PSW Weekly Round-Up - 5/12

Legislative Update

Senate. The Senate will continue to consider nominations. It’s unclear whether the Senate will vote on Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolutions that would block EPA waivers from the Biden administration that allow California to set stringent emissions standards for cars and trucks. The Government Accountability Office has said the waivers are not rules for the purposes of CRA consideration and the Senate parliamentarian has concurred with that position, but Senate Republicans are discussing whether to bring the measures to the floor for votes. On May 1, the House approved three CRAs repealing the California waivers.

House. The House will vote on several Judiciary Committee bills dealing with law enforcement.

Reconciliation. It’s a big week in the House for reconciliation legislation, with markup sessions scheduled Tuesday for Ways and Means (2 p.m.), Energy and Commerce (2 p.m.), and Agriculture (7:30 p.m.). The Ways and Means Committee released its tax legislation in two stages. On Friday night, the committee released its proposal to extend the various expiring provisions of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, but did not unveil proposed revenue raisers, such as changes to the Inflation Reduction Act’s energy tax incentives. That second part was released this afternoon.

A major sticking point among Republicans has been how to address the TCJA’s cap of $10,000 on the deduction for state and local taxes (SALT). The Ways and Means text released today provides a $30,000 deduction for taxpayers with income of $400,000 or less. That level is still too low for some Republicans, who said today that the reconciliation bill will not pass on the House floor unless there is a higher SALT deduction.

The Energy and Commerce proposal, which was released Sunday night, provides more than $880 billion in savings through changes to Medicaid, rescissions of Biden energy and climate funds, restoring the Federal Communications Commission’s ability to auction parts of the radio spectrum, and other proposals. The Agriculture Committee has not yet unveiled its legislation.

If committee action is finished this week, the work of all 11 panels with jurisdiction over parts of the reconciliation bill will be folded into one bill by the Budget Committee. House Speaker Mike Johnson wants the full House to vote on the measure before members leave at the end of next week for the Memorial Day recess.

Debt Limit. In a May 9 letter to Speaker Johnson, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent wrote that Congress will need to take action on the debt limit before its August recess since “there is a reasonable probability that the federal government’s cash and extraordinary measures will be exhausted in August.” The House Ways and Means tax bill that was released today includes a $4 trillion increase in the debt limit.

Tariff Update.

• Baseline Tariff. On May 9, President Trump said that he would always impose a minimum 10% tariff on U.S. trading partners but then added that “there could be an exception at some point.”

• China. Beginning Wednesday, May 14, the U.S. will temporarily lower its tariffs on Chinese imports from 145% to 30%, while the Chinese will lower its tariffs on U.S. imports from 125% to 10%. The lower tariffs will be in effect for 90 days, according to a joint statement issued May 12 by the two countries. China has also agreed to suspend or cancel some retaliatory, nontariff measures, a move that could ease export restrictions on critical minerals used in batteries and high-tech products. Tariffs on many Chinese imports, however, will be higher than 30% as U.S. duties on steel, aluminum and autos remain in place, as do some earlier tariffs on certain Chinese goods imposed by Presidents Trump and Biden.

• United Kingdom. On May 8, President Trump announced an agreement with the United Kingdom that will scale back some of the tariffs he imposed on goods from the U.K. Details of the agreement are still being negotiated, but the White House issued a fact sheet outlining key aspects. The President’s 25% tariff on U.K. cars and car parts will be lowered to 10% for the first 100,000 vehicles exported to the U.S. Cars are the U.K.’s biggest export to the U.S. The agreement also provides that exports of U.K. steel and aluminum will be exempt from the U.S.’s 25% tariff that went into effect in March. In addition, U.K. plane parts will be exempt from any new tariffs that could be imposed as a result of the recently announced Commerce Department investigation into imports of commercial aircraft, jet engines, and their parts.

