Senate Finance Committee Issues Report on Activities During 114th Congress (Part 2 of 2)

WASHINGTON, April 10 -- The Senate Finance Committee issued a report (S.Rpt. 115-25) on the activities during the 114th Congress. The report was advanced by Sen. Orrin G. Hatch, R-Utah, on April 5.

Continues from Part 1 of 2

SOCIAL SECURITY

SUMMARY OF ACTIVITIES

In the 114th Congress, the Senate Committee on Finance activities with respect to the Old-Age, Survivors Insurance (OASI) program and Disability Insurance (DI) program--"Social Security"--were limited to: oversight of implementation of the Social Security Benefit Protection and Opportunity Enhancement Act of 2015, the most significant Social Security legislation to be enacted in the last 20 years (Pub. L. 114-74), which contained reforms to Social Security programs and a reallocation of Trust Fund resources from the OASI Trust Fund to the DI Trust fund to prevent reductions in benefits for DI beneficiaries that otherwise were projected toward the end of calendar year 2016; and activities to consider the President's nominations of three individuals: Andrew LaMont Eanes to be Deputy Commissioner of Social Security, and Robert D. Reischauer and Charles P. Blahous to be members of the Board of Trustees of the Federal Hospital Insurance Trust Fund, the Board of Trustees of the Federal OASI Trust Fund and the Federal DI Trust Fund, and the Board of Trustees of the Federal Supplementary Medical Insurance Trust Fund.

Full Committee Hearings

2016 February 4, 2016--Full committee hearing to consider the nomination of Andrew LaMont Eanes to be Deputy Commissioner of Social Security.

May 11, 2016--Full committee hearing to consider the nominations of the Honorable Charles P. Blahous III and the Honorable Robert D. Reischauer to be members of the Board of Trustees of the Federal Hospital Insurance Trust Fund, the Board of Trustees of the Federal OASI Trust Fund and the Federal DI Trust Fund, and the Board of Trustees of the Federal Supplementary Medical Insurance Trust Fund.

Full Committee Executive Meetings

2016

April 18, 2016--Open Executive Session to consider the nomination of Andrew LaMont Eanes to be Deputy Commissioner of Social Security.

June 8, 2016--Open Executive Session to consider the nominations of the Honorable Charles P. Blahous III and the Honorable Robert D. Reischauer to be members of the Board of Trustees of the Federal Hospital Insurance Trust Fund, the Board of Trustees of the Federal OASI Trust Fund and the Federal DI Trust Fund, and the Board of Trustees of the Federal Supplementary Medical Insurance Trust Fund.

November 30, 2016--Open Executive Session to consider the nominations of the Honorable Charles P. Blahous III and the Honorable Robert D. Reischauer to be members of the Board of Trustees of the Federal Hospital Insurance Trust Fund, the Board of Trustees of the Federal OASI Trust Fund and the Federal DI Trust Fund, and the Board of Trustees of the Federal Supplementary Medical Insurance Trust Fund.

FEDERAL DEBT LIMIT

SUMMARY OF ACTIVITIES

In the 114th Congress, the Senate Committee on Finance activities with respect to the Federal Debt Limit included full committee hearings with the Secretary of the Treasury on the President's fiscal year 2016 and 2017 budgets, within which issues surrounding the Federal debt limit were debated.

Full Committee Hearings

2015

February 5, 2015--"President's Budget for Fiscal Year 2016." The hearing covered the President's 2016 budget and touched on health care, tax reform, and employment. Testimony was heard from the Honorable Jacob J. Lew, Secretary, Department of the Treasury, Washington, DC.

2016

February 10, 2016--"President's Fiscal Year 2017 Budget." This hearing addressed the President's 2017 budget and touched on IRS oversight and customer service. Testimony was heard from the Honorable John Koskinen, Commissioner, Internal Revenue Service, Washington, DC.

OVERSIGHT AND INVESTIGATIONS

SUMMARY OF ACTIVITIES

On August 5, 2015, the Finance Committee released the bipartisan IRS report. After a nearly 21/2-year, bipartisan investigation, the committee sent their report to the full Senate for approval and public release.

