Washington Report: A New Year, A New Administration

by Patty Power, ACPA Washington Advocate

As the 118th Congress comes to a close at the end of 2024, Washington wraps up remaining “must pass” business and looks forward to the rollout of the new administration. The 2024 election on November 4 signaled a change in direction for the country. The leadership shifted from Democratic in the White House and in the Senate to Republican control. The House of Representatives remains in Republican control, but in tighter margins than in this Congress. The Republican Party now controls both the executive and legislative branches of the federal government. This unexpected outcome — pundits did not expect the House to stay in Republican control — will strengthen the efforts of the incoming Trump administration on issues like taxes, trade, energy, immigration and a raft of social issues.

As I write this column, the “lame duck” final session of this Congress is underway. As Congress continues the organizational work begun last month to align their leadership on both sides of the aisle for the next session, they also face their final legislative agenda. The “must pass” agenda includes: fiscal year 2025 appropriations; the Emergency Supplemental to fund critical disaster assistance in the Southeast; the National Defense Authorization Act; and the Water Resources Development Act.

Currently, the federal government is running under the funding authority of a continuing resolution effective through December 20, 2024. That means that the fiscal year 2024 budget authority continues to allow the federal government to stay open and operate. To avoid a government shutdown, Congress is expected to pass another Continuing Resolution through March. The Emergency Supplemental and the National Defense Authorization Act are both expected to pass before December 20.

The Trump transition has been very active. President-elect Trump has announced many nominations for his cabinet and federal leadership team, as well as some new entities. For example, President-elect Trump announced the new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to be jointly run by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy. The purpose of this new Department is to reduce waste in the federal government. Elon Musk initially said that he wanted to reduce the federal budget by $2 trillion annually, which would effectively eliminate all of the federal government not in the military or supported by entitlement payments, such as Social Security.

However, Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy wrote an op-ed published in the Wall Street Journal the day before Thanksgiving that discussed refinements in their approach; for example, they now plan to cut $500 billion in annual spending. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the federal government spent about $516 billion in programs whose congressional authorization expired; the two top programs on the list are veterans’ health care and opioid treatment and drug development. You can see how it may be politically difficult to cut spending to programs that support federal programs considered critical to many, such as the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

To be clear, it is important to note that Congress authorizes all spending every fiscal year (see above regarding the continuing resolution v. shut down). These targeted programs have expired authorizations for spending. This is just one example of the many changes being proposed by those involved in the Trump transition. It is very early in the process and we will see many changes as President-elect Trump develops his team and policies further. To that end, President-elect Trump has been meeting with domestic political leaders and world leaders in preparation to take office on January 20, 2025. President-elect Trump plans to implement his top priorities as soon as he takes office. He and his team are preparing to change policies and guidance to reverse many Biden administration positions, for example, creating new executive orders and guidance to eliminate preferences to achieve diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), and climate science. The Trump team is working with their Republican colleagues in Congress to advance a tax bill to extend the 2017 tax credits and reverse the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). The incoming Senate leadership has drawn a plan to use two budget reconciliation packages to achieve quick results — the first would fund border control measures, increase Defense Department spending and support increased domestic energy production, and the second package would address tax credit extensions. And on the international stage, the President-elect plans to impose tariffs on goods coming from many countries, as well as to engage in trouble spots in Europe and the Middle East.

The first 100 days will be intense. How your concrete pumping company may be affected by all of this activity will become more clear as the incoming Trump administration’s plans and timing develops. One issue we expect to see addressed early on is how the Environmental Protection Agency implements Clean Air Act requirements, particularly as they impact climate issues. ACPA will be prepared to engage with the new administration regarding our concerns about access to equipment (an EV concrete pump is not possible) because of the Clean Air Act rules. In the midst of the tax legislation efforts in Congress, ACPA can explore opportunities to reinitiate the Concrete Pump Tax Fairness Act. And in the space of the incoming administration’s concerns about the Inflation Reduction Act, we will be looking for opportunities to address ACPA members’ concerns about the apprenticeship requirements.

We will be back in the next issue with an update about what is happening in Washington and how ACPA will find opportunities to advance the concrete pumping industry’s priorities. Happy New Year!