PSW Weekly Round-Up - 12/8

Legislative Update

Senate. The Senate plans to vote this week on a Democratic proposal that would extend for three years the enhanced tax credits for Affordable Care Act insurance premiums. The measure will not clear the 60-vote threshold needed to advance. Republicans have not yet settled on an alternative proposal, and it remains unclear whether one will be offered for a Senate vote. If so, it, too, will not garner the necessary 60 votes. Without Congressional action and the President’s approval, the enhanced credits will expire on Dec. 31. The Senate will also continue to consider nominations, including a package with 97 nominees.

House. The House will vote this week on the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) compromise measure that was unveiled Sunday night by House and Senate negotiators. Also on the agenda is the INVEST Act, a package of capital markets initiatives from the Financial Services Committee, including provisions that would modify securities law by providing more flexibility to invest in private funds and restricted securities and by expanding exemptions from SEC rules for startups and smaller businesses.

In addition, the House will vote on bills dealing with electric generation reliability, natural gas pipeline permitting rules, Energy Department assessments of electricity supply chains, and permitting requirements under the Clean Water Act.

FY 2026 Spending Bills. For the last couple of weeks, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) has been working with Republican Senators to win their support for a package of FY 2026 appropriations measures. Thune needs unanimous consent to move forward with his plan to bring up the Defense appropriations bill and then attach four more spending bills – Labor-HHS-Education, Commerce-Justice-Science, Interior-Environment, and Transportation-HUD. However, members of his own party are not on board. Some Republicans, for example, object to the bills’ earmarks and spending levels.

There’s also a disagreement between the Senate and House on which bills should be included in the package. While the Senate is looking at a five-bill minibus, House Appropriations Chair Tom Cole (R-Okla.) is adamant that Defense and Labor-HHS-Education should not be in the package and should only be considered when Congress is wrapping up its work on FY 2026 spending, possibly by Jan. 30, when the current continuing resolution expires. With the Senate (and House) scheduled to recess at the end of next week until January, appropriations watchers are not optimistic that the Senate will vote this year on any more FY 2026 spending bills.

Committee Action of Note

Monday, December 8

• Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee markup to consider nominations, including:
  • John DeLeeuw and Michael Graham to be Members of the National Transportation Safety Board
  • Steven Haines to be an Assistant Secretary of Commerce
  • Richard Kloster to be a Member of the Surface Transportation Board
  • Ryan McCormack to be Under Secretary of Transportation for Policy

Tuesday, December 9

• House Rules Committee meeting to formulate a rule on legislation including:
  • H.R. 3638, Electric Supply Chain Act
  • H.R. 3628, State Planning for Reliability & Affordability Act
  • H.R. 3383, Increasing Investor Opportunities Act (INVEST Act)
  • H.R. 3668, Improving Interagency Coordination for Pipeline Reviews
  • National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026
• Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies hearing: A review of the activities and fiscal year 2026 funding priorities of the Office of the United States Trade Representative with Ambassador Jamieson Greer

Wednesday, December 10

• House Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittees on Economic Growth, Energy Policy, and Regulatory Affairs and on Health Care and Financial Services joint hearing: "Lowering the Cost of Healthcare: Technology's Role in Driving Affordability"
• House Agriculture Committee hearing: "Member Day"
• House Financial Services Committee hearing: "From Principles to Policy: Enabling 21st Century AI Innovation in Financial Services"
• House Judiciary Subcommittee on Oversight hearing: “Fighting Obamacare Subsidy Fraud: Is the Administrative Procedure Act Working as Intended?"
• House Administration Subcommittee on Elections hearing: "Examining Potential Updates to the NVRA"
• Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing: "Arms Race 2.0"
• Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee hearing: "The Future of Retirement"
• Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations hearing: "Defining Our Healthcare Problem, and Principles We Should Follow to Solve It"

Thursday, December 11

• House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party hearing: "Trojan Horse: China's Auto Threat to America"
• House Agriculture Committee hearing: "CFTC Reauthorization: Stakeholder Perspectives"
• House Financial Services Subcommittee on Financial Institutions hearing: "Right-Sizing the U.S. Bank Capital Framework: A Return to Tailoring, Economic Growth, and Competitiveness"
• House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing: "Member Day"
• House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence Subcommittee on Defense Intelligence and Overhead Architecture hearing: "FY 2026 Department of Defense Proposal for Cover Enhancement Authority" (closed)
• House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Federal Lands hearing on legislation including H.R. 3924, Wildfire Risk Evaluation Act
• Senate Armed Services Committee hearing: "To receive testimony on the Administration’s deployment of the National Guard across the United States"
• Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing: "The Fed’s Big Bank Welfare Program: Oversight of the Fed’s IORB Regime"
• Senate Rules and Administration Committee markup to consider S.Res. 526, withholding the pay of Senators if a government shutdown occurs

Friday, December 12

• House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing: "Member Day"

Recent Executive Action of Note

On Dec. 6, President Trump signed an Executive Order designed to “stop price fixing, anti-competitive behavior, and foreign influence that drives up grocery prices and threatens the security of America’s food supply.” The order directs the Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission to establish task forces to investigate price-fixing and anti-competitive practices in the food supply chain. A presidential memorandum issued on Dec. 5 directs HHS and the CDC to review best practices from other countries related to childhood vaccination.

• Aligning United States Core Childhood Vaccine Recommendations With Best Practices From Peer, Developed Countries - Dec. 5, 2025
• Addressing Security Risks From Price Fixing and Anti-competitive Behavior in the Food Supply Chain - Dec. 6, 2025

Political Update

House Special Elections. With the Dec. 4 swearing in of Matt Van Epps (R-Tenn.), who prevailed in the Dec. 2 special election to replace Rep. Mark Green (R-Tenn.), there are now 220 Republicans and 213 Democrats in the House, with two vacancies. The seat of the late Rep. Sylvester Turner (D-Tex.), who died in March, will be filled January 31 when voters in the 18^th Congressional District will choose between two Democrats in a runoff election.

The second vacancy is the seat of Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-N.J.), who resigned Nov. 20 and will be sworn in as the New Jersey governor on Jan. 20. A special primary election in the 11^th Congressional District will be held Feb. 5, followed by the special general election on April 16. In Georgia, the governor will set the date for a special election after Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) resigns her seat on Jan. 5.

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