Bipartisan findings of the report include:

During the years 2010 to 2013, IRS management failed to provide effective control, guidance, and direction over the processing of applications for tax-exempt status.

Top IRS managers did not keep informed about the applications involving possible political advocacy and thereby forfeited the opportunity to provide the leadership that the IRS needed to respond to the legal and policy issues presented by these applications.

Lois Lerner, who headed the Exempt Organizations Division, became aware of the Tea Party applications in early 2010, but failed to inform her superiors about their existence. While under Lerner's leadership, the Exempt Organizations Division undertook no less than seven poorly planned and badly executed initiatives aimed at bringing the growing number of applications from Tea Party and other groups to decision. Every one of those initiatives ended in predictable failure and every failure resulted in months and years of delay for the organizations awaiting decisions from the IRS on their applications for tax-exempt status.

The Committee also found that the workplace culture in the Exempt Organizations Division placed little emphasis or value on providing customer service.

- Few if any of the managers were concerned about the delays in processing the applications, delays that possibly harmed the organizations ability to function for their stated purposes.

Issuance of the report was delayed for more than a year after the IRS belatedly informed the committee that it had not been able to recover a large number of potentially responsive documents that were lost when Lois Lerner's hard drive crashed in 2011.

By failing to locate and preserve records, making inaccurate assertions about the existence of backup data, and failing to disclose to Congress the fact that records were missing, the IRS impeded the committee's investigation. These actions had the effect of denying the committee access to records that may have been relevant and, ultimately, delayed the investigation's conclusion by more than 1 year.

Background:

On May 20, 2013, the leaders of the Senate Finance Committee sent a detailed, 41-question document request to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) seeking information about the alleged targeting by the IRS of certain social welfare organizations applying for tax-exempt status based on those organizations' presumed political activities. That letter marked the beginning of a bipartisan investigation by the committee into the IRS's activities related to the review of tax-exempt applications and related issues raised by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) in his May 14, 2013 report.

In June 2014, the committee learned that Lois Lerner had experienced a hard drive failure in 2011, which raised questions about the IRS's ability to produce all the documents necessary to complete the Senate Finance Committee investigation. As a result, then-Chairman Wyden and then- Ranking Member Hatch asked TIGTA to investigate the matter. Specifically, TIGTA looked into: (1) what records the IRS lost; (2) if there was any attempt to deliberately destroy records or otherwise impede congressional and Federal investigations; and (3) whether any of the missing information could be recovered.

TIGTA provided their findings to the committee on June 30, 2015.

Upon completing the report, committee investigators had interviewed more than 32 current and former IRS and Treasury employees and reviewed nearly 1.5 million pages of documents.

On May 10, 2016, Chairman Hatch released an updated report on Physician-Owned Distributorships (PODs) entitled "Physician-Owned Distributorships: An Update on Key Issues and Areas of Congressional Concern."

Findings from the report include:

The financial incentives from PODs increase utilization. Analysis done by committee staff found that as a percentage of patients seen, POD surgeons performed surgery at a much higher rate (44% higher) than non-POD surgeons. And furthermore, in absolute number, POD surgeons performed nearly twice as many fusion surgeries (94% more) as non-POD surgeons.

Sunshine reporting requirements are insufficient and PODs are changing their behavior in response to these requirements. It appears that PODs are not complying with their reporting requirements, and PODs are changing the way they pay their physician owners in an attempt to skirt Sunshine requirements. PODs are moving from large hospital chains to small rural hospitals as many large hospital chains have implanted strict POD policies. It remains difficult to identify POD physicians.

PODs are now located in at least 43 States and the District of Columbia, up from 20 in 2011.

