Washington Weekly

Shutdown Averted The federal government remains open today after the Senate passed a full-year continuing resolution (CR) last week, which largely extended last year’s government funding levels through September 30th. However, the CR included several anomalies that boost defense spending while cutting funding for IRS enforcement activities and DC local government operations. By passing this […]

Shutdown Showdown The government is set to run out of funding this Friday unless lawmakers can pass some sort of funding bill beforehand. Over the weekend, House Republicans released the text of such a bill, which would extend government funding through September 30th to buy more time on a full-year spending plan. The stopgap does […]

Congress Reconciles The House and the Senate both return to Washington this week as House lawmakers are set to advance their version of budget reconciliation containing all of President Trump’s immigration, defense, and tax priorities into a single bill – a departure from the Senate’s two-track strategy delaying tax provisions to later this year. The […]

The Senate’s Big Week The Senate is the only Chamber in town this week and will take key votes to either advance or outright finalize the nominations of Kash Patel to be FBI Director, Howard Lutnick to be Commerce Secretary, and Kelly Loeffler to be SBA Administrator. Meanwhile, Senate Republicans may send the first of […]

Another Day, Another Tariff Over the weekend, President Donald Trump announced a universal tariff of 25% on all steel and aluminum products; however, the Administration has not yet said when those tariffs would take effect. Meanwhile, Congress returns to Washington this week to continue talks on a potential reconciliation package that aims to include the […]

Tracking the Tariffs Over the weekend, President Trump issued new tariffs on Canada, Mexico, and China. Under the order, Canada and Mexico would face 25% tariffs on most goods imported into the U.S., compared to 10% for China. However, the U.S. agreed to pause the Mexico and Canada tariffs for one month pending further negotiations. […]

Washington Goes Miami House Republicans and President Donald Trump are travelling to Miami this week for the GOP retreat to discuss how they’ll advance their reconciliation package which aims to cut previous federal spending as an offset to fund the Administration’s immigration, tax, and energy production priorities. The debate of whether to pursue one or […]

Welcome to a New Washington President Donald Trump was sworn into office yesterday as the nation’s 47th president, solidifying Republicans’ trifecta of power in the White House, the House of Representatives, and the Senate. The President spent his first day in office signing a slew of executive orders largely repealing or freezing Biden-era policies and […]

Biden’s Final Week This week marks President Joe Biden’s final week in office ahead of President-elect Trump’s January 20th inauguration. The outgoing President will spend the week giving various remarks in Washington, largely commemorating his Administration’s accomplishments: Monday: A foreign policy address at the State Department Tuesday: A conservation proclamation address Wednesday: An Oval Office […]

119th Congress Kicks Off Happy New Year! Lawmakers return to Washington this week in the new 119th Congress following Rep. Mike Johnson’s (R-LA) reclaiming of the House Speaker gavel and swearing in of Members last Friday. Today, Congress met in joint session to certify the 2024 presidential election results, teeing up the January 20th inauguration […]

The Final Countdown Congress returns for its final working week of the year before breaking for the holidays. In that time, lawmakers are set to pass national defense and water project authorization legislation, along with a short-term government funding bill lasting through March to avoid a shutdown this Friday. House lawmakers will also take up […]

Congress Clears the Decks Over the weekend, House lawmakers released the text of the nearly $900 billion must-pass annual defense authorization bill ahead of an expected program lapse at year’s end. That, along with the biennial water project authorization bill, are set for floor votes this week. While Senators will meet this week to take […]

Congress Pivots to 2025 Lawmakers return to Washington this week for their last working period of the year before breaking for the Holidays and swearing in a new Congress in early January. Congress still needs to pass a government funding bill by December 20th to avoid a shutdown, in addition to passing key defense and […]

Lame Duck Session Continues Lawmakers return to Washington this week for the final time this month before breaking for the Thanksgiving holiday. In the meantime, Senators will take up judicial nominations while House Members will move through a packed legislative agenda. House bills set for expedited procedures this week include veterans affairs operations, agency grant […]

Congress Closes Out 2024 Congress returns to Washington this week following the 2024 election, where Republicans flipped the Senate and the White House and potentially held the House of Representatives depending on yet-to-be-called races. Lawmakers will begin their lame-duck session to pass a series of must-pass legislation and take up nominations of both the outgoing […]

The advancement of AI is rapidly transforming multiple sectors, from healthcare to finance. However, with this progress comes an increasing demand for regulation to ensure the safe and ethical development of AI technologies. Lawmakers at both the federal and state levels are actively pursuing legislation to address the ethical challenges, risks, and potential of AI. […]

The House and Senate are finalizing a compromise on the biennial Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) 2024 which aim to enhance the nation’s water infrastructure through various US Army Corps of Engineers projects. The House passed its WRDA – H.R. 8812 – on July 22, while the Senate passed S. 4367 on August 1. While […]

Shutdown Showdown 2.0 Congress returns to Washington this week to take a second crack at passing a short-term government funding bill after falling short last week. Over the weekend, House Republicans released the text of a stopgap proposal extending government funding through December 20th after lawmakers failed to pass a previous version last week containing […]

Congress’ September Slog Continues Congress is back in session for its second to last working week of the month before breaking for its October recess.  While lawmakers continue to debate a government funding package ahead of the September 30th shutdown deadline, the House returns to a packed legislative agenda for the week including bills concerning […]

Congress Returns to Washington Lawmakers from both Chambers return to D.C. this week after their month’s long August recess with just three weeks before a government shutdown deadline. On the eve of their return, House Republicans released the text of a stopgap measure that would fund the government through March 28th of next year, and […]

Congress Pivots to Summer The Senate returns to DC for one last working week before breaking for the month-long August break, following the House’s lead which cancelled this week’s votes to begin its recess today. The Senate will take up judicial nominees and will work to advance appropriations for healthcare, education, and labor to the […]

Shakeup in Washington Lawmakers return to a seismically different Washington this week with President Joe Biden announcing that he will end his reelection campaign and endorse Vice President Kamala Harris to succeed him, just one month shy of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago where the party will select its nominee for president. Meanwhile, Congress […]

House Lawmakers Close Out June The House is the only Chamber in town this week with the Senate out until after the Fourth of July recess week (which the House will also observe). President Joe Biden will spend the week at Camp David preparing for his Thursday night debate against former president Donald Trump. House […]

Senate in Session Half of Congress is in session this week with only Senators returning to Washington to vote on nominees amid a mid-week recess commemorating Juneteenth. Senators will also participate in several committee hearings this week, including the following: The Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee will consider legislation reauthorizing the FCC’s spectrum auction […]

Congress Back in Washington: This marks the last week that both the House and Senate will be in Washington at the same time for the month of June. Senators return to take up regular business, and House lawmakers have several votes scheduled in both regular order and expedited procedures. Moving through regular order is a […]