Committee Action of Note

Tuesday, May 13

• Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Hearing to consider pending nominations:
  • David Fink to be Administrator of the Federal Railroad Administration
  • David Fogel to be Assistant Secretary of Commerce and Director General of the United States and Foreign Commercial Service
  • Pierre Gentin to be General Counsel of the Department of Commerce
  • Robert Gleason to be Director of the Amtrak Board of Directors
• Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing: “PBM Power Play: Examining Competition Issues in the Prescription Drug Supply Chain”
• House Ways and Means Committee markup of legislative proposals to comply with its reconciliation directive
• House Energy and Commerce Committee markup of Budget Reconciliation Text
• House Agriculture Committee markup of legislative proposals to comply with its reconciliation directive

Wednesday, May 14

• Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee markup to consider the nomination of Paul Dabbar to be Deputy Secretary of Commerce
• Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee Hearing: “FAA Reauthorization One Year Later: Aviation Safety, Air Traffic, and Next Generation Technology”
• Senate Finance Committee Hearing: “Trade in Critical Supply Chains”
• Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies: Request for the Environmental Protection Agency
• Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Hearing: “FY 2026 Budget for the Department of Health and Human Services”
• Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee Hearing: “Financing America’s Manufacturing and Industrial Boom”
• Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing: “Foreign Threats to American Innovation and Economic Leadership”
• House Appropriations Committee FY 2026 Budget Hearings:
  • Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services with Robert F. Kennedy Jr, Secretary of HHS
  • Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development: U.S. Department of Transportation with Sean Duffy, Transportation Secretary
• House Financial Services Subcommittee on Housing and Insurance Hearing: “Expanding Choice and Increasing Supply: Housing Innovation in America”
• House Appropriations Committee Oversight Hearings:
  • Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government: Oversight of the Federal Judiciary
  • Subcommittee on Homeland Security: Oversight of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
  • Subcommittee on Defense: Oversight of the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps
  • Subcommittee on Homeland Security: Oversight of the U.S. Coast Guard
• House Financial Services Subcommittee on Financial Institutions Hearing: “Enhancing Competition: Shaping the Future of Bank Mergers and De Novo Formation”

Thursday, May 15

• Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies: FY 2026 Budget Request for the Department of Transportation
• Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee Hearing: “Pipeline Safety Reauthorization”
• Senate Judiciary Committee markup of eight measures
• House Appropriations Committee FY 2026 Budget Hearings:
  • Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies: Environmental Protection Agency
  • Subcommittee on Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies: U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
  • Subcommittee on Labor, Health, and Human Services: U.S. Department of Labor
• House Appropriations Committee Oversight Hearings:
  • Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government: Oversight of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission
  • Subcommittee on Homeland Security: Oversight of U.S. Customs and Border Protection
  • Subcommittee on Homeland Security: Oversight of the Transportation Security Administration
• House Financial Services Task Force on Monetary Policy, Treasury Market Resilience, and Economic Prosperity Hearing: “Examining Treasury Market Fragilities and Preventative Solutions”

Recent Executive Actions of Note

Today the President signed an Executive Order that directs administration officials within 30 days to provide pharmaceutical companies with “most-favored-nation price targets,” which would tie U.S. drug prices to the lowest prices in other developed countries. The order does not include a mechanism for lowering prices, but if the drug companies don’t make progress adopting these prices, the administration will propose a rule-making plan that imposes the prices and will also consider importation of drugs from overseas. The order will likely be challenged in court. The drug pricing order and other recent actions include:

• Delivering Most-favored-nation Prescription Drug Pricing To American Patients - May 12, 2025
• Rescission of Useless Water Pressure Standards - May 9, 2025
• Fighting Overcriminalization In Federal Regulations - May 9, 2025
• Establishing Project Homecoming - May 9, 2025
• Regulatory Relief To Promote Domestic Production Of Critical Medicines - May 5, 2025
• Improving The Safety And Security Of Biological Research - May 5, 2025

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