Weldon protects the rights of conscience for healthcare professionals and institutions by preventing HHS from denying funding to recipients that refuse to provide, pay for, or refer for abortion. At the 2021 Annual Meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention, messengers unanimously approved a resolution condemning efforts to strip Hyde from any federal appropriations bills and called upon Congress to uphold all pro-life riders.Īdditionally, the appropriations bills removed the Weldon Amendment for only the second time since 2005. The Hyde Amendment prevents Medicaid from covering the cost of abortion. Just as last year, the Hyde Amendment has not been included in the Labor-HHS appropriations bill. The FY2023 appropriations bills are troubling because they remove several longstanding pro-life riders from the budget. If passed, these bills will have to be reconciled with the House versions. The Senate has also released but not yet taken up its own version of these bills. Though all bills have been passed out of committee, the House has not yet taken action on Commerce, Justice, and Science Defense Homeland Security Labor, Health and Human Services, Education Legislative Branch, or State, Foreign Operations. House of Representatives passed a six-bill minibus, which included Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration Energy and Water Development Financial Services and General Government Interior, Environment and Military Construction, Veterans Affairs. Congress previously passed a short-term CR in September to fund the government through December 16. Protecting life and religious liberty in appropriationsĬongress must either complete its appropriations work or pass another continuing resolution (CR) by the end of December 16. In this session, the ERLC’s top priorities will be protecting life and religious liberty in appropriations, opposing the Respect for Marriage Act, and advocating for permanent protections for Dreamers and Afghans in the US. These dynamics come together to occasionally allow bills to find passage that have been stuck in Congressional gridlock.Īs we enter into this important legislative session, the ERLC will be advocating on behalf of Southern Baptists to uphold life and religious liberty and pursue biblical justice for the vulnerable.
Other times, retiring lawmakers or those who were not reelected will be more willing to take votes that go against their party because they will not have to face voters following this session. Oftentimes, these bills will be added on to the omnibus or NDAA packages. The Lame Duck also presents a unique opportunity for smaller, bipartisan bills to be passed into law. As uncertainty lingers and fallout grows from Republicans’ disappointing electoral results, it remains to be seen exactly what will be done before the end of the year. Additionally, Congressional leaders have indicated that they may use this time to pass the Respect for Marriage Act in the Senate, reform the Electoral Count Act, take up permitting reforms, or raise the debt ceiling. This year, Congress must pass either an omnibus appropriations bill (a budget for this 2023 fiscal year) or another continuing resolution by December 16 to avoid a government shutdown and fund the government, as well as the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), before the end of the year. This session between the election and the swearing in of the new Congress in January is called the Lame Duck session. Though results are still coming in from Tuesday’s midterm elections that will determine which party controls the House of Representatives, Congress is coming back in session today with a long list of legislative items to do before the end of the year.
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