Three weeks after Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) was ousted from his role as Speaker of the House, and after three Republicans were nominated but could not win the necessary votes to be elected, the House has finally elected Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA) to be the 56th Speaker, capping off a chaotic month that has paralyzed the House.

House Republicans nominated a new candidate for speaker late last night, Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA). Johnson had only hours earlier narrowly lost his bid for the speaker nomination to Rep. Tom Emmer (R-MN) in the fifth round of voting among party lawmakers; however, just four hours after securing the nomination, Emmer announced he would withdraw from consideration as more than two dozen House Republicans indicated they would not support him on the floor and thus he had not path to being elected.

It is clear that this process remains far from over. To help make sense of it all, and what it means for senior living policy priorities, Argentum Advocates are invited to join us for our monthly policy briefing this afternoon.

Argentum Advocates Member Briefing
Wednesday, October 25, 2023
2:00 PM ET

• A profile of Rep. Johnson and expectations for a floor vote to elect him speaker, and how he might lead the chamber;
• A preview of the upcoming fall agenda in Congress, including how we are working to defeat proposed cuts to critical workforce programs as lawmakers resume negotiations on spending bills ahead of the November 17 funding deadline;
• An update on our priority legislation, including the Veterans assisted living pilot program, workforce development programs, the SENIOR Act, and intergenerational opportunities;
• A look at our regulatory outreach and status of pending administrative actions.

Representative Tom Emmer (R-MN), who currently serves as the House Majority Whip, claimed the Republican nomination for Speaker of the House this afternoon, defeating Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA) by a vote of 117-97 on the fifth ballot of the internal party election. Emmer will next face the Democratic nominee, Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), in a vote on the floor expected later this week.

Argentum Advocates are invited to join us for our monthly policy briefing tomorrow, October 25 at 2:00 p.m. ET to learn more about the speaker's race and its impact on senior living policy and advocacy.

Argentum Advocates Member Briefing
Wednesday, October 25, 2023
2:00 PM ET

The U.S. House of Representatives has been without a speaker since October 3, when the chamber voted 216-210 on a motion to vacate, and thereby removed Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) as speaker. An effort by Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) to replace McCarthy failed last week after three votes on the floor with increasing Republican opposition, and the party voted internally to remove him as their nominee. This has effectively paralyzed half of Congress, as the House is unable to conduct legislative business until it elects a new speaker.

Nine House Republicans have since filed paperwork to run for speaker, and will pitch their candidacy at an internal party forum tonight. The caucus will then vote tomorrow morning to select a nominee, who will square off against the Democratic nominee, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, in a vote on the floor expected later this week.

Two weeks ago, in an unprecedented move, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to remove Representative Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) from the role of Speaker, and since that time has not been able to elect a replacement.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) is the current Republican nominee for speaker. Last Friday—a day after House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) withdrew his name from nomination after defeating Jordan in an earlier internal vote—Jordan secured the support of 124 of the 221 House Republicans to be the nominee; however, troubling for his bid was that in a follow-up “validation vote” only 152 Republicans said they would support him—with 55 declaring they would not support him.

Jordan mounted an aggressive campaign over the weekend to convert Republicans who opposed him, but after two rounds of voting (yesterday and today), Jordan is still well short of the votes needed to be elected. In the vote yesterday, 20 Republicans went on record against Jordan, and this afternoon 22 Republicans went on record against him. Despite this, Jordan is expected to push for another vote to win the speakership.

In an historic first, yesterday, the U.S. House of Representatives voted 216-210 to oust Representative Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) as Speaker of the House, leaving one half of the legislative branch and congressional Republicans without an elected leader.

U.S. Representative Matt Gaetz (R-FL) filed the motion to vacate the office of the speaker, after then-Speaker McCarthy negotiated with Democrats to pass an 11th hour continuing resolution to fund the federal government for 45 days, averting a government shutdown.

