Congress Back In Session

Congress Back In Session

And they’re back!  With the Government back up and running again both the House and Senate will be on Capitol Hill this week. The House even lengthened its work week to Friday to make room for a busy legislative schedule as Committees resume hearings and markups that were suspended during the 43-day government shutdown. The House vote today on the Epstein measure will dominate the news coverage, although it will also consider a variety of substantive legislation, while the Senate has a short week: It will not return until tomorrow night, with votes scheduled on a few nominations. Former Vice President Dick Cheney’s funeral at the National Cathedral on Thursday will also impact the floor schedule.

Looking ahead, Congress will be out of session next week for Thanksgiving and both chambers will be in session the first three weeks of December before sending members home for the Christmas holidays. We anticipate the House and Senate’s 2026 calendars could be released as early as this week.

The end of the government shutdown did not end the debate over the extension of the Affordable Care Act’s enhanced premium tax credits or health care policy in general. In fact, discussions over the tax credits and other reforms will heat up significantly over the coming weeks as there are multiple “workflows” and discussions in both the House and Senate and among Republicans and Democrats.

Health Care Update

• Senate Majority Leader John Thune has promised Senate Democrats a vote on extension of the ACA credits by the second week of December.
• The Senate vote is a potential vehicle if a bipartisan agreement can be negotiated and garner the required 60 votes. Alternatively, Democrats could put forward a straightforward extension.
• Senate Republicans are currently working to develop a potential health care plan that would go beyond a simple extension to include substantive reforms.
• The Senate Finance Committee will hold a hearing on reforms this Wednesday and HELP is expected to hold a similar hearing in the coming weeks.
• House Republicans are expected to hold several meetings with rank-and-file members to seek input on a health care package and how broad the conference would potentially want to go.
• The partisan divide and the lack of unity in both parties over the next steps will make finding a bipartisan consensus before the end of the year extremely challenging.

Appropriations Update

• Senate leaders are exploring a five-bill minibus: Defense, Labor-Health and Human Services-Education, Commerce-Justice-Science, Interior-Environment, and Transportation-Housing and Urban Development.
• There is broad support for moving a minibus, but timing and unanimous consent hurdles make floor action this week uncertain. Even if taken up this week, Senate floor time is limited by the abbreviated floor schedule.
• House Republicans are considering a smaller three-bill package (Energy-Water, Interior-Environment, Transportation-HUD) while deferring Defense and Labor-HHS, with Subcommittee chairs slated to meet this week.

House Update 

• Today, the House will vote on the Epstein Files Transparency Act (H.R.185), which Speaker Mike Johnson has decided to quickly bring to the floor after the discharge petition led by Reps. Thomas Massie (R-KY) and Ro Khanna (D-CA) reached 218 signatures.
• The House will vote on 8 rule bills over the remainder of the week:
  • Energy-related measures, the Unlocking Our Domestic LNG Potential Act (H.R.1949), REFINER Act (H.R.3109), and Congressional Review Act resolutions on Bureau of Land Management rulemakings on the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska (S.J.Res.80), Buffalo Field Office Record of Decision (H.J.Res.130), and Coastal Plain Oil and Gas Leasing Program (H.J.Res.131)
  • DC crime-related measures, the District of Columbia Cash Bail Reform Act (H.R.5214) and Common-Sense Law Enforcement and Accountability Now in DC Act (H.R.5107)
  • A resolution (H.Con.Res.58) denouncing socialism.

Notable Hearings:

