Tidbits on the September Legislative Calendar

President Joe Biden is poised to sign a $95 billion national security funding package after the Senate overwhelmingly passed [79-18] the package late last night. The supplemental appropriations measure provides $61 billion for Ukraine, $26.4 billion for Israel and Gaza, and $8.1 billion for U.S. allies in the Indo-Pacific. It also includes a modified version […]

The Senate will gavel in for legislative business today to kick off consideration of the House-passed national security funding package. The first procedural vote for the roughly $95 billion package — which includes $61 billion for Ukraine, $26.4 billion for Israel and Gaza, and $8.1 billion for U.S. allies in the Indo-Pacific, as well as […]

House lawmakers overwhelmingly passed a series of supplemental appropriations measures to provide additional national security funding for Ukraine, Israel, and the Indo-Pacific this past weekend following several months of debate and partisan gridlock. A fourth bill — which includes a modified version of the TikTok “divest-or-ban” bill and a series of foreign policy and national […]

House Appropriations Committee Chair Tom Cole (R-OK) officially filed bill text for a slate of national security-focused supplemental funding bills as Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) readies weekend votes to try and clinch the measures ahead of the Passover district work period. The three bills would provide roughly $61 billion for Ukraine, $26.4 billion for Israel and […]

The House formally transmitted articles of impeachment against Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas during yesterday’s session, and senators are slated to be sworn in as jurors today. While details on how Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) plans to proceed have been scant, it is widely expected that the Senate will move to […]

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) is pressing forward with a new strategy to provide aid for Israel, Ukraine, and Taiwan amid increasing pressure to clinch a national security supplemental. Under the current plan, the House would call up each bucket of foreign aid as individual bills that largely align with the funding buckets contained in […]

Both chambers will be back in session later this afternoon as lawmakers look to advance supplemental funding for foreign aid following an Iranian attack against Israel over the weekend. In response to this recent incident, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) noted that the House will deviate from its previously announced schedule to take up […]

The House Republican Steering Committee met last night to approve a series of key committee changes. Notably, Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK) was unanimously appointed to replace outgoing House Appropriations Chair Kay Granger (R-TX). As a result of Rep. Cole receiving the appropriations gavel, Rep. Michael Burgess (R-TX) was tapped to replace the Oklahoma Republican as […]

The House Republican Steering Committee will meet today to choose a new Chair of the House Appropriations Committee. Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK), Chair of the Transportation-HUD (T-HUD) Subcommittee, is widely viewed as the favorite to replace outgoing Chair Kay Granger (R-TX). Notably, Rep. Robert Aderholt (R-AL), Chair of the Labor-HHS-Education Subcommittee, wrote a letter requesting […]

Lawmakers will return to Washington this week to kick off the spring and summer work periods. Here’s a look at what we’ll be keeping our eye on as Congress kicks back into gear: House Leadership. Late last month, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) filed a “motion to vacate” Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) over his handling of […]

After the minibus cleared the lower chamber, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) filed a “motion to vacate” Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) over his handling of FY 2024 spending. She offered pointed criticism toward the speaker given the fact that more Democrats than Republicans voted for both FY 2024 spending packages, and also complained about the […]

President Joe Biden signed a $1.2 trillion government funding package last weekend as policymakers finally closed the books on fiscal year (FY) 2024 appropriations. The vote on the second “minibus” — which contains the spending bills for Labor-HHS-Education, Defense, Financial Services and General Government (FSGG), Homeland Security, State-Foreign Operations, and Legislative Branch — is the […]