This white paper was the culmination of nearly 5 years of work by majority staff of the committee examining the role of PODs in the health-care marketplace. The committee initially released an analysis of PODs in June 2011 focusing on the structure and growth of such arrangements in a number of States. Concurrent with this analysis, letters were sent to the Office of the Inspector General for the Department of Health and Human Services (OIG-HHS) and to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) asking each entity to explore various issues the committee identified with PODs. These included a review of pertinent fraud and abuse laws by OIG-HHS and consideration of language specific to PODs being included in an interim final rule being promulgated by CMS.

In March of 2013 the OIG-HHS issued a Special Fraud Alert on PODs declaring that many of the models utilized by those forming PODs were "inherently suspect." Later that year in October 2013, OIG-HHS finalized a report on PODs' relationship with physicians and hospitals detailing the prevalence and use of PODs.

The committee also held a hearing on PODs in November 2015 which focused on the various aspects of PODs in the health-care marketplace and that helped identify areas where the guidance and laws in this area are still not clearly defined.

On June 30, 2016, Chairman Hatch released a white paper entitled "Why Stark, Why Now? Suggestions to Improve the Stark Law to Encourage Innovative Payment Models."

This white paper examined potential reforms to the law governing Medicare physicians' referrals aimed at removing barriers that prevent hospitals, doctors, and other health-care providers from moving to alternative, more cost-effective payment models. The white paper discusses stakeholder perspectives on how the Stark law is working in practice, highlighting the law's complexity, the severity of its penalties, its significant compliance costs, and its effect on efforts to integrate health-care delivery.

Congress originally enacted the Stark law to reduce the influence of financial relationships on physician referrals of Medicare patients. The law was aimed at curbing the provision of unnecessary health-care services, or overutilization, at a time when physicians were paid a fee for each service provided. Although that payment model still exists, the industry is moving to payment models that reward the quality rather than the volume of health care. Congress has encouraged this shift with recent health-care reforms. When payment is not based on volume, the incentives the Stark law was created to address are greatly reduced or eliminated.

The Senate Finance Committee and House Ways and Means Committee held a roundtable on the Stark law in December 2015 and requested feedback from subject-matter experts. Following the roundtable, the committees issued a more widespread call for comments and received close to 50 responses. The white paper details key areas of those comments and concerns.

As a follow-up to the white paper, the committee held a hearing on potential changes to the Stark law in July 2016 to discuss many of the key themes included in the white paper which Congress could consider in the coming years.

On October 26, 2016, Chairman Hatch and Ways and Means Chairman Brady jointly released a white paper analyzing the Obamacare Income Eligibility Verification.

The majority staff white paper issued by the two committees detailed a number of issues plaguing the law's income eligibility verification process. The process, which is used to both determine eligibility and repayment for taxpayer-funded subsidies, has come under scrutiny in more than a dozen reports from independent watchdogs. The white paper highlights these reports and details how the Obama administration has failed to implement necessary safeguards and recommendations from these watchdogs to prevent fictitious applicants from receiving subsidies and wasting taxpayer dollars. The white paper also outlines how the administration has failed to reconcile and reclaim excess subsidies, and has instead relaxed standards for income eligibility verification in the Federally-facilitated marketplace.

On December 12, 2016, Chairman Hatch and Ranking Member Wyden jointly released a white paper detailing the practices of concurrent and overlapping surgeries.

The bipartisan white paper describes and compares guidance from CMS and that recently developed from the American College of Surgeons on the practices of concurrent and overlapping surgeries to policies developed by selected teaching hospitals. The report makes recommendations to the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services and to hospitals as the result of committee staff concerns about patient safety and improper payments.

Full Committee Hearings

October 27, 2015--"The Internal Revenue Service's Response to Committee Recommendations Contained in its August 5, 2015 Report." Testimony was heard from the Honorable John Koskinen, Commissioner, Internal Revenue Service, Washington, DC.

In their August 2015 report, the committee made a number of recommendations to address IRS management deficiencies including the following:

The Hatch Act should be revised to designate all IRS, Treasury, and Chief Counsel employees who handle exempt organization matters as "further restricted." "Further restricted" employees are precluded from active participation in political management or partisan campaigns, even while off-duty.

