This Week on the Hill: NDAA in the House and Nominations in the Senate as Congress Prepares Final Blitz Before August

Lawmakers return to Washington this week facing a critical three-week period before the August recess. Without any major legislative achievements so far this year, Republicans will be focused on the tense Senate negotiations on legislation to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA). An agreement has yet to be reached on the legislative text that will reach the Senate floor, as Republican leadership deliberate on how to create a package that will placate both conservative skeptics — most notably Sens. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Mike Lee (R-UT) — and moderates, led by Sens. Dean Heller (R-NV) and Susan Collins (R-ME). The initial proposal in the Senate, known as the Better Care Reconciliation Act (BCRA), was opposed by at least 10 Republicans on both sides of the ideological spectrum. A vote is not expected this week as the Congressional Budget Office is currently scoring some of the proposed changes, but the impending August recess is expected to be the final deadline for the Senate to move a package. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has suggested that a failure to do so will necessitate lawmakers working on a smaller package with Democrats that would shore up the ACA’s insurance markets.

Floor action this week will be highlighted by the House’s consideration of the $696.5 billion National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) to provide for the Pentagon’s funding and policy in the upcoming fiscal year. The major annual bill (H.R. 2810) includes significant increases in defense spending for the fiscal 2018 year, with $21 billion in additional funds for Pentagon weapons programs and another $6 billion for the Navy to increase its shipbuilding. Most Democrats have objected to the spending figure — which significantly exceeds the budget cap set for defense — and difficult negotiations are likely ahead as lawmakers debate whether or not to ease the discretionary budget limitations that typically constrain defense spending.

The Senate’s floor action will consist of a series of presidential nominations, starting with a final up or down vote on the nomination of Neomi Rao to serve as “regulatory czar” at the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA). Other nominations to be considered this week include David Nye to be U.S. District Judge for the District of Idaho and Francis Hagerty to be Ambassador to Japan.

There will be a few significant committee hearings to watch out for this week, headlined by the politically-charged confirmation hearing set Wednesday in the Senate Judiciary Committee for President Trump’s nominee to be Federal Bureau of Investigation Director, Christopher Wray. Wray’s nomination comes after the controversial firing of former Director James Comey in May, which kicked off a firestorm in Washington over the President’s influence on an ongoing investigation into Russia’s interference in last year’s elections. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen will also appear before Congress this week, with observers closely watching for any hint as to whether or not she expects to be re-nominated by President Trump for a new term as Chair after her current one ends in January 2018.