Senate in for Weekend Work to Advance Foreign Aid Funding

The Senate will be in for legislative business throughout the weekend and into part of next week as it looks to pass the foreign aid supplemental funding bill before leaving for the Presidents’ Day state work period. While Leaders Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Mitch McConnell (R-KY) were hopeful to reach a “time agreement” for expedited passage, some Senate conservatives — Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) in particular — have opposed rubber stamping the bill over opposition to additional funding for Ukraine. Regardless, the bill passed its first procedural hurdle with the support of 67 senators, suggesting that the package is well on its way to passing the chamber early next week. In addition to buckets of funding for Ukraine, Israel, and the Indo-Pacific, the funding bill includes the Senate Banking Committee’s Fentanyl Eradication and Narcotics Deterrence (FEND) Off Fentanyl Act, as well as $400 million for the Nonprofit Security Grant Program to help nonprofits and places of worship make security enhancements.

— HOUSE RETURNS NEXT WEEK. House lawmakers will gavel back in for legislative business on Tuesday. With the return of Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA), it is possible that House Republicans try again on their efforts to impeach Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, as this week’s attempt fell short by one vote in the narrowly-divided chamber. Another item up for possible consideration next week is a bill out of the Transportation & Infrastructure Committee that seeks to implement a series of Clean Water Act permitting reforms.