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Capitol Hill News

Senate: Status Update The U.S. Senate is adjourned until today at 9:30am, and at noon, the chamber will hold a cloture vote on the Minimum Wage Fairness Act. The measure, sponsored by Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA), would eventually raise the minimum wage from $7.25 to $10.10 over the next 30 months. The increase is a top election-year priority for President Barack Obama, who argues that if implemented, the bill will put an average family of three above the federal poverty line by 2016. According to the Associated Press, such earners have not surpassed [that level] since 1979. Business groups and conservative organizations, such as the National Council of Chain Restaurants, International Franchise Association, and the National Restaurant Association, as well as Heritage Action and the Kochbacked Americans for Prosperity, have been lobbying lawmakers against the wage increase. The small-business argument these groups have been pushing could hold a lot of influence over vulnerable senators, especially in this election-year, where Democrats are pushing a controversial agenda of income equality. Today, 60 votes are required for debate to begin, which would require six Republicans as vulnerable Sen. Mark Pryor (D-AR), who might have opposed the increase, will miss the vote because of storms in his state. Very

few Republicans have signaled possible support for the measure, making it likely it will be rejected today. Later today, the Senate will vote on six district judge nominations. Also, on the committee level: the Senate Rules Committee will hold a hearing on campaign finance, the first congressional look into the Supreme Court McCutcheon decision. The star witness at the hearing today will be former Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, who served on the High Court for 35 years. Stevens came out with a new book last week, in which he pitched six amendments to the U.S. Constitution, including proposals on campaign finance. Other witnesses at the hearing will be: acting Federal Election Commission (FEC) Commissioner Donald F. McGahn, political scientist and American Enterprise Institute scholar Norman J. Ornstein, former FEC chair Trevor Potter (also known as Counsel to a number of presidential campaigns and Stephen Colberts superPAC Americans for a Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow), FEC Vice Chair Ann M. Ravel, and former Democratic National Committee (DNC) general counsel Neil Reiff.

Question of the Day

Todays Question Today in 1789, George Washington was sworn in as the first President of the United States. Who was the only person present at Washingtons inauguration to recount the president saying So help me God after he was sworn in?