The IRS should track the age and cycle times of applications for tax-exempt status to detect backlogs early in the process and allow management to take steps to address those backlogs.

The Exempt Organizations Division should track requests for assistance from both the Technical Branch and the Chief Counsel's office to ensure the timely receipt of that assistance.

A list of over-age applications should be sent to the Commissioner on a quarterly basis.

Internal IRS guidance should require that employees reach a decision on applications no later than 270 days after the IRS receives that application. Employees and managers who fail to comply with these standards should be disciplined.

Minimum training standards should be established for all managers within the EO Division to ensure that they have adequate technical ability to perform their jobs.

This hearing was a follow-up to hear what, if any, of these had been acted upon by IRS and the status of those actions.

Full Committee Executive Meetings

2015

August 5, 2015--Closed Executive Session to vote on whether to submit to the Senate the committee's report on the IRS handling of tax-exempt status under Internal Revenue Code section 501(c)(4). The committee voted to release the report and submit it to the Senate so that the information contained therein would not be in violation of IRS rule 6103 governing the use and disclosure of taxpayer-specific information.

Senators Only Meetings

2015

July 28, 2015--Full Committee Members' Meeting to discuss the committee's report on the IRS handling of tax-exempt status under Internal Revenue Code section 501(c)(4). As required by law, members were briefed by committee staff with IRS rule 6103 authority to review private taxpayer information in a number of closed-door briefings on the findings and recommendations of the report before the vote.

July 29, 2015--Full Committee Members' Meeting to continue discussion of the committee's report on the IRS handling of tax- exempt status under Internal Revenue Code section 501(c)(4).

NOMINATIONS

Michael P. Leary, of Pennsylvania, to be Inspector General, Social Security Administration, vice Patrick P. O'Carroll, Jr., resigned.

November 29, 2016: Received in the Senate and referred to the Committee on Finance.

January 3, 2017--Returned to the President under the provisions of Senate Rule XXXI, paragraph 6 of the Standing Rules of the Senate.

Robert M. Tobias, of the District of Columbia, to be a member of the Internal Revenue Service Oversight Board for a term expiring September 14, 2020, vice Deborah L. Wince-Smith, term expired.

May 11, 2016: Received in the Senate.

May 11, 2016: Placed on Senate Executive Calendar in the Privileged Nomination section with nominee information requested by the Committee on Finance, pursuant to S. Res. 116, 112th Congress.

January 3, 2017--Returned to the President under the provisions of Senate Rule XXXI, paragraph 6 of the Standing Rules of the Senate.

Alan J. Kreczko, of Connecticut, to be a member of the Internal Revenue Service Oversight Board for a term expiring September 14, 2019, vice Paul Cherecwich, Jr., resigned.

December 14, 2015: Received in the Senate.

December 14, 2015: Placed on Senate Executive Calendar in the Privileged Nomination section with nominee information requested by the Committee on Finance, pursuant to S. Res. 116, 112th Congress.

January 3, 2017--Returned to the President under the provisions of Senate Rule XXXI, paragraph 6 of the Standing Rules of the Senate.

James R. White, of Maryland, to be a member of the Internal Revenue Service Oversight Board for a term expiring September 14, 2020, vice Nancy Killefer, term expired. December 14, 2015: Received in the Senate.

December 14, 2015: Placed on Senate Executive Calendar in the Privileged Nomination section with nominee information requested by the Committee on Finance, pursuant to S. Res. 116, 112th Congress.

January 3, 2017--Returned to the President under the provisions of Senate Rule XXXI, paragraph 6 of the Standing Rules of the Senate.

Vik Edwin Stoll, of Missouri, to be a judge of the United States Tax Court for a term of 15 years, vice James S. Halpern, retired.

November 9, 2015: Received in the Senate and referred to the Committee on Finance.

February 4, 2016: Committee on Finance. Hearings held. Hearings printed: S. Hrg. 114-415.

April 18, 2016: Committee on Finance. Ordered to be reported favorably.

