February 25, 2022
In this edition, our friend and colleague Patrick Robertson brings us a summary of Democrats’ legislative must-do list. Al Jackson brings us up to date on defense and related appropriations issues.
Washington is quiet – in fact, it’s beyond quiet. Both the Senate and the House are on a state or district work week. Congressional staff, folks involved in partisan politics, and people in the advocacy world are taking a few days to catch their breath. Add in the thousands of folks who have not yet returned to their offices, and you get a real sense why both Capitol Hill and downtown Washington are listless. Restaurants are near-empty (except for on Valentine’s Day), retail stores are holding on, and cabs are virtually non-existent.
But it is a very eerie quiet because there’s a lot of things happening below the surface and across the ocean.
Democrats and Republicans are both mindful that this November’s midterm election will almost assuredly bring major changes to Congress. Both sides are working feverishly on candidate selection, fundraising, and messaging.
But the big story this week was Russia’s invasion Wednesday evening of Ukraine, which did unite Republicans and Democrats. Here’s a
sampling of legislators’ responses to Russia’s invasion.
President Biden announced Thursday a series of sanctions on Russian companies and Russian individuals. These included a series of measures from the Treasury Department that are intended to severely impact Russian banks and financial institutions, Russian elites and their family members, and state-owned entities. The White House also announced a series of Commerce Department sanctions that will severely impact the exporting of technologies used by the Russian defense sector.
Whether Putin will be deterred by sanctions, no matter how severe, is yet to be seen. But it’s clear that the battle for Ukraine is really
the first battle between the United States, Russia, and China for dominance in a rapidly changing world.