The Latest on the Government Shutdown

Two major spending bills will dominate action in Congress today, with the House set to work through a series of amendments on the fiscal 2017 defense appropriations measure (H.R. 5293), and the Senate moving on to the Commerce-Justice-Science spending bill (H.R. 2578). House lawmakers will be working through nearly 75 proposals for the defense measure, […]

Expect heated debates over policy riders for fiscal 2017 spending bills in both chambers this week, particularly ones related to LGBT rights and terrorism after this weekend’s mass shooting at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida. Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) has worked to circumnavigate the divides that often plague the appropriations process, but that strategy […]

Both chambers are leaving Washington today ahead of a weeklong recess in honor of Memorial Day. Yesterday, both the House and Senate experienced frustrations in their attempts to advance legislation before the holiday. House lawmakers from both parties objected to amendments added to the Water-Energy Development spending bill (H.R. 5055), ultimately leading to the measure’s […]

As lawmakers in both chambers prepare to break for the Memorial Day recess, the House plans to pass the fiscal 2017 Energy and Water Development spending bill (H.R. 5055) that would fund Energy Department and Army Corps of Engineers programs. The bill contains controversial amendments from both parties, including one that would bar the government […]

Appropriations, defense policy, Washington D.C.’s budget, and catfish inspections are the focus of floor action in Congress today.  In the House, lawmakers will be working through amendments to the fiscal 2017 Energy and Water development spending bill. The $37.4 billion appropriations bill (H.R. 5055) would fund the Energy Department, the Army Corps of Engineers, and […]

The House is teeing up a pair of votes on a toxic chemicals overhaul and a measure to exclude certain pesticides from permitting requirements, before spending the rest of the afternoon debating the fiscal 2017 Energy and Water Development spending bill (H.R. 5055). The rewrite of the 1976 Toxic Substances Control Act (H.R. 2576) – […]

This week, the Senate is set to power through their version of the fiscal 2017 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) as the House revises a 40-year old law regulating toxic chemicals used in manufacturing and tries to come to an agreement on legislation to help Puerto Rico restructure its $70 billion debt.

Cloture votes on three Zika-related amendments are due in the Senate today as lawmakers decide on the amount of funding to be allocated towards fighting the virus and whether there will be a budgetary offset to pay for the package. Democrats favor funding President Obama’s full $1.9 billion request without any coinciding cuts or offsets […]

This week, the Senate moves on to debate a combined Transportation-HUD and Military Construction-VA spending bill that will include debate over provisions for battling the Zika virus, while the House plans for extensive floor debate on the fiscal 2017 edition of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). 

Both chambers return from their brief recesses this week, with the Senate set to continue its work on the Energy-Water Development spending measure, and the House aiming to tackle a legislative package aimed at combating the emerging opioid-addiction epidemic. 

Senators today will try to break a partisan impasse that has held up the Energy and Water Development spending bill (H.R. 2028) before leaving for a week-long recess. The controversy comes over an amendment submitted by Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) that would thwart a recently struck deal for the United States to purchase heavy water […]

The Senate is moving toward finishing an Energy and Water Development spending measure, with a cloture vote scheduled on a substitute amendment (#3801) to the legislative vehicle for the bill (H.R.2028). The underlying measure would provide $37.5 billion for the Energy Department, Army Corps of Engineers, parts of the Interior Department and other agencies. That’s $355 […]