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Both chambers are in session this week. Following the Senate’s marathon vote-a-rama on budget reconciliation, the House will begin its work on its budget reconciliation proposal. Lawmakers also have 18 days to act before a government shutdown.
Last week, President Donald Trump endorsed the House’s version of budget reconciliation, which features one large legislative bill with $4.5 trillion in tax cuts, $2 trillion in spending cuts, a $4 trillion debt limit increase, a $200 billion boost in border and immigration spending, and $100 billion in extra defense funds. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and the rest of House Republican leadership will work diligently this week with his fellow House Republican lawmakers to ensure he can thread the needle with a slim majority and pass the legislation. The Speaker faces immense pressure from all parties involved to pass H. Con. Res. 14. Given that the Senate has already passed its budget resolution (S. Con. Res. 7; by a vote of 52-48), any misstep in the House could push the focus of Congress to the smaller Senate package. Several House GOP moderates are skeptical of the plan which calls for $2 trillion in spending cuts, while some of the most conservative members in the House have also voiced concerns with the bill. Reps. Victoria Spartz (R-Ind.) and Nicole Malliotakis (R-N.Y.) have either came out in opposition to the bill or have shared that they lean no on the bill. House Democrats will not support the bill as they hope to highlight potential cuts to Medicaid and nutrition assistance programs. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) sent around a letter today to members in his party calling on “maximum attendance” when the House GOP’s budget resolution comes up for a vote on the floor this week. If all 215 House Democrats are present for the vote, Speaker Johnson and House GOP leadership would only be able to lose one vote on the floor and still pass the budget resolution. The House Rules Committee will start the process of advancing the budget resolution tonight, leading the House to begin voting on it as early as Tuesday evening.
Government funding runs out at midnight on Friday, March 14 and currently, Congress has made little to no traction on moving forward with a long-term solution for all twelve Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 spending bills. With just 18 days remaining until a government funding lapse, the two sides have no agreement on a top-line funding deal and, although there are rumors of some progress from House and Senate Appropriations Committee leadership, there is no real traction that has been publicly reported. In both chambers, Speaker Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) will likely both be forced to rely on Democrats to pass FY25 spending legislation. One bargaining chip that Democrats are attempting to use in negotiations is restrictions to how the Trump Administration spends government funding, although this is likely a non-starter for Republicans. Passing a budget resolution will free up capacity for lawmakers to actively work on government funding although the longer top-line numbers go unresolved, the closer Congress will be forced to consider passing another continuing resolution (CR).
The House will vote on 10 bills under suspension of the rules, including the Rural Small Business Resilience Act (H.R. 804), which directs the SBA Office of Disaster Recovery and Resilience to ensure individuals and small businesses located in rural areas can access the agency’s disaster assistance and loan programs following a declared disaster; and the Small Business Procurement and Utilization Reform (SPUR) Act of 2025 (H.R. 818), which amends the Small Business Act to include requirements relating to new small business entrants in the scorecard program. The House will also vote on two Congressional Review Act (CRA) disapproval resolution nullifying Biden Administration rules finalized in late 2024: an EPA rule imposing fees on companies that emit excess methane (H.J. Res. 35); and an Energy Department regulation establishing increased energy efficiency standards for gas-burning tankless water heaters (H.J. Res. 20).
The Senate will vote on the nominations of Daniel Driscoll to be Secretary of the Army and Jamieson Greer to be United States Trade Representative. Linda McMahon may also receive a vote to be Secretary of Education after her nomination was advanced out of committee last week. Senate committees will vote on whether to advance the nominations of Lori Chavez-DeRemer to be Secretary of Labor; Todd Blanche to be Deputy Attorney General; Abigail Slater to be an Assistant Attorney General for the Antitrust Division; and Steven Bradbury to be Deputy Secretary of Transportation. Several other Trump Administration nominees face nomination hearings this week, including: Troy Edgar to be Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security; Dan Bishop to be Deputy Director of the Office of Management and Budget; Steve Feinberg to be Deputy Secretary of Defense; Michael Kratsios to be Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy; Mark Meador to be a Federal Trade Commissioner; John Phelan to be Secretary of the Navy; Stephen Miran to be Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers; Jeffrey Kessler to be Under Secretary of Commerce for Industry and Security; Bill Pulte to be Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency; Jonathan McKernan to be Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau; and Keith Sonderling to be Deputy Secretary of Labor.
Additional Senate committee hearings of note this week include: an Environment & Public Works Committee hearing on “Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act Implementation and Case Studies”; and an Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee hearing on “Perspectives From the Field: Farmer and Rancher Views on the Agricultural Economy, Part 2.” The House will hold several hearings including an Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development hearing on “Oversight Hearing - State of the Civil Works Program”; an Oversight and Accountability Subcommittee on Economic Growth, Energy Policy, and Regulatory Affairs hearing on “Leading the Charge: Opportunities to Strengthen America’s Energy Reliability”; an Education and Workforce hearing on "Unleashing America's Workforce and Strengthening Our Economy"; and an Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations hearing on “Examining the Biden Administration's Energy and Environment Spending Push.”
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