Severe temperatures and snow storms have welcomed us into 2018, and caused Congress to adjourn a day early in their first week back. Below are some quick updates to watch in the coming weeks.
2018 Updates
- The storms in the DC area forced Congress to leave a day early, but the deadline for the most recent continuing resolution remains 19 January. Producing non-defense spending equivalence and working on DACA are still the Democrats’ primary goals for the new budget.
- Two Democratic Senators were seated earlier this week, Doug Jones of Alabama andTina Smith of Minnesota, giving the Democrats 49 seats compared to Republicans’ 51. Senator Jones replaced Republican Luther Strange, and Senator Smith replaced former Senator Al Franken.
- On Wednesday the Senate easily confirmed John Rood as the new OSD Undersecretary for Policy, with a vote of 81-7. Rood comes to this position after serving as the vice president of Lockheed Martin, where he focused on increasing the company’s defense footprint in over 70 countries worldwide. Rood’s confirmation completes the senior OSD leadership team nearly a year into the Trump administration.
- President Trump will deliver his first State of the Union Address to Congress on 30 January. He will use this speech to outline his plans for the second year of his administration.
Despite the weather, we will monitor the upcoming legislation to ensure you have the most accurate information to best inform your business needs in the New Year.
