Monday, April 7th, 2025
Terminating National Emergency: The Senate passed S.J.Res.37 (51-48), which would terminate the national emergency declared by President Donald Trump on February 1, 2025, which imposed an additional 25% tariff on most imports from Canada (except for Canadian energy or energy resources, which have an additional 10% tariff).
Blocking Arms Sales to Israel: The Senate rejected two resolutions to block nearly $9 billion in military assistance to Israel. In a vote of 15-82, the Senate rejected S.J.Res.33, a resolution of disapproval that sought to block the proposed arms sale to Israel. A second resolution, S.J.Res.26, to halt the sale of certain defense articles and services to Israel, was also rejected by a vote of 15-83. The call to pass the resolutions came after Israel recently broke a ceasefire with Hamas.
Proxy Voting: The House canceled remaining votes earlier in the week after a group of Republicans joined Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) to reject a rule on the House floor and clear the way for a renewed effort to allow recent parents to vote by proxy. The proxy proposal (H.Res.23) would allow mothers and fathers to designate a colleague to vote on their behalf for up to 12 weeks after the birth of a child. Rep. Luna filed a discharge petition for the resolution in March and quickly hit the 218-threshold needed to force a vote on the House floor over the objections of leadership.
The House GOP, in response, attempted a procedural takedown of the discharge petition, slipping language into an unrelated rule (H.Res.282) setting up floor votes on conservative priorities, including a controversial election bill (H.22). The language would have tabled the proxy voting discharge petition and warded off future attempts to create a proxy carveout for new moms and dads. But eight Republicans joined Rep. Luna and all 213 Democrats in voting against the rule, scuttling the House GOP’s plan.
Energy Conservation Standards for Walk-In Coolers and Freezers Rule: The Senate passed H.J.Res.24 (53-42), which would repeal the Energy Department’s stricter efficiency standards for walk-in coolers and freezers. It would also prevent the department from issuing a substantially similar proposal. The Biden administration rule requires refrigeration companies to implement energy-reducing technologies for walk-in refrigeration systems starting Dec. 31, 2028. The already House-passed bill now heads to President Trump’s desk, where he is expected to sign it.
Filing Relief for Natural Disasters: The House passed H.R.517, which authorizes the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to postpone federal tax deadlines for taxpayers affected by a qualified state declared disaster, upon written request by the state governor. The bill defines a qualified state-declared disaster as any natural catastrophe, fire, flood, or explosion that causes damage of sufficient severity and magnitude.
