PSW Weekly Round-Up - 2/10

Legislative Update

House. The legislative focus this week will be on the Midnight Rules Relief Act, which would allow Congress to disapprove multiple regulations, not just one, under a single joint Congressional Review Act resolution of disapproval. Next week, the House will be in recess for Presidents’ Day.

Senate. The Senate will continue with nominations and could hold votes on Tulsi Gabbard to be Director of National Intelligence; Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Health and Human Services Secretary; Howard Lutnick, Commerce Secretary; Brooke Rollins, Agriculture Secretary; and Kelly Loeffler, head of the Small Business Administration. Last week, the Senate finalized five confirmations: Pam Bondi, Attorney General; Doug Collins, Veterans Affairs Secretary; Scott Turner, HUD Secretary; Chris Wright, Energy Secretary; and Russell Vought, Director of the Office of Management and Budget. PSW has kept tabs on all the nominations, which can be found at our PSW Confirmation Tracker. Unlike the House, the Senate will not take a break for Presidents’ Day and will be in session next week.

Budget Resolution. There continues to be a major difference of opinion between Republicans in the House and Senate on their approach to reconciliation legislation. Senate Republicans believe the best approach is to pass two reconciliation bills this year, while the House leadership maintains that they will only be able to pass one reconciliation bill.

Moving forward on the two-bill approach, Senate Budget Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) plans to hold a committee vote this week on the FY 2025 budget resolution he unveiled Friday. The resolution provides reconciliation instructions for three priorities – the border, energy, and defense. Changes to tax policy, including extension of expiring TCJA tax provisions, would be considered in a second reconciliation bill later in the year (after a second budget resolution is approved by both chambers).

Graham’s budget resolution envisions that the first reconciliation bill would provide $175 billion for border initiatives and $150 billion for defense. According to Graham, “since these investments will be spent in four years, the legislation will be paid for in four years.” It will be up to various committees to propose offsets, and most of them will be spending cuts. However, Graham expects that one offset will be revenue that could be generated by additional lease sales for oil and gas exploration on public lands and waters. All committees are to report their sections of the reconciliation legislation by March 7 (but there is no penalty if the deadline is not met).

While the Senate Budget Committee plans to mark up the resolution on Wednesday and Thursday, if a second day is needed, House Speaker Mike Johnson is hoping that Graham will delay committee action. Johnson is working with his fellow Republicans to draft a budget resolution that will provide for a single reconciliation bill that addresses tax policy as well as the border, energy, and defense initiatives in the Senate resolution. However, there continue to be disagreements within the GOP ranks as to how much federal spending to cut and how much the reconciliation bill can increase the deficit. Johnson had indicated that the House Budget Committee could act as soon as Tuesday on a budget resolution, but he has backed off that schedule, saying on Sunday that more time is needed.

Committee Action of Note

Monday, February 10

• House Rules Committee meeting to formulate a rule on H.R. 77 – Midnight Rules Relief Act

Tuesday, February 11

• Senate Finance Committee Markup to consider the nomination of Jamieson Greer to be the U.S. Trade Representative
• Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee Hearing: “The Federal Reserve’s Semi-Annual Monetary Policy Report” with Jerome Powell, Chair of the Federal Reserve System

• House Appropriations Subcommittee on National Security, Department of State, and Related Programs Hearing: “Oversight Hearing – Mexico’s Water Treaty Violations and the Impact on Americans”
• House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Federal Lands Hearing: “Restoring Multiple Use to Revitalize America’s Public Lands and Rural Communities”
• House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources Hearing: “Restoring Energy Dominance: The Path to Unleashing American Offshore Energy”
• House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Administrative State, Regulatory Reform, and Antitrust Hearing: “Reining in the Administrative State: Regulatory and Administrative Law Reform”
• House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Oversight Hearing: “IRS Return on Investment and the Need for Monetization”
• House Administration Committee Hearing: “Part 1: Committee Funding for the 119^th Congress”
• House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health Hearing: “Modernizing American Health Care: Creating Healthy Options and Better Incentives”
• House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Transportation and Maritime Security Hearing: “Examining PRC’s Strategic Port Investments in the Western Hemisphere and the Implications for Homeland Security, Part I”
• House Agriculture Committee Hearing: “Examining the Economic Crisis in Farm Country”
• House Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment Hearing: “America Builds: Clean Water Act Permitting and Project Delivery”

Wednesday, February 12

• Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Hearing: “Advancing Carbon Capture, Utilization and Sequestration Technologies and Ensuring Effective Implementation of the USE IT Act”
• Senate Budget Committee Markup to consider the concurrent resolution on the budget for FY2025.
• Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Hearing: “Nomination of Lori Chavez-DeRemer to serve as Secretary of Labor”
• House Financial Services Committee Hearing: “The Federal Reserve’s Semi-Annual Monetary Policy Report” with Jerome Powell, Chair of the Federal Reserve System
• House Administration Committee Hearing: “Part 2: Committee Funding for the 119^th Congress”
• House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade Hearing: “AI in Manufacturing: Securing American Leadership in Manufacturing and the Next Generation of Technologies”
• House Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Highways and Transit Hearing: “America Builds: A Review of Programs to Address Roadway Safety”

Thursday, February 13

• Senate Judiciary Committee Markup to consider the nomination of Kashyap Patel to be Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation
• Senate Budget Committee Markup to continue to consider the concurrent resolution on the budget for FY2025
• Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Hearing to consider the nomination of Linda McMahon to serve as Secretary of Education
• Senate Agriculture Committee Hearing: “Perspectives from the Field: Farmer and Rancher Views on the Agricultural Economy, Part 2”

Recent Executive Orders of Note

Since his inauguration on Jan. 20, President Trump has signed over 50 Executive Orders. Once they are published in the Federal Register, they can be found here, while all presidential actions can be found on the White House website here. Recent EOs include:

• Eradicating Anti-Christian Bias – Feb. 6, 2025
• Amendment to Duties Addressing the Synthetic Opioid Supply Chain in the People’s Republic of China- Feb. 5, 2025
• Progress on the Situation at Our Northern Border – Feb. 3, 2025
• Progress on the Situation at Our Southern Border – Feb. 3, 2025

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