November 2022 Washington InfO

Election Update: Republicans Take House of Representatives, Democrats Hold Senate

Control of the United States Congress will be divided in 2023, as Republicans won a majority of seats in the House of Representatives during the November 2022 midterm elections. However, Democrats retained the majority in the Senate, setting up a “divided government” scenario where neither political party will be able to advance their policy goals independently of the other. Congress will likely focus efforts on areas of bipartisan agreement, such as a reauthorization of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) workforce development legislation due to be passed this year, mental health legislation, and more. Republicans are also likely to use their newfound majority in the House to conduct oversight of Biden Administration activities such as student loan debt forgiveness and biomedical research priorities. Without a Democratic majority in both chambers, the Biden Administration may seek to use more executive orders to implement their policy agenda and continue their priorities around racial equity, climate change, and research innovation.

Rep. Frank Lucas (R-OK) currently serves as the lead Republican on the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee and is expected to take over the Chairmanship. Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) will take over as the leading Democrat on the committee following the retirement of Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX). In the Senate, Senator Maria Cantwell will continue as Chairwoman of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee. Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) is expected to become the leading Republican on the committee, with current Ranking Member Roger Wicker (R-MS) expected to move to the Armed Services Committee. While Reps. Kay Granger (R-TX) and Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) will continue to lead the House Appropriations Committee, leadership of the Senate Appropriations Committee will shift to Senators Patty Murray (D-WA) and Susan Collins (R-ME) with the retirement of both current committee leaders. This will be the first time in history that Congress’s annual spending committees’ leadership will be all women.

SIOP Experts Present to DOJ Community Oriented Policing Services Office Staff and Stakeholders

On November 9, representatives from the SIOP Policing Initiative presented at an event organized by the Department of Justice Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) Office. The event was well-attended and provided an opportunity for stakeholders from throughout the COPS Office to learn more about I-O and its applications to policing. The presentation was well-received and the audience had thoughtful questions for the SIOP members over I-O findings related to issues like officer recruitment, retention, selection, training, wellness, and more. This was an important step in the partnership between SIOP and the COPS office that was formalized with the memorandum of understand (MOU) earlier this year. Now that a wider array of COPS Office representatives have a more in-depth understanding of I-O, they will be better equipped to leverage SIOP experts and I-O findings as they engage with law enforcement agencies across the country.