Washington Weekly

Congress Back in Town: Congress returns to Washington this week down a Member after House lawmakers voted to expel now-former Rep. George Santos (R-NY).  This week, the Chamber is set to take up 11 bills under expedited procedures, including those dealing with veterans benefits, federal energy research, and commuter rail benefits. House lawmakers will also […]

Congress Closing Out 2023 With three working weeks left in the year, Congress returns to Washington this week from its Thanksgiving recess after extending government funding through two “staggered” dates – January 19th and February 2nd by which time Members will need to reach another funding agreement to avoid a shutdown. However, lawmakers are also […]

The House Congress returns to Washington in what is the last full week before the November 17th government funding deadline by which Members must pass a spending package to avoid a shutdown. House lawmakers will meet this week to vote on Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-LA) “laddered” stopgap bill proposal that would fund one group of […]

The House House lawmakers return to D.C. in what will be Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-LA) second full week on the job. This week, Members will take up the FY24 Transportation-Housing & Urban Development (THUD) and Financial Services bills, in addition to legislation under expedited procedures which include the following: Several bills authorizing land transfers and […]

The House Congress is back open for business again after House lawmakers elected Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA) as the next Speaker of the House following three unsuccessful nominations of prior candidates. With a Speaker now in office, the House can now conduct normal floor business including advancing appropriations bills. Upon his election, Speaker Johnson set […]

The House:  House Republicans return to D.C. this week to pick their third nominee for Speaker of the House after Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) failed to win the necessary votes on the floor over three ballots. Announced Speaker candidates include the following: House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-MN) Mike Johnson (R-LA) Jack Bergman (R-MI) Austin […]

Congress Trudges On: Congress is effectively paralyzed with the House of Representatives still lacking a Speaker. Last week, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) won his party’s nomination to be Speaker before withdrawing his name from consideration amid his narrow victory over House Judiciary Committee Jim Jordan (R-OH). House Republicans then nominated Rep. Jordan to […]

Congress in Standstill: Just as Congress narrowly averted a shutdown late last month, the House of Representatives is effectively closed for business after Members voted to remove Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) as Speaker of the House. Running to replace McCarthy are House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) and House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) who […]

Shutdown Averted … For Now: In a surprise turn of events, Congress avoided a government shutdown over the weekend by crafting and passing a stopgap funding bill to keep the federal government open through November 17th and give lawmakers more time to negotiate a full appropriations package. House Republicans and Democrats joined together to pass […]

Shutdown Showdown: This is Congress’ last full week to pass an appropriations package by midnight Saturday to avert a government shutdown. While House lawmakers are setting up votes on four individual FY24 appropriations bills – Defense, Homeland Security, State-Foreign Operations, and Agriculture-FDA – thin voting margins in the Chamber may complicate that process. The Senate’s […]

The House: House lawmakers return to Washington this week with a stopgap funding proposal from Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and his leadership team to keep the government open past the September 30th deadline to allow more time to negotiate a full funding package. The stopgap would last through October 31st and would make an across-the-board […]

Congress Back in Session Washington, D.C. is back in full swing with the House returning from its month-long August recess. Both Chambers return to a packed agenda, including floor votes for various appropriations bills ahead of the September 30th deadline to avoid a government shutdown. The House will also vote on legislation dealing with sanctions […]

Congress Returns from Recess The Senate returns to DC this week from its month-long August recess, with the House to follow next week. Members have a lengthy agenda to attend to in the coming weeks, including passing a government funding package by September 30th to avoid a shutdown. Senate appropriators have marked up all 12 […]

Congress’ Final Stretch Before Recess This week marks the final work week for Congress before breaking for its month-long August recess. In that time, Members plan to tee up several FY24 spending bills, in addition to key aviation and defense authorization bills, that they will need to clear before the September 30th government shutdown deadline. […]

Congress Chugs Along Lawmakers return to Washington for the penultimate work week ahead of Congress’ month-long August recess. The Senate will take up its version of the FY 2024 defense authorization bill following the House’s lead last week, although the differences between the two bills will ultimately need to be reconciled before final passage. In […]

Crunch Time for Congress Both Chambers of Congress return to DC this week following a two-week recess, and have only three short weeks left to do business before the month-long August recess which signals the homestretch of this year’s session. The House The House is starting the week with a bang, as it will take […]

The House The House returns to DC this week after Speaker McCarthy reached a tentative agreement to reopen floor votes after a handful of lawmakers initially blocked the process due to objections over the debt limit deal passed earlier in the month. Lawmakers will take up several bills under expedited procedures, including those concerning VA […]

Congress Back to Business The House returns to Washington this week after Speaker Kevin McCarthy sent Members home earlier-than-expected last week. The Chamber is expected to take up a number of bills under expedited procedures, including those calling for the release of American prisoners in Russia, providing block grants for crop losses, and creating a […]

Congress Clears the Debt Limit Both Chambers of Congress return to Washington this week after swiftly passing the debt limit agreement negotiated by President Joe Biden and Speaker Kevin McCarthy. With the debt ceiling behind them, Members are returning to regular business. House lawmakers are set to take up a number of market-related bills this […]

Debt Limit Crunch Time All eyes are on Washington this week as President Joe Biden and Speaker Kevin McCarthy sell their bipartisan debt limit agreement to Members of Congress for passage before the expected June 5th default date. The text of the nearly 100-page deal was released over the weekend, the key details of which […]

The House The House is the only game in town this week with the Senate out on recess. The Chamber will take up several bills this week, including the following: A package of veterans-related bills that would expand healthcare and cost of living benefit eligibilities, as well as modify a veterans education and employment program […]

Congress Both Chambers of Congress return to DC this week to take up usual business. First, the House is set to take up a number of bills under expedited procedures, including a bill adding requirements for court orders preventing electronic communications service providers from informing customers if the government searches its electronic database. The House […]

Congress Both Chambers of Congress are back in session this week with the House set to take up several bills, including the following: A bill restricting asylum eligibility, resuming border wall construction, and requiring employers to verify their employees legal status A bill allowing states to reclaim 25% of recovered fraudulent unemployment or pandemic-aid payments […]

Congress The Senate is the only game in town this week with the House out on recess until next week. Senators will begin this week by holding a confirmation vote on Anthony Johnstone to become a judge on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, with additional votes lined up later in the week on three […]

Congress Back in Session Both Chambers return to DC this week to take up usual business. The House will consider several bills this week under expedited procedures, including those concerning the FCC’s oversight of satellites and authorization of spectrum usage to provide expanded emergency alerts. House Members will also take up Speaker McCarthy’s new Debt […]