PSW Weekly Round-Up - 11/3

Legislative Update

House. The House has been in recess since Sept. 19. Both the House and Senate are scheduled to be in recess next week for Veterans’ Day.

Senate. The Senate will continue to consider nominations and could vote on a War Powers resolution that would block military strikes on Venezuela without authorization from Congress. Having failed 13 times to clear the 60-vote hurdle to move forward on the House-passed continuing resolution (CR) to fund the government through Nov. 21, the Senate does not plan to vote again on the same resolution. Senate Majority Leader John Thune said today that it is not realistic to vote on a CR that only goes through Nov. 21. “That date’s lost,” Thune said this afternoon, adding that he is open to a CR lasting into January. On a separate appropriations matter that does not resolve the shutdown, there are conversations about a possible Senate vote on a minibus that packages four FY 2026 spending bills – Defense, Labor-HHS-Education, Transportation-HUD, and Commerce-Justice-Science.

Last week, the Senate approved three resolutions that would end tariffs imposed by President Trump on imports from Canada and Brazil as well as the broad-based global tariffs. The resolutions, which were brought to the floor by Democrats and needed only a simple majority for passage, would end the national emergencies declared by the President to impose the tariffs. Despite Senate approval, the House will not have to vote on the three resolutions. In September, the House approved a rule that included language blocking consideration through Jan. 31, 2026 of resolutions terminating national emergencies declared by President Trump. The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on Nov. 5 and is expected to issue a ruling by the end of the year or early next year in the case challenging the President’s authority to impose tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).

Committee Action of Note

Tuesday, November 4

• Senate Armed Services Committee hearing to consider the nominations of:
  • Austin Dahmer to be Assistant Secretary of Defense for Strategy, Plans, and Capabilities
  • Robert Kadlec to be Assistant Secretary of Defense for Nuclear Deterrence, Chemical, and Biological Defense Policy and Programs
  • Michael Borders, Jr. to be Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Energy, Installations, and Environment

Wednesday, November 5

• Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee markup to consider the nominations of:

• • Edward Forst to be Administrator of General Services
  • Charles Arrington to be a Member of the Federal Labor Relations Authority

• Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee hearing: "Trump’s Regulatory Rollback: Saving Americans $907 Billion and Counting"

Thursday, November 6

• Senate Armed Services Committee hearing to consider the nominations of:

• • Michael D. Payne to be Director of Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation, Department of Defense
  • Alexander J. Velez-Green to be Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Policy
  • Timothy D. Dill to be Assistant Secretary of Defense for Manpower and Reserve Affairs
  • Dr. Maurice L. Todd to be Assistant Secretary of Defense for Readiness

• Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing: "Reforming Financial Transparency in Higher Education"
• Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations hearing: "Assessing the Damage Done by Obamacare"

Tariff Update

China. After President Trump’s Oct. 30 meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, the White House said the U.S. will not levy the 100% tariff on Chinese imports that Trump had said he would impose on Nov. 1 in retaliation for China’s decision to restrict the export of its rare earth minerals. China, in turn, will delay by one year the Dec. 1 start of those restrictions, and the U.S. will delay for one year new limits on exports of advanced technology to China. President Trump said that Xi would “work very hard to stop the flow” of fentanyl to the U.S., and the U.S. will cut in half the 20% tariff that Trump imposed on China over fentanyl trafficking.

President Trump also agreed to postpone plans to charge higher fees for Chinese-built and -owned ships arriving at U.S. ports, and China will pause similar high fees for ships with U.S. investors. China also committed to resuming purchases of soybeans from U.S. farmers. On Saturday, the White House released a fact sheet with details of the agreement with China.

Political Update

Texas Special Election. On Tuesday, voters in Texas’ 18^th Congressional District will go to the polls to vote on a successor to Rep. Sylvester Turner (D), who died in March. Sixteen candidates are in the race and all of them will appear on the ballot, regardless of party affiliation. If no candidate receives a majority, which is expected, the top two candidates will face each other in a runoff election.

www.psw-inc.com