April 18, 2016: Reported by Senator Hatch, Committee on Finance, without printed report.

April 18, 2016: Placed on Senate Executive Calendar. Calendar No. 510. Subject to nominee's commitment to respond to requests to appear and testify before any duly constituted committee of the Senate.

January 3, 2017--Returned to the President under the provisions of Senate Rule XXXI, paragraph 6 of the Standing Rules of the Senate.

Robert D. Reischauer, of Maryland, to be a member of the Board of Trustees of the Federal Hospital Insurance Trust Fund for a term of 4 years (reappointment).

August 5, 2015: Received in the Senate.

August 5, 2015: Placed on Senate Executive Calendar in the Privileged Nomination section with nominee information requested by the Committee on Finance, pursuant to S. Res. 116, 112th Congress.

May 11, 2016: Committee on Finance. Hearings held.

June 8, 2016: Committee requested information was received.

June 21, 2016: Referred to the Committee on Finance as requested by Senator Hatch.

December 1, 2016: Committee on Finance. Ordered to be reported favorably.

December 1, 2016: Reported by Senator Hatch, Committee on Finance, without printed report.

December 1, 2016: Placed on Senate Executive Calendar. Calendar No. 771. Subject to nominee's commitment to respond to requests to appear and testify before any duly constituted committee of the Senate.

January 3, 2017: Returned to the President under the provisions of Senate Rule XXXI, paragraph 6 of the Standing Rules of the Senate.

Robert D. Reischauer, of Maryland, to be a Member of the Board of Trustees of the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund and the Federal Disability Insurance Trust Fund for a term of 4 years (reappointment).

August 5, 2015: Received in the Senate.

August 5, 2015: Placed on Senate Executive Calendar in the Privileged Nomination section with nominee information requested by the Committee on Finance, pursuant to S. Res. 116, 112th Congress.

May 11, 2016: Committee on Finance. Hearings held.

June 8, 2016: Committee requested information was received.

June 21, 2016: Referred to the Committee on Finance as requested by Senator Hatch.

December 1, 2016: Committee on Finance. Ordered to be reported favorably.

December 1, 2016: Reported by Senator Hatch, Committee on Finance, without printed report.

December 1, 2016: Placed on Senate Executive Calendar. Calendar No. 770. Subject to nominee's commitment to respond to requests to appear and testify before any duly constituted committee of the Senate.

January 3, 2017: Returned to the President under the provisions of Senate Rule XXXI, paragraph 6 of the Standing Rules of the Senate.

Robert D. Reischauer, of Maryland, to be a member of the Board of Trustees of the Federal Supplementary Medical Insurance Trust Fund for a term of 4 years (reappointment).

August 5, 2015: Received in the Senate.

August 5, 2015: Placed on Senate Executive Calendar in the Privileged Nomination section with nominee information requested by the Committee on Finance, pursuant to S. Res. 116, 112th Congress.

May 11, 2016: Committee on Finance. Hearings held.

June 8, 2016: Committee requested information was received.

June 21, 2016: Referred to the Committee on Finance as requested by Senator Hatch.

December 1, 2016: Committee on Finance. Ordered to be reported favorably.

December 1, 2016: Reported by Senator Hatch, Committee on Finance, without printed report.

December 1, 2016: Placed on Senate Executive Calendar. Calendar No. 769. Subject to nominee's commitment to respond to requests to appear and testify before any duly constituted committee of the Senate.

January 3, 2017: Returned to the President under the provisions of Senate Rule XXXI, paragraph 6 of the Standing Rules of the Senate.

Charles P. Blahous III, of Maryland, to be a member of the Board of Trustees of the Federal Hospital Insurance Trust Fund for a term of 4 years (reappointment).

August 5, 2015: Received in the Senate.

August 5, 2015: Placed on Senate Executive Calendar in the Privileged Nomination section with nominee information requested by the Committee on Finance, pursuant to S. Res. 116, 112th Congress.

May 11, 2016: Committee on Finance. Hearings held.

June 8, 2016: Committee requested information was received.

