Senate Breaks for August After Nominations Stalemate

House lawmakers return to action this afternoon as another marathon legislative work week is taking shape. The lower chamber will resume consideration of amendments to the first appropriations “minibus,” beginning with postponed roll call votes on the Defense portion of the four-bill spending package. Votes are expected past the midnight hour tonight, as GOP lawmakers […]

Congress will gear up for another hectic work session this week as both chambers have teed up high-profile legislative items for 2019. When the House returns Tuesday, lawmakers will finish roll call votes on dozens of amendments to the first “minibus” package consisting of the Labor-Health and Human Services-Education, Energy and Water Development, Defense, and State-Foreign Operations spending […]

House lawmakers are set for another marathon day on the floor as members look to clear over 200 amendments to the four-bill appropriations “minibus.” The lower chamber held more than two-dozen roll call votes on amendments (batch 1; batch 2) well past midnight yesterday after House conservatives prevented expedited voice-vote adoption by requesting a recorded […]

House Democrats have reduced the first “minibus” from five bills to four, pulling the spending bill for the Legislative Branch from the package late yesterday. The spending bill was pulled amid backlash from lawmakers over a provision that would give lawmakers a pay raise for the first time since 2009 — an issue that has […]

House lawmakers will kick off a busy legislative work week later this afternoon as the House begins full consideration of fiscal year (FY) 2020 spending bills. The lower chamber will take up the first “minibus” package (summary; amendments) for FY 2020 on Wednesday, containing five appropriations bills. The five spending bills included in the first […]

Congressional lawmakers have completed their legislative business for the week, wrapping up early to accommodate a Congressional Delegation (CODEL) to Normandy to commemorate the 75th anniversary of D-Day. When the lower chamber returns next week, House lawmakers will begin consideration of the first fiscal year (FY) 2020 “minibus” package containing five FY 2020 appropriations bills. The […]

House lawmakers will wrap up their legislative work week today and embark on a Congressional Delegation (CODEL) to Normandy to commemorate the 75th anniversary of D-Day. On the floor, the lower chamber is considering four suspension bills out of the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee. Three of the measures are aimed at addressing ocean acidification, […]

House Democrats will look to take action on addressing the immigration status of millions of young adult immigrants. The lower chamber will begin consideration of the so-called DREAM Act (H.R. 6) that would provide permanent status and a pathway to citizenship for eligible young adult immigrants protected under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, […]

Lawmakers will return to Washington this afternoon for a busy June legislative session. In the House, Democratic leadership plans to bring fiscal year (FY) 2020 appropriations bills to the floor starting on the week of June 12. Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) stated that the lower chamber will look to clear each one of the […]

While most lawmakers are out of town for a Memorial Day district work period, House Democrats will convene an informal “pro forma” session of Congress later this afternoon where they are expected to make another attempt to pass a multi-billion dollar disaster aid package (text; summary) by unanimous consent (UC). Their first attempt last Friday […]

Late yesterday, Senators broke a monthslong impasse on disaster relief aid by passing (85-8) a $19.1 billion measure prior to leaving Washington. Congressional negotiators clinched a deal on a final package that would provide: (1) $3 billion for farm disaster assistance; (2) $2.4 billion for Community Block Development Grants; and (3) $3.25 billion for Army […]

The prospects for a bipartisan disaster aid agreement dwindled late yesterday after negotiators were unable to reach an agreement that would allocate funding to help states recover from recent natural disasters. Despite making progress on disagreements over aid for Puerto Rico and boosting the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund, negotiators have yet to strike a deal […]