Fellow Conservative,

Yesterday the newly elected members of Congress were sworn into office, ushering in the 119th United States Congress. The House of Representatives kicked the session off with a vote for Speaker of the House where Rep. Mike Johnson (R-La.), endorsed by President Trump, won the vote.

New Rules on the Block

After the election of the Speaker, the House then passed a new package of rules that will govern the 119th Congress. Some highlights include:

• Allows only members of the majority party to introduce a motion to vacate the speaker, and requires at least eight cosponsors from the majority party
• Dissolves the congressional Diversity and Inclusion Office
• Continues the “Holman Rule” from the 118th Congress which allows amendments to appropriations legislation that would reduce the salary of specific Federal employees or cut a specific program
• Continues authorization of the Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party

>>>Read our Press Release<<<

The rules package also contains 12 bills for consideration at a future time chosen by leadership. This means that these 12 bills can now be brought up any time for a vote. These first 12 bills show us where the priorities of the next Congress rest, and the news is good. Here are some of the proposed bills.

Protecting Women and Girls in Sports Act: A bill to amend the Education Amendments of 1972 to provide that for purposes of determining compliance with title IX of such Act in athletics, sex shall be recognized based solely on a person’s reproductive biology and genetics at birth.

>> GRASSROOTS NOTE: Heritage Action’s grassroots conservatives have worked hard to make sure this issue was taken seriously at the federal level. This bill passed the House of Representatives last Congress after we issued a Key Vote Cosponsorship in the 117th and 118th Congresses. Further, grassroots submitted over 40,000 public comments opposing Biden’s attempt to redefine “sex” under Title IX. They also called, emailed, and wrote to the Senate telling them to co-sponsor this bill last session which many of them did. Thank you to everyone who worked to make sure this issue was not forgotten. Your perseverance is why this bill is a priority for this Congress.

Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act (SAVE Act): A bill to amend the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 to require proof of United States citizenship to register an individual to vote in elections for Federal office.

>> GRASSROOTS NOTE: This bill was introduced and passed in the last session of the House of Representatives and it is critically important that it be passed into law. Heritage Action issued a Key Vote for this bill and the grassroots showed tremendous support for it ultimately leading to the passage of the SAVE Act. Now, it’s time to pass it again when it has a chance to make it through the Senate and onto President Trump’s desk.

The other 10 bills include measures to crack down on sanctuary cities, discourage illegal immigration, stop the flow of fentanyl into the United States, as well as protect and boost America’s energy production.

The Work of the Senate

The Senate will begin the approval process of President Trump’s Cabinet nominees. In total, there are approximately 3,000—4,000 presidential appointee positions that need to be filled by the President and about 1,400 of those will require Senate confirmation.

There is a lot of work to be done and President Trump will only have about 18 months at most to accomplish his most important legislative goals before Congress loses steam and leaves DC to campaign for the midterm elections. Yet, the average time to fill a Cabinet has only increased.

It is urgent for the American people to push the Senate to act swiftly and fill President Trump’s Cabinet as soon as possible.

>>>Sign the Petition HERE<<<

We already have 88,000 signatures, and we know that the more we can get the more the Senate will feel compelled to act even faster!

>>>Sign and share the petition for a swift confirmation process through the Senate

In this new year, we can’t wait to see all that we will accomplish together. Thank you for all that you do.

- Ryan and the Heritage Action team

Join the fight to advance the conservative agenda.