June 20, 2016: Referred to the Committee on Finance as requested by Senator Schumer, Senator Whitehouse, and Senator Warren.

December 1, 2016: Committee on Finance. Ordered to be reported favorably.

December 1, 2016: Reported by Senator Hatch, Committee on Finance, without printed report.

December 1, 2016: Placed on Senate Executive Calendar. Calendar No. 768. Subject to nominee's commitment to respond to requests to appear and testify before any duly constituted committee of the Senate.

January 3, 2017: Returned to the President under the provisions of Senate Rule XXXI, paragraph 6 of the Standing Rules of the Senate.

Charles P. Blahous III, of Maryland, to be a member of the Board of Trustees of the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund and the Federal Disability Insurance Trust Fund for a term of 4 years (reappointment).

August 5, 2015: Received in the Senate.

August 5, 2015: Placed on Senate Executive Calendar in the Privileged Nomination section with nominee information requested by the Committee on Finance, pursuant to S. Res. 116, 112th Congress.

May 11, 2016: Committee on Finance. Hearings held.

June 8, 2016: Committee requested information was received.

June 20, 2016: Referred to the Committee on Finance as requested by Senator Schumer, Senator Whitehouse, and Senator Warren.

December 1, 2016: Committee on Finance. Ordered to be reported favorably.

December 1, 2016: Reported by Senator Hatch, Committee on Finance, without printed report.

December 1, 2016: Placed on Senate Executive Calendar. Calendar No. 767. Subject to nominee's commitment to respond to requests to appear and testify before any duly constituted committee of the Senate.

January 3, 2017: Returned to the President under the provisions of Senate Rule XXXI, paragraph 6 of the Standing Rules of the Senate.

Charles P. Blahous III, of Maryland, to be a member of the Board of Trustees of the Federal Supplementary Medical Insurance Trust Fund for a term of 4 years (reappointment).

August 5, 2015: Received in the Senate.

August 5, 2015: Placed on Senate Executive Calendar in the Privileged Nomination section with nominee information requested by the Committee on Finance, pursuant to S. Res. 116, 112th Congress.

May 11, 2016: Committee on Finance. Hearings held.

June 8, 2016: Committee requested information was received.

June 20, 2016: Referred to the Committee on Finance as requested by Senator Schumer, Senator Whitehouse, and Senator Warren.

December 1, 2016: Committee on Finance. Ordered to be reported favorably.

December 1, 2016: Reported by Senator Hatch, Committee on Finance, without printed report.

December 1, 2016: Placed on Senate Executive Calendar. Calendar No. 766. Subject to nominee's commitment to respond to requests to appear and testify before any duly constituted committee of the Senate.

January 3, 2017: Returned to the President under the provisions of Senate Rule XXXI, paragraph 6 of the Standing Rules of the Senate.

Mary Katherine Wakefield, of North Dakota, to be Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services, vice William V. Corr, resigned.

July 13, 2015: Received in the Senate and referred to the Committee on Finance.

February 4, 2016: Committee on Finance. Hearings held. Hearings printed: S. Hrg. 114-415.

January 3, 2017: Returned to the President under the provisions of Senate Rule XXXI, paragraph 6 of the Standing Rules of the Senate.

Andrew Miller Slavitt, of Minnesota, to be Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, vice Marilyn B. Tavenner, resigned.

July 13, 2015: Received in the Senate and referred to the Committee on Finance.

January 3, 2017: Returned to the President under the provisions of Senate Rule XXXI, paragraph 6 of the Standing Rules of the Senate.

W. Thomas Reeder, Jr., of Virginia, to be Director of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, vice Joshua Gotbaum, resigned.

May 21, 2015: Received in the Senate and referred jointly to the Committees on Finance and Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions pursuant to Sec. 411(c) of Pub. L. 109-280.

July 23, 2015: Committee on Finance. Hearings held. Hearings printed: S. Hrg. 114-281.

August 5, 2015: Committee on Finance. Ordered to be reported favorably.