• Tuesday
  • Financial Services: “The Future of Deposit Insurance: Exploring the Coverage, Costs, and Depositor Confidence” (at 10AM)
  • Ways and Means: “Leaving the Sticky Notes Behind: Harnessing Innovation and New Technology to Help America’s Foster Youth Succeed” (Work & Welfare Subcommittee, at 10AM)
  • Budget: “Oversight of the Congressional Budget Office” (at 10:15AM)
  • Education and Workforce: “The Future of College: Harnessing Innovation to Improve Outcomes and Lower Costs” (at 10:15AM)
  • Energy and Commerce: “Innovation with Integrity: Examining the Risks and Benefits of AI Chatbots” (Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee, at 2PM)
  • Joint Economic Committee: “Frontier Technologies, Industrial Efficiency, and Pro-Innovation Policies” (at 2:30PM)
• Wednesday
  • Administration: “Taking Stock of the STOCK Act” (at 10AM)
  • CCP Select Committee: “Predatory Pricing: How the Chinese Communist Party Manipulates Global Mineral Prices to Maintain Its Dominance” (at 10AM)
  • Foreign Affairs: “No Exit Strategy: Burma's Endless Crisis and America's Limited Options” (East Asia and Pacific Subcommittee, at 10AM)
  • Judiciary: “Enumeration or Estimation: Why Inaccurate Census Results Hurt American Citizens” (Constitution and Limited Government Subcommittee, at 10AM) and “Restoring Law and Order in High-Crime U.S. Cities” (Oversight Subcommittee, at 2PM)
  • Education and Workforce: “E-Verify: Ensuring Lawful Employment in America” (Workforce Protections Subcommittee, at 10:15AM) and “From Classroom to Career: Strengthening Skills Pathways Through CTE” (Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education Subcommittee, at 2PM)
  • Ways and Means: “Modernizing Care Coordination to Prevent and Treat Chronic Disease” (at 2PM)
• Thursday
  • Foreign Affairs: “Export Control Loopholes: Chipmaking Tools and their Subcomponents” (South and Central Asia Subcommittee, at 10AM), “President Trump’s redesignation of Nigeria as a ‘Country of Particular Concern’” (Africa Subcommittee, at 11AM), and “Democracy in Peril: the Fight for Free Elections in Honduras” (Western Hemisphere Subcommittee, at 2PM)
  • Homeland Security: “Securing Global Communications: An Examination of Foreign Adversary Threats to Subsea Cable Infrastructure” (Transportation and Maritime Security & Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Protection Subcommittees, at 10AM)
  • Small Business: “Made in the USA: How Main Street is Revitalizing Domestic Manufacturing” (at 10AM) 

Senate Update

• First vote is tomorrow, at 5:30PM, on cloture on Nuclear Regulatory Commission nominee Ho Nieh.
• The Senate was slated to vote on Donald Korb to be Chief Counsel at the IRS, but President Trump withdrew his nomination late on Friday.
  We anticipate the Senate will confirm a few additional nominations this week.

Notable Hearings:

• Wednesday
  • Energy and Natural Resources: “BLM Land Use Planning Process Under FLPMA” (at 9:30AM)
  • Finance: “The Rising Cost of Health Care: Considering Meaningful Solutions for all Americans” (at 10AM)
  • Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions: “Examining the Future of the U.S. Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network” (at 10AM)
  • Environment and Public Works: “Future of PFAS Cleanup and Disposal Policy” (at 10AM)
  • Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs: Nominations hearing (at 10AM) for Charlton Allen (General Counsel of the Federal Labor Relations Authority), John Walk (Inspector General of the Dept of Agriculture), and Thomas Bell (Inspector General of the Dept of Health and Human Services)
  • Commerce: Nominations hearing (at 11AM) for Adm. Kevin Lunday to be Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard and “Flying on Empty: How Shutdowns Threaten Air Safety, Travel, and the Economy” (Aviation, Space, and Innovation Subcommittee, at 2:30PM)
  • Judiciary: “ICE Under Fire: The Radical Left’s Crusade Against Immigration Enforcement” (Border Security and Immigration Subcommittee, at 2PM)
  • Small Business: “Trump’s Regulatory Rollback: Saving Americans $907 Billion and Counting” (at 2:30PM)
  • Agriculture: Nominations hearing (at 3PM) for Michael Selig to be Chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission
  • Aging: “Made in America: Restoring Trust in Our Medicines” (at 3:45PM)
• Thursday
  • Foreign Relations: “Reviewing Implementation of the Taiwan Enhanced Resilience Act and Future Opportunities for U.S.-Taiwan Cooperation” (at 10AM)
  • Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions: “The Future of Retirement” (at 10AM)