-DeRemer probably needs the support of a committee Democrat since Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) said he’d oppose the former Oregon congresswoman because of her past support for union-friendly legislation.

Bloomberg Government subscribers, check out Congress Tracker for more of what’s ahead on Capitol Hill.

— Lillianna Bylington

Taking the Economic Temperature

Fretting about inflation? You’ll get more data points next week to help you figure out whether to be a little or a lot concerned.

Thursday will bring new statistics about jobless claims, then on Friday the University of Michigan releases the next installments of its closely watched survey of consumer sentiment.

As you saw, inflation-watchers got a couple doses of bad news this week, with wholesale prices rising by more than forecast because of higher food and energy costs, and a consumer price index report showed underlying inflation at its highest in more than a year.

Read More: US Wholesale Inflation Tops Estimates

USAID’s Existential Ping-Pong

No prediction about what’s next: The upheaval at the US Agency for International Development may be on pause next week after a federal judge temporarily blocked Trump’s executive order cutting financing for its programs.

US District Judge Amir Ali ruled against Trump late last night, writing that he was hitting the brakes because otherwise “the scale of the enormous harm that has already occurred will almost certainly increase.”

The order comes after thousands of staff have been fired or put on leave and USAID’s name was stripped off its Washington headquarters.

Read More: Trump Officials Ordered by Judge to Lift Freeze on USAID Funding
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