August 5, 2015: Reported by Senator Hatch, Committee on Finance, without printed report.

August 5, 2015: Reported by Senator Alexander, Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, without printed report.

August 5, 2015: Placed on Senate Executive Calendar. Calendar No. 300. Subject to nominee's commitment to respond to requests to appear and testify before any duly constituted committee of the Senate.

October 8, 2015: By unanimous consent agreement, vote October 8, 2015.

October 8, 2015: Considered by Senate.

October 8, 2015: Confirmed by the Senate by voice vote.

Elizabeth Ann Copeland, of Texas, to be a judge of the United States Tax Court for a term of 15 years, vice Diane L. Kroupa, retired.

May 4, 2015: Received in the Senate and referred to the Committee on Finance.

February 4, 2016: Committee on Finance. Hearings held. Hearing printed: S. Hrg. 114-415.

April 18, 2016: Committee on Finance. Ordered to be reported favorably.

April 18, 2016: Reported by Senator Hatch, Committee on Finance, without printed report.

April 18, 2016: Placed on Senate Executive Calendar. Calendar No. 511. Subject to nominee's commitment to respond to requests to appear and testify before any duly constituted committee of the Senate.

January 3, 2017--Returned to the President under the provisions of Senate Rule XXXI, paragraph 6 of the Standing Rules of the Senate.

Linda Struyk Millsaps, of North Carolina, to be a member of the Internal Revenue Service Oversight Board for a term expiring September 14, 2018, vice Paul Jones, term expired.

April 15, 2015: Received in the Senate.

April 15, 2015: Placed on Senate Executive Calendar in the Privileged Nomination section with nominee information requested by the Committee on Finance, pursuant to S. Res. 116, 112th Congress.

January 3, 2017--Returned to the President under the provisions of Senate Rule XXXI, paragraph 6 of the Standing Rules of the Senate.

Andrew LaMont Eanes, of Kansas, to be Deputy Commissioner of Social Security for the term expiring January 19, 2019, vice Carolyn W. Colvin, term expired.

February 26, 2015: Received in the Senate and referred to the Committee on Finance.

February 4, 2016: Committee on Finance. Hearings held. Hearings printed: S. Hrg. 114-415.

April 18, 2016: Committee on Finance. Ordered to be reported favorably.

April 18, 2016: Reported by Senator Hatch, Committee on Finance, without printed report.

April 18, 2016: Placed on Senate Executive Calendar. Calendar No. 509. Subject to nominee's commitment to respond to requests to appear and testify before any duly constituted committee of the Senate.

January 3, 2017: Returned to the President under the provisions of Senate Rule XXXI, paragraph 6 of the Standing Rules of the Senate.

Anne Elizabeth Wall, of Illinois, to be a Deputy Under Secretary of the Treasury, vice Alastair M. Fitzpayne, resigned.

February 25, 2015: Received in the Senate and referred to the Committee on Finance.

April 23, 2015: Committee on Finance. Hearings held. Hearings printed: S. Hrg. 114-229.

June 10, 2015: Committee on Finance. Ordered to be reported favorably.

June 10, 2015: Reported by Senator Hatch, Committee on Finance, without printed report.

June 10, 2015: Placed on Senate Executive Calendar. Calendar No. 154. Subject to nominee's commitment to respond to requests to appear and testify before any duly constituted committee of the Senate.

June 24, 2015: By unanimous consent agreement, debate, and vote June 24, 2015.

June 24, 2015: Considered by Senate.

June 24, 2015: Confirmed by the Senate by voice vote.

Seth B. Carpenter, of the District of Columbia, to be an Assistant Secretary of the Treasury, vice Matthew S. Rutherford, resigned.

February 12, 2015: Received in the Senate and referred to the Committee on Finance.

May 11, 2016: Received message of withdrawal of nomination from the President.

Brodi L. Fontenot, of Louisiana, to be Chief Financial Officer, Department of the Treasury, vice Daniel M. Tangherlini, resigned.

February 12, 2015: Received in the Senate.

