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

Earlier today, the U.S. Department of Labor announced a proposed rule to increase the threshold for employees to be eligible for overtime. Workers earning less than $55,068 per year would be eligible under the proposed rule, up from the current $35,568 per year. This threshold would be automatically updated every three years to reflect current earnings data.

The rule clarifies which employees are executive, administrative or professional employees, who are then exempt from overtime pay. It is estimated that the new threshold would extend overtime eligibility for an additional 3.6 million salaried workers.

Argentum met with representatives from the CMS Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) yesterday to discuss the recently released Guiding an Improved Dementia Experience (GUIDE) Model, a package of care coordination and management, caregiver education and support, and respite services to improve the quality of life for people living with dementia, reduce strain on unpaid caregivers, and help people remain in their homes and communities.

The meeting provided an opportunity for Argentum to share the value of senior living for people with dementia, including care models led by Argentum member companies that better serve this population. This was Argentum's second meeting this year with CMMI where we discussed opportunities for potential cost savings to Medicare and Medicaid that could be evaluated through demonstration projects. We anticipate continued outreach to CMMI on potential new models to be deployed in senior living communities.

The GUIDE model is primarily focused on better supporting caregivers of people with dementia through care coordination (primary and behavioral health services). It calls for providing a care navigator to help access services and supports, including clinical services and non-clinical services such as meals and transportation through community-based organizations. GUIDE will be tested nationwide from 2024-2032 as a voluntary alternative payment model (APM) through CMMI.

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

In this session, we will share the progress we are making in stopping the drastic cuts to federal workforce programs that are critical to meeting the nation's long-term care workforce needs, along with updates on new workforce legislation Argentum is supporting, the status of the Veterans assisted living pilot program legislation, and other public policy issues facing the industry.

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, August 30, 2023
2:00 PM ET