This Week on the Hill: Lawmakers Kick Off 2020 Work Session

Lawmakers are set to begin the second session of the 116th Congress this week, with the Senate returning this afternoon and the House reconvening tomorrow. While Senators await next steps in the impeachment process, the upper chamber is expected to continue working through pending presidential nominations. The Senate will resume consideration of Jovita Carranza's nomination to be Administrator of the Small Business Administration later today.

In the House, lawmakers will consider a bill that seeks to address controversial “forever chemicals.” The measure would require Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to designate all perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) as hazardous substances, while also setting up a grant program to award funding to communities with water supplies contaminated by the chemicals. During the fiscal year (FY) 2020 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) negotiations, House Democrats pushed for significant PFAS measures in the final bill, but many of the provisions were scaled back or removed prior to enactment.