Below is this week’s congressional update by BakerHostetler’s Federal Policy team. We’ll continue to post in weeks when both chambers of Congress are in session.
HEADLINES
- Having cleared a short-term funding patch to keep the government open, Congress now turns to the National Defense Authorization Act and the debt limit, possibly even legislatively pairing the two unrelated issues.
- Democrats continue to seek a path forward for the Build Back Better Act, and may gain additional clarity from the Senate parliamentarian this week on the viability of certain provisions.
- President Joe Biden will have a video call with Russian President Vladimir Putin focusing on Russia’s threat to Ukraine, and later in the week, Biden will hold a virtual Summit for Democracy with other world leaders.
HOUSE
- The House plans to hold votes tomorrow through Friday. The agenda is fluid but is likely to include consideration of the National Defense Authorization Act, and possibly debt limit legislation.
- Tomorrow, the House Ways and Means Committee will hold a hearing on the future of Social Security.
- The Energy and Commerce Committee on Thursday will hold a legislative hearing titled “Holding Big Tech Accountable: Legislation to Build a Safer Internet.”
- The full list of this week’s House committee activity can be found here.
SENATE
- The Senate floor schedule is also fluid, but senators will vote on President Biden’s nominees, including Jessica Rosenworcel to lead the Federal Communications Commission.
- The Senate Foreign Relations Committee this week will hold hearings on U.S. policy toward Russia and toward Taiwan.
- The Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Surface Transportation, Maritime, Freight, and Ports will hold a hearing tomorrow on challenges to the ocean supply chain.
- The current list of Senate committee activity can be found here.
WHITE HOUSE
