Congress Looks to Clinch FISA Reauthorization, Foreign Aid Funding

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 legislation to support Israel and hold Iran and its proxy organizations accountable. As of now, it is unclear whether House GOP leadership will call up another standalone aid package for Israel — something that has already been panned by the Senate and White House — or pivot to any of the other pending foreign aid packages that have been introduced across both chambers.

Notably, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) called on House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) to call up the Senate-passed national security supplemental, which includes buckets of funding for Israel, Ukraine, and Taiwan, as soon as possible. While passage of the Senate’s supplemental would send the bill directly to President Biden’s desk, Speaker Johnson may also need to navigate a possible “motion to vacate” if he puts additional Ukraine funding on the floor. Meanwhile, the Senate will gavel in for consideration of pending judicial nominations before turning to a House-passed bill that would reauthorize the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) for two years ahead of the program’s Friday, April 19 deadline.

• For today… The House will gavel in for consideration of five suspension bills out of the Financial Services and Ways and Means Committees that would: (1) prohibit the Secretary of the Treasury from authorizing certain transactions by a United States financial institution in connection with Iran (H.R. 5921); (2) sanction Chinese financial institutions that purchase petroleum products from Iran (H.R. 5923); (3) require a report on financial transactions and assets connected to Iranian leaders (H.R. 6245); (4) mandate steps to prevent Iran from circumventing or manipulating financial sanction exemptions (H.R. 6015); and (5) terminate the tax-exempt status of terrorist-supporting organizations (H.R. 6408).