Becker’s Washington Weekly: Week of January 12
Lawmakers Working to Avoid Government Shutdown
With two scheduled session weeks remaining before the bulk of government funding expires on January 30th, lawmakers in both chambers are focused on advancing the outstanding FY’26 appropriations bills and avoiding a partial government shutdown.
This week, the House is set to take up another FY’26 spending package, which includes the Financial Services-General Government and National Security-State Department funding measures. The House will also consider a series of bills to overhaul employment rules. The measures would make it easier for businesses to avoid “joint employer” status, exempt child and dependent care benefits from overtime pay, allow employers to hold unpaid job training sessions after hours, modify the tipped employee definition, and restrict ESG investing in private pension plans.
The Senate may vote this week on the House-passed minibus, which includes the Energy and Water, Interior and Commerce-Justice-Science spending bills. Complicating final passage is Senator John Hickenlooper’s (D-CO) hold on the package as he advocates for an amendment to prevent the dismantling of a Colorado climate lab. The upper chamber is also set to consider the Venezuela war powers resolution after five Republicans voted with all Democrats to advance the measure last week.
Negotiations on other spending bills, including Labor/HHS, remain ongoing. The Senate bill keeps HHS funding roughly flat despite large funding cuts in the White House budget request, while the House version cuts the agency’s funding by approximately 8%.
Lawmakers in both chambers will convene committee hearings this week, including the following:
- The House Committee on Energy and Commerce’s Subcommittee on Communications and Technology will hold an oversight hearing on the Federal Communications Commission
- The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform’s Subcommittee on Government Operations will examine tools to detect and prevent fraud in federal programs
- The House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology’s Subcommittee on Environment will discuss how weather satellites support the national security mission
- The House Committee on Education and the Workforce will discuss building an AI-ready America
- The Senate Committee on Aging will meet to explore solutions for international scams targeting seniors
