2022 Final Legislative Session

We defied the pundits’ predictions and powered an historic Democratic overperformance! Pro-democracy candidates won tons of races at the state level, in congressional races that had been written off, and incredibly won the Senate!! These victories are BIG and deserve celebration! 

While Republicans did pay a price for their extremism, evaporating the predicted Red Wave, Republicans did win enough congressional races to get a majority in the House. This reality closes the brief window we had with a Democratic trifecta in power. There’s no point in sugar coating it - a MAGA majority in the House poses an alarming threat for our democracy. While we celebrate the remarkable gains we made with our movement, we share the anger, sadness, and fear being felt across the country at what a MAGA House majority could mean for our future.

A Republican takeover of the House means Democrats must use every bit of trifecta that is left to deliver as much of the Democratic agenda as possible, before the end of this Congress! That means they have from now until January 3rd, 2023 (Swearing-In Day) to deliver on a long list of priorities. 

At a high level, we need Democrats to stay in session for the remainder of this calendar year so we can minimize the harm Republicans can do by:

1. Accomplishing as much legislative clean-up as possible. This means passing wildly popular bills like the Marriage Equality Act and the Electoral Count Act. 
2. Preventing hostage taking in the 118th Congress. This means lifting the debt ceiling so Republicans don’t have a hostage to take next year!

Win what we can win the final legislative session

“Final legislative session” or “final session” is the period between the election and Inauguration of the next Congress, when the outgoing Congress continues legislative matters before adjourning for the last time. This period is previously known as “lame duck,” but in recognition that words can harm communities, we will not use that phrase out of respect for people with disabilities.

The threat of what Republicans plan to do in 2023 with their House majority merits Democrats fighting with everything they have to win what they can, take a dangerous GOP hostage-taking scenario off the table, and mitigate harm.

Progressives in Congress were responsible for delivering a lot of wins earlier this Congress and we anticipate they’ll push to use every second of this governing trifecta to deliver on as many Democratic promises as possible. They’ll need our support to uplift their efforts to be good faith co-governors alongside their Democratic colleagues, as well as our grassroots power to dispel any Democrat of the notion that they should simply sit back and let the clock wind down on the 117th Congress.    

We’ll walk you through our list of priorities for the final legislative session and why we believe your advocacy will be critical to securing those wins. 

Our Strategy

In order to maximize this short but critical window, the House and especially the Senate will need to be in session A LOT. Which is why our first demand will be that:

Congress remains in session seven days a week until their work is done during the final session. In addition to helping us do as many good things as possible, this approach is also our best bet to avoid pitting our priorities and different parts of the progressive movement against one another in  a scramble for scarce floor time. 

In addition to demanding Congress stay in session, we are pushing for them to deliver the following priorities before the end of this Congress:

Lift the debt ceiling through reconciliation

One of the most dangerous hostages that Republicans could take next Congress is the debt ceiling, which will need to be lifted again next year. Republicans are already threatening to do so, unless Democrats agree to cut programs like Medicare and Social Security! This does not need to happen.

Although the reconciliation process (which only requires 50 votes in the Senate instead of the usual 60) is most often talked about as a tool to raise or spend money, it can also be used to address the debt ceiling. Democrats should use reconciliation to go ahead and lift the debt ceiling and take one of the most dangerous Republican hostage-taking scenarios off the table. (Click here to learn more about the debt ceiling and the process through which Democrats can raise it.)

Just last year when we got to the brink of default, Senator Manchin indicated that he was willing to raise the debt ceiling on a partisan basis, so there is reason to hope we’d have the votes to accomplish this! We just need to make sure Democrats are preemptively taking action with the possibility of Republicans taking control.

You may be asking yourself, “Why not another reconciliation bill to fund popular programs like in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) or American Rescue Plan (ARP)?” Well to be honest, getting another spending reconciliation bill – like the IRA or ARP – passed this Congress is not likely, unless we can get Manchin and Sinema onboard quickly and we all know how painstakingly slow that process is.

We’ll keep you updated if the opportunity arises for another reconciliation bill with good spending! For now, we’re focused on taking away a dangerous hostage-taking scenario off the table. 

Put viable bipartisan bills up for a vote that Republicans won’t put on the floor if they take control of the House

There is a long list of bills that we support and want Congress to vote on. However, with limited floor time in the final legislative session, we’ll want to prioritize legislation that will bolster protections for rights in jeopardy of being stripped away and that Republicans won’t put on the floor if  they gain control of the House. That includes bills like the Respect for Marriage Act and reforms to the Electoral Count Act. 

There are also bills that have been gaining momentum and if it becomes clear that there might be 60 votes in the Senate to pass, we should push to get them across the finish line. That includes bills like the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, antitrust reforms, the EQUAL Act, and the Afghan Adjustment Act. If good bills are put on the Senate floor for a vote and don’t get 10 Republicans, we should use the opportunity to highlight just how out-of-touch and unpopular the GOP’s positions are. 

Continue confirming (good) federal judges & agency positions

The Biden administration’s nominations of good federal judges and agency positions has been exciting to see, but there are still many vacancies that need to be filled! We want the Democrat-held Senate to continue to confirm as many good judges and critical confirmations as they can. 

Secure progressive wins and mitigate harm in must-pass legislation

There are a couple big pieces of legislation that will be top priorities for Democratic leadership to pass before the end of this Congress. Advocates and progressives should look for opportunities to attach their priorities and use their leverage to prevent harmful policy riders from being attached. 

Passing government funding package: It will be a priority for Democrats to pass a funding bill for Fiscal Year 2023 (FY23) in order to increase investments in programs that our communities need. If a funding package is not passed by December 16th – when the current Continuing Resolution (CR) expires – another CR with the prior fiscal year’s outdated funding levels will need to be passed to prevent a government shutdown. Democrats must pass an appropriations omnibus before Republicans potentially take control of the House, giving them another hostage taking opportunity next Congress. 

Attaching progressive priorities to omnibus: There may be an opportunity for progressives to show once again that they are fighting to deliver Democratic priorities, while remaining good faith negotiators. 

One of the most popular economic benefits for families that the Democrats passed, the Expanded Child Tax Credit (CTC), expired at the end of 2021, along with the funding for other temporary tax provisions. There’s appetite to pass extenders to several of these provisions (Republicans want corporate-friendly tax provisions, Democrats want provisions that help families), and we should look for or create an opportunity to make sure the CTC is included. 

There also might be a push to deliver on other promises made by Democrats like protections for DACA-recipients. The DACA program is under attack from the Courts and action is needed to codify the program before SCOTUS almost-certainly terminates it next year. We know that DACA is extremely popular, and adding clean codification onto an omnibus package is a no brainer for Democrats.  

Mitigating harm: Preventing harmful legislation from riding on must-pass legislation must also be a priority. Like we saw in the Manchin anti-climate side deal fight, bad actors will try to get their harmful policies slipped into big packages that are very likely to pass with bipartisan support. That is the case with the FY23 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). Unfortunately, since the NDAA usually passes with a huge number of Republican votes, progressives may lack leverage on the final vote tally to put passage of this bill into question. We will need to get creative to urge leadership to block harmful policies, like permitting reform or harmful immigration policies, from being attached.

Other things you might hear from us about

Political landscapes are constantly changing and windows of opportunities may open up. If that happens, we’ll let you know how your advocacy can be most impactful. Some examples may include defending legislative and executive wins – like student debt cancellation, drug pricing reforms, and ensuring programs the Biden administration needs to deliver on his executive actions have sufficient funding levels (i.e. the Defense Production Act (DPA) to develop clean energy resources).