February 12, 2015: Placed on Senate Executive Calendar in the Privileged Nomination section with nominee information requested by the Committee on Finance, pursuant to S. Res. 116, 112th Congress.

April 23, 2015: Committee on Finance. Hearings held. Hearings printed: S. Hrg. 114-229.

June 10, 2015: Committee requested information was received.

July 7, 2015: Placed on Senate Executive Calendar pursuant to S. Res. 116, 112th Congress. Calendar No. 212. Subject to nominee's commitment to respond to requests to appear and testify before any duly constituted committee of the Senate.

September 12, 2016: Received message of withdrawal of nomination from the President.

Maria Cancian, of Wisconsin, to be Assistant Secretary for Family Support, Department of Health and Human Services, vice Carmen R. Nazario.

February 5, 2015: Received in the Senate and referred to the Committee on Finance.

January 3, 2017--Returned to the President under the provisions of Senate Rule XXXI, paragraph 6 of the Standing Rules of the Senate.

Richard T. Julius, of North Carolina, to be a member of the Internal Revenue Service Oversight Board for a term expiring September 14, 2019, vice Raymond T. Wagner, Jr., term expired.

January 27, 2015: Received in the Senate.

January 27, 2015: Placed on Senate Executive Calendar in the Privileged Nomination section with nominee information requested by the Committee on Finance, pursuant to S. Res. 116, 112th Congress.

January 3, 2017--Returned to the President under the provisions of Senate Rule XXXI, paragraph 6 of the Standing Rules of the Senate.

Marisa Lago, of New York, to be a Deputy United States Trade Representative, with the rank of Ambassador, vice Miriam E. Sapiro, resigned.

January 8, 2015: Received in the Senate and referred to the Committee on Finance.

July 23, 2015: Committee on Finance. Hearings held. Hearings printed: S. Hrg. 114-281.

August 5, 2015: Committee on Finance. Ordered to be reported favorably.

August 5, 2015: Reported by Senator Hatch, Committee on Finance, without printed report.

August 5, 2015: Placed on Senate Executive Calendar. Calendar No. 296.

January 3, 2017--Returned to the President under the provisions of Senate Rule XXXI, paragraph 6 of the Standing Rules of the Senate.

Rafael J. Lopez, of California, to be Commissioner on Children, Youth, and Families, Department of Health and Human Services, vice Bryan Hayes Samuels, resigned.

January 8, 2015: Received in the Senate.

January 8, 2015: Placed on Senate Executive Calendar in the Privileged Nomination section with nominee information requested by the Committee on Finance, pursuant to S. Res. 116, 112th Congress.

April 23, 2015: Committee on Finance. Hearings held. Hearings printed: S. Hrg. 114-229.

June 10, 2015: Committee requested information was received.

July 7, 2015: Placed on Senate Executive Calendar pursuant to S. Res. 116, 112th Congress. Calendar No. 211. Subject to nominee's commitment to respond to requests to appear and testify before any duly constituted committee of the Senate.

August 5, 2015: Confirmed by the Senate by voice vote.

BILLS AND RESOLUTIONS REFERRED TO THE COMMITTEE

There were 712 Senate bills and 40 House bills referred to the committee for consideration during the 114th Congress. In addition, 13 Senate and House resolutions (joint, concurrent, or simple resolutions) were referred to the committee.

REPORTS, PRINTS, AND STUDIES

During the 114th Congress, the committee and supporting joint committees, prepared and issued 47 reports, special prints, and studies on the following topics:

(TABLE OMITTED)

OFFICIAL COMMUNICATIONS

During the 114th Congress, a total of 615 official communications were submitted to the committee. Of these, 7 were Presidential Messages; 592 were Executive Communications-- these communications include reports to advise and inform the Congress, required annual or semi-annual agency budget and activities summaries, and requests for legislative action. The committee also received 16 Petitions and Memorials.

Myron Struck, editor, Targeted News Service, Springfield, Va., 703/304-1897; [email protected]; http://www.targetednews.com