PSW Round-Up - 2/14

Legislative Update

House. There are numerous House hearings this week, but the House is not in session for floor votes. Both the House and Senate will be in recess next week for Presidents’ Day.

Senate. The Senate plans to vote this week on a House-passed continuing resolution that will extend government funding through March 11. Action is needed by Feb. 18, when the current CR expires, but timing of the Senate vote is up in the air as Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) has indicated she would oppose a unanimous consent request to expedite consideration of the measure.

Also on the agenda is a vote Tuesday or Wednesday on the nomination of Dr. Robert Califf to head the Food and Drug Administration. There’s a chance that Senators could also vote this week to confirm Shalanda Young and Nani Coloretti to serve as Director and Deputy Director of the Office of Management and Budget.

Appropriations. Bipartisan leadership of the House and Senate appropriations panels reached an agreement Feb. 9 on FY 2022 top-line spending numbers for defense and non-defense programs. Those numbers have not yet been released, nor have there been any statements as to how various policy riders will be handled.

Now that there is agreement on the overall spending numbers, subcommittee leaders are waiting to hear what their spending targets will be for the 12 individual spending bills. The 12 measures will then be packaged into a single, omnibus appropriations bill for floor consideration. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said last week that he plans to bring the omnibus to the floor by March 8, so that it can be approved by the Senate and signed by the President before the March 11 deadline.

Committee Action of Note:

• Tuesday, February 15:
  • Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee Executive Session to vote on the nominations of Jerome Powell to be Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, Lael Brainard to be Vice Chairman, Sarah Bloom Raskin to be Vice Chairman for Supervision, and Dr. Lisa DeNell Cook and Dr. Philip Jefferson to be Members of the Board of Governors; also to vote on the nomination of Sandra Thompson to be Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency.
  • Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee Hearing to examine the President's Working Group on Financial Markets report on stablecoins.
  • House Natural Resources Committee Virtual Legislative Hearing on H.R. 2021, the Environmental Justice for All Act.
  • House Science, Space, and Technology Subcommittee on Research and Technology Hearing: Strengthening the U.S. Microelectronics Workforce.
  • House Small Business Subcommittee on Rural Development, Agriculture, Trade, and Entrepreneurship Hearing: The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act’s Benefits for Small Businesses.
  • House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Environment and Climate Change Hearing: Back from the Brink: Restoring Brownfield Sites to Economic Engines.
  • House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Select Revenue Measures Hearing: Examining the Economic Impact of Federal Infrastructure Investment.
  • House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Transportation and Maritime Security Hearing: Concealed Carry-Ons: Confronting the Surge in Firearms at TSA Checkpoints.
  • House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis Hearing: Keeping the Lights On: Strategies for Grid Resilience and Reliability.

• Wednesday, February 16:
  • House Financial Services Committee Hearing: An Unprecedented Investment for Historic Results: How Federal Support for MDIs and CDFIs Have Launched a New Era for Disadvantaged Communities.
  • House Committee on House Administration Hearing: Big Data: Privacy Risks and Needed Reforms in the Public and Private Sectors.

• Thursday, February 17:
  • House Science, Space, and Technology Subcommittee on Energy Hearing: H2Success: Research and Development to Advance a Clean Hydrogen Future.
  • House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Oversight, Management, and Accountability Hearing: Call to Action: Private Sector Investment in the Northern Triangle and its Impact on Homeland Security.