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After a month-long recess, Congress returns to Capitol Hill for a three-week sprint before another six-week recess in October and early November. Lawmakers face a lengthy to-do list with just 21 days until a government shutdown and 57 days until Election Day. The House will vote on a six-month stopgap Continuing Resolution (CR) this week with needed action by the end of the month on extending Farm Bill authorities, the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) authorization, and other important federal programs. Congress may also consider an emergency supplemental funding package for the Baltimore bridge collapse, disaster relief, and other measures. The final versions of the Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) and Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) of 2024 must also be voted on before the end of the year.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) recently detailed his proposed legislative floor agenda for the month of September. With the House in session for the next three weeks, the lower chamber will focus on the themes of “China, EV mandate/green energy credits, Ag land, COVID, Election integrity, and Illegal immigration” during the week of September 9; “ESG, DEI, Woke economic policies, Woke education, Border/immigration, Energy/green standards, Antisemitism, Veterans” during the week of September 16; and “Crime, Wildfires, additional themes” during the week of September 23. Of note, the House will consider several bills with significant impact on local communities: the No Bailout for Sanctuary Cities Act (H.R. 5717), which provides that sanctuary jurisdictions that provide benefits to aliens who are present in the United States without lawful status under the immigration laws are ineligible for Federal funds intended to benefit such aliens; and the Keeping Violent Offenders Off Our Streets Act (H.R. 8205), which establishes certain conditions for municipalities on receipt of Byrne JAG grant funding related to minimum bail standards and public safety reporting.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) also highlighted his priorities for the upper chamber over the next month, releasing a Dear Colleague letter on Sunday. Leader Schumer cited a focus on “crucial funding for health care, infrastructure, education, food safety, veterans, border security, [and] U.S. competitiveness,” as well as a call for “bipartisan cooperation on NDAA, rail safety, lowering the cost of insulin and prescription drugs, and artificial intelligence, among others.” Senate Democrats, aiming to pressure Republicans in the weeks leading up to the election, intend to vote on a bill that would permanently extend increased subsidies for Affordable Care Act (ACA) coverage.
On Friday, House Republican leaders introduced the Continuing Appropriations and Other Matters Act, 2025 (H.R. 9494), which, if passed, would extend federal government funding at enacted FY24 funding levels through Friday, March 28, 2025. The plan is to vote on the bill on Wednesday, however, there will likely be significant challenges for the bill’s road to passage. The CR also includes the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act (H.R. 8281), which requires individuals to provide documentary proof of U.S. citizenship in order to register to vote in federal elections. Including this legislation in a bill to fund the government has brought significant opposition to the bill. Should this bill fail to pass in the House or advance in the Senate, a potential solution is passage of a CR lasting until sometime in early December 2024, providing a legislative vehicle for many items that Congress needs to pass. The White House on Monday indicated that President Joe Biden would veto the GOP’s CR if the bill came to his desk, citing issues for the Departments of Defense and Veteran Affairs and delaying local communities from accessing disaster recovery assistance.
The House will consider 30 bills under suspension of the rules, including the Future Uses of Technology Upholding Reliable and Enhanced Networks (FUTURE) Networks Act (H.R. 1513), which directs the Federal Communications Commission to establish a task force to be known as the ‘‘6G Task Force.” The House will also vote on the DHS Restrictions on Confucius Institutes and Chinese Entities of Concern Act (H.R. 1516), which bars the Department of Homeland Security from providing any funds to U.S. universities that have a relationship with a Confucius Institute or certain Chinese universities; the Protect America’s Innovation and Economic Security from CCP Act of 2024 (H.R. 1398), which requires the Justice Department to set aside resources for a program aimed at countering espionage specifically by the Chinese Communist Party; the Protecting American Agriculture from Foreign Adversaries Act of 2024 (H.R. 9456), which requires the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. to review foreign agricultural land transactions; the No WHO Pandemic Preparedness Treaty Without Senate Approval Act (H.R. 1425), which deems the World Health Organization’s pending agreement on pandemic preparedness a treaty and requires Senate approval to implement in the U.S.; and the End Chinese Dominance of Electric Vehicles in America Act of 2024 (H.R. 7980), which makes electric vehicles using batteries from companies based in China and other U.S. adversaries ineligible for federal EV tax credits.
The Senate will vote this week on Adam Abelson to be a U.S. District Judge for the District of Maryland and Jeannette Vargas to be U.S. District Judge for the Southern District of New York.
For the remainder of the week, the House and Senate will hold several committee hearings and markups, most notably a House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Communications and Technology hearing on “From Introduction to Implementation: A BEAD Program Progress Report;” a House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water, Wildlife and Fisheries legislative hearing on five bills; a Senate Finance Committee hearing on “The 2025 Tax Policy Debate and Tax Avoidance Strategies”; and a Senate Energy and Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water and Power legislative hearing on 16 bills.
On Monday evening, George Helmy took the oath of office to become the new junior U.S. Senator for the State of New Jersey, receiving an appointment last month from the state’s Governor, Phil Murphy, to temporarily succeed Bob Menendez, who resigned on August 20 following a conviction in July on 16 federal charges. Helmy will serve in the Senate until early December 2024, once the election results for the Senate race in NJ are certified; Rep. Andy Kim (D-NJ) is likely to be appointed early to the Senate at that time, a month before his full six-year Senate term is set to begin. On Tuesday, three states will hold congressional primaries to close out the 2024 primary cycle, when voters in New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Delaware head to the polls.
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