Washington Weekly

The House The House returns to Washington this week before embarking on a two-week recess for Easter. This week, Members will take up legislation streamlining and increasing environmental permitting for domestic energy production, infrastructure projects, and other activities while reducing reliance on foreign minerals. Members are also set to take up several bills under expedited […]

The Senate The Senate returns this week to take up a repeal of the authorizations for use of military force against Iraq in addition to nominations which were teed up last week, although continuing health-related absences from Sens. John Fetterman (D-PA), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), and Mitch McConnell (R-KY) could complicate that process. The Chamber will […]

Congress The Senate is back in session this week while House Members are on recess. Senators are expected to take up a number of Administration nominees and a bill repealing a House-passed bill repealing a Biden Administration rule governing water and wetland protections. However, three Senators’ health-related absences may complicate the process.  Key nominations this […]

The House The House returns to DC this week to take up a number of bills, chief among them being a bill that would repeal the Biden Administration’s rule expending environmental protections for several bodies of water. Other bills include those concerning servicemember tuition reimbursements and VA operations such as offsite emergency healthcare coverage, medical […]

Congress Back in Session The House and Senate return to Washington this week following their respective recesses. House lawmakers are hitting the ground running by taking up a number of bills, including those that would extend the FCC’s spectrum auction power through mid-May and require the Commerce Department to provide congressional reports on mobile network […]

The House The House returns this week to take up a number of bills on the floor, including: A bill requiring the Energy Department to provide financial assistance to certain post-grad students enrolled in cybersecurity and energy infrastructure classes. A bill placing hundreds of acres of federal lands in trusts for the Pala Band of […]

The 118th Congress Continues Both Chambers of Congress return to Washington this week, with only the House scheduled to hold votes. The House will take up a number of bills, including those that would reverse a number of COVID-19-era policies such as the healthcare worker vaccine mandate, pandemic-era work-from-home for federal agencies, and the public […]

The House The House returns this week to take up a number of bills, beginning with a measure to require the Energy Department to craft a plan to increase oil and gas production leases on federal lands before it can continue to tap the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. The Chamber will then proceed to several measures […]

The 118th Congress Begins Washington officially has two working branches of Congress after a four-day, 15-ballot marathon where House Republicans elected Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) as the next Speaker of the House. Republicans won a majority in the 2022 midterms, but their narrower-than-expected victory allowed some House Republican holdouts to initially deny McCarthy the gavel […]

117th Congress: The Final Countdown Congress returns for its final working week of the year to pass a year-long, roughly $1.7 trillion government funding bill before December 23rd to avert a government shutdown. Lawmakers had passed a short-term extension of last week’s funding deadline to provide more time for negotiations. House and Senate leaders have since agreed […]

The House The House is set to take up a number of bills under suspension of the rules, including those that would update federal procurement regulations to better flag conflicts of interests, provide more collective bargaining rights to certain Veterans Health Administration professionals, and establish a nationwide law enforcement de-escalation training program at the DOJ. […]

The House The House returns this week to begin the final month of the 117th Congress and plan for the 118th. House Republicans will begin the formal process this week to select next Congress’ committee chairs who will set the tone for the party’s legislative priorities. Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) also announced that he […]

117th Congress’ Final Weeks The House and Senate return to DC this week after the Thanksgiving Recess for its final stretch of the 2022 working period. Lawmakers still need to clear must-pass pieces of legislation during that time such as a government funding bill and a national defense authorization, but the impending transfer of power […]

Meet the 118th Congress The following provides an overview of the 118th Congress beginning January 2023, including expected leadership structures of House and Senate committees. House Republicans will take control of the Chamber and committees next year, making Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) the next likely Speaker of the House with Rep. Steven Scalise (R-LA) as […]

Congress’ Lame Duck Session Begins Lawmakers return to Washington this week for the first time in over a month following the midterm elections where Democrats held their Senate majority. While votes are still being counted and a Georgia Senate runoff is set for December 6th, Congress still has a slammed agenda to grapple with this […]

The Senate Senators return to DC tomorrow to take the lead on passing a stopgap funding bill to avoid a government shutdown this Friday. Lawmakers will hold a procedural vote Tuesday to launch the vehicle containing the continuing resolution (CR) which will last through mid-December and is expected to include $12 billion in aid for […]

The House The House is in this week and has yet to release text for a stopgap funding measure to keep the government running past September 30. However, it will take up 26 bills under expedited procedures, including the following: A bill reauthorizing the Peace Corps. A bill creating a Global Telecommunications Strategy commission within […]

The House All of D.C. is back in action this week with the House returning to session following its August and Labor Day recesses. House members have been scrambling to put together text for a stopgap spending measure to keep the government running through September 30 to avoid a shutdown. One issue that could derail […]

The Administration President Biden enters the month of September after signing key pieces of legislation last month, including the Inflation Reduction Act, as well as bills addressing funding for semiconductor chips and veterans’ toxic burn pits. This week, President Biden is holding a cabinet meeting at the White House with Vice President Harris attending. He […]

Build Back Better, Rebuilt This past weekend, Senate Democrats passed their long-awaited yet slimmed down version of President Biden’s Build Back Better climate and healthcare spending bill, largely paid for by increased corporate taxes and IRS enforcement. While the reconciliation bill is not final, the news represents a win for congressional Democrats who are back […]

The Senate The Senate will stay in Washington one more week before beginning its August recess to tackle a veterans healthcare bill, new NATO admissions, and a last-minute reconciliation deal. Last week, Sen. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) struck a surprise deal with Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) to announce a stripped-down reconciliation package calling for […]

The House This week marks the House’s last full working week before its month-long August recess. The Chamber will aim to pass a number of bills in that time, including: A bill to create the National Wildland Fire Risk Reduction Program and aid environmental justice communities. A bill authorizing grant programs supporting certain South Asian […]

The House The House returns this week to take up six FY23 appropriations bills, which have been dubbed the “minibus.” It includes the Agriculture, Energy and Water, Financial Services, Interior-Environment, Military Construction-Veterans Affairs and Transportation-HUD bills. These bills generally reflect the 14% non-defense increases sought by President Biden. However, they will likely need to be […]

The House The House returns from its two-week Independence Day recess, leaving it with only two full working weeks before its month-long August recess. Lawmakers are set to take up a number of bills this week, including those drafted in response to the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade. Such bills would codify the […]

The Administration President Biden is slowly reviving talks with congressional Democrats to advance his stalled Build Back Better agenda and rein in inflation. The package, which is rumored to be announced this week, could include measures that can pass a party-line vote in the 50-50 Senate such as insulin price controls, diverse energy investments, and […]