Representative Gaetz was joined by seven other Republicans—Representatives Andy Biggs (R-AZ), Ken Buck (R-CO), Tim Burchett (R-TN), Eli Crane (R-AZ), Bob Good (R-VA), Nancy Mace (R-SC) and Matt Rosendale (R-MT)—and all 208 Democrats who voted in removing the speaker. McCarthy will continue as a rank-and-file member of the House if he chooses to remain in office.

The federal government is headed toward a likely shutdown starting this Sunday, October 1, after current fiscal year appropriations expire on Saturday night.

The shutdown impacts funding for all twelve of the annual appropriations bills, as so far none of the 2024 appropriations have been signed into law. Lawmakers have also yet to pass a continuing resolution (CR) to serve as a stop-gap measure until a broader agreement can be reached. Essential services, mandatory programs, and programs funded outside of annual appropriations will continue during the shutdown (more on this below).

Just before 2:00 p.m. ET today, the House voted 198-232, failing to pass H.R. 5525, a CR to fund the government for one month while negotiating a broader agreement. That package would have faced significant opposition in the Democratically-controlled Senate, and the White House separately issued a Statement of Administration Policy that it would veto it should it come to the president, claiming that it makes "reckless cuts to programs." Concurrently with attempting to pass a CR, the House has passed four of the twelve spending bills on the floor: Defense, Homeland Security, State-Foreign Operations, and Military-Construction-Veterans Affairs; however, none of these have been taken up yet by the Senate.

The Senate voted 77-19 on Tuesday to begin consideration of a CR to fund the government through November 17, along with providing roughly $6 billion in aid to Ukraine and $6 billion for natural disaster relief (these elements are likely to face strong opposition among both House and Senate Republicans). A final vote on the CR is expected this weekend. The Senate has not passed any of the twelve appropriations bills on the floor, but has advanced all of them out of committee.

Both chambers would need to pass the CR for it to be sent to President Biden and signed into law in order to avert a shutdown.

Calling all Argentum Advocates: Today at 2:00 pm ET, Argentum will present its monthly member-exclusive policy briefing.

This session will take a special look at the anticipated government shutdown, which will begin on Sunday if Congress doesn't pass appropriations legislation or a continuing resolution. We'll share how a shutdown could impact senior living communities and our residents, and more broadly how it will impact Argentum's federal policy priorities as the legislative calendar winds down for the year.

Argentum Advocates are invited to these exclusive sessions to hear directly from Argentum’s federal lobbyists on our current federal and state public policy efforts.

Argentum Advocates Member Briefing
Wednesday, September 27, 2023
2:00 PM ET

On Friday, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) proposed new regulations that would for the first time establish federal staffing requirements on skilled nursing facilities (SNFs).
 
This proposed rule applies only to Medicare and Medicaid-certified SNFs, and not residential senior living communities. However, the rule has been expected for more than a year, when President Biden signaled a federal staffing mandate in his 2022 State of the Union Address.
 
Under CMS’s proposal, nursing homes participating in Medicare and Medicaid would be required to meet specific nurse staffing levels that promote safe, high-quality care for residents. Nursing homes would need to provide residents with a minimum of 0.55 hours of care from a registered nurse per resident per day, and 2.45 hours of care from a nurse aide per resident per day. In addition, nursing homes would also be required to ensure a registered nurse is on site 24 hours per day, 7 days per week and to complete robust facility assessments on staffing needs.

U.S. Representative Mike Ezell (R-MS) and his wife Suzette recently visited Summerfield of Gulfport in Gulfport, Mississippi. He spent time meeting with residents, touring the community, and discussing issues related to senior living and healthcare.

Help spread the word! Lawmakers are returning to Washington, D.C. in the next couple of weeks after having gained a fresh perspective on the value of senior living by attending these community visits.

We need your continued help so that more lawmakers, at both the federal and state level, can tour our communities, meet with residents and staff, and better understand our policy issues and our proposed solutions. We encourage all senior living communities to host visits. To get started, please review this a toolkit which includes sample invitations, a sample itinerary, best practices for preparing for your visit, and more.

DOWNLOAD THE TOOLKIT