Where Things Stand on Government Funding

The House returns from its week-long recess on Tuesday as lawmakers aim to keep the government funded beyond the September 30th deadline. The House will vote on the minibus package containing Defense-Labor, Health and Human Services, Education (Labor-HHS) FY 2019 funding bills (H.R. 6157) (bill text; conference report; summary). The Defense-Labor-HHS package will also serve as the vehicle […]

Following passage of the highly anticipated opioid response legislation, the Senate will reconvene this morning to check off an additional big ticket legislative item. The upper chamber is slated to vote on the Defense-Labor-HHS-Education conference report today as Congress seeks to keep the government funded beyond the September 30th funding deadline. The report includes both a year-long […]

The Senate is slated to reconvene this afternoon when it will hold a vote on a highly anticipated package of bills to address the nation’s opioid crisis. The Opioid Crisis Response Act (section-by-section) comprises more than 70 bills reported out of five Senate committees and touches on nearly every aspect of the epidemic. If passed, […]

The Week in Review Congress returned for a truncated legislative work week as lawmakers made headway in the FY 2019 appropriations process. Both chambers passed the first conference report on a package of three fiscal 2019 spending bills, which fund agencies including the departments of Energy and Veterans Affairs, as well as military construction projects […]

Looking Ahead Near Term The Senate is poised to pass a funding bill for the Defense Department that will also include a continuing resolution keeping the government funded until December 7th. The Senate Banking Committee will hold a FinTech hearing on data and technology on Tuesday.  The Senate Judiciary Committee could advance the nomination of […]

The House returns to action this morning as the chamber seeks to clear two major legislative priorities. Lawmakers are expected to approve the conference report (H.R. 5895) for the minibus spending package for military construction and veterans’ affairs, legislative branch, and energy and water. The House will also vote on a measure (S. 3021) under […]

Congress returns for a truncated legislative work week as lawmakers look to clear crucial agenda items prior to next week’s recess. In significant appropriations news, both chambers are positioned to take up the first conference report on a package of three fiscal 2019 spending bills, which fund agencies including the departments of Energy and Veterans […]

The Week in Review Congress convened last week and began the process of reconciling their respective FY 2019 appropriations bills. The House passed motions to go conference with the Senate on a federal spending package for the Defense, Labor, HHS & Education Departments, as well as an appropriations package (H.R. 6147) that includes spending allocations […]

Our Take The last week of August saw perhaps the best example of the current cognitive dissonance of American politics.  This refers to the twin events of Senator McCain’s funeral and the Florida Gubernatorial primary.  The primary, which took place on August 28th, resulted in the election of two politicians that come from each parties’ respective […]

The Week in Review The Senate finished up work for the week — and the month — after reaching a deal to break the presidential nominee logjam. Under an agreement announced on the Senate floor by Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), seven judicial nominations were confirmed Tuesday, including Lynn Johnson to be Assistant Secretary for […]

The Week in Review The Senate returned to Washington last week and completed its work on the Defense-Labor-HHS-Education appropriations minibus (H.R. 6157). Prior to final passage, the upper chamber approved a large bipartisan amendment package (#3695) following a brief hiccup in the process over an amendment offered by Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) that would have […]

The Week in Review The Senate returned from a truncated August recess last Wednesday and continued work on its presidential nominations queue and the appropriations process. Following the completion of its scheduled nominations work — confirming Marvin Quattlebaum, Jr. and Julius Ness Richardson to be judges on the Fourth U.S. Circuit Court — the Senate officially […]