PSW Weekly Round-Up - 6/23

Legislative Update

House. Among the bills on this week’s schedule is the FY 2026 appropriations bill for Military Construction and Veterans Affairs. At the end of the week, the House plans to recess until July 7.

Senate. The Senate will continue to consider nominations, but it is still unclear whether Majority Leader John Thune will bring up the Senate’s version of reconciliation legislation. Thune said today that the Senate “will remain here until this bill is passed,” threatening to keep Senators in town beyond Friday’s scheduled recess for the 4^th of July. However, the bill has not yet been finalized. Senate debate on reconciliation bills is limited to 20 hours, equally divided between the parties, and Republicans can be expected to yield back a good chunk of their 10 hours. After debate time has expired, there can be unlimited votes on amendments, i.e., the vote-a-rama.

Reconciliation. There are currently two fronts of action to track as lawmakers consider the specifics of the Senate reconciliation bill. One is the intraparty debate among Republicans, and the other involves parliamentary challenges that Senate Democrats are raising.

On the first, Republicans in both the Senate and House are trying to find common ground on a host of controversial issues, including Medicaid funding, clean energy credits, and the state and local tax deduction (SALT). While technically it’s Leader Thune who is attempting to find majority support for the bill the Senate hopes to consider this week, House Speaker Mike Johnson is also weighing in since the House will have to vote next on a Senate-passed bill.

PSW has prepared a comparison of the key House and Senate provisions, which can be found here.

As for the Democrats, they are not part of the Republican-only discussions on the policy provisions, but they are actively engaged in challenging whether certain provisions comply with the Byrd Rule. In recent days, the Senate parliamentarian has sided with Democratic arguments in advising that various provisions would violate the Byrd Rule. This includes the Agriculture Committee’s proposal to require states to share the cost of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP); the Banking Committee’s proposal that would effectively eliminate the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau; and proposals from the Environment and Public Works Committee to repeal certain Biden vehicle emission rules. However, the parliamentarian did say that the Commerce Committee’s proposal imposing a 10-year moratorium on enforcing state and local AI laws did not violate the Byrd Rule.

The Finance Committee section of reconciliation covers not only tax policy but also Medicaid changes, and staff discussions with the parliamentarian are ongoing, with Democrats reportedly challenging as many as 60 provisions. The parliamentarian’s advice on those challenges could be released on Tuesday. (As they are issued, the parliamentarian’s opinions can be found at the newsroom of the Senate Budget Committee Democrats.)

Committee Action of Note

Monday, June 23

• House Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies FY 2026 Budget Hearing: Request for the Department of Justice with Pamela Bondi, U.S. Attorney General
• House Appropriations Subcommittee on Legislative Branch Markup: FY 2026 Legislative Branch Bill
• House Rules Committee meeting to formulate a rule on various measures, including H.R. 3944, Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, FY 2026

Tuesday, June 24

• Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing: “The Thin Blue Line Protecting America from the Cartels”
• Senate Appropriations FY 2026 Budget Hearings:
  • Subcommittee on Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies FY 2026 Budget Hearing: Request for the Department of Veterans Affairs
  • Subcommittee on Defense: Request for the Navy
• Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy, and Consumer Rights Hearing: “Deregulation and Competition: Reducing Regulatory Burdens to Unlock Innovation and Spur New Entry”
• Senate Banking Committee Hearing: “Exploring Bipartisan Legislative Frameworks for Digital Asset Market Structure”
• House Financial Services Committee Hearing: “The Federal Reserve’s Semi-Annual Monetary Policy Report” with Jerome Powell, Chairman of the Federal Reserve
• House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health Hearing: “The FY 2026 Department of Health and Human Services Budget”
• House Appropriations Committee Markup of the FY 2026 Homeland Security Bill
• House Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on Delivering on Government Efficiency Hearing: “Locking in the DOGE Cuts: Ending Waste, Fraud, and Abuse for Good”
• House Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials Hearing: “America Builds: The Role of Innovation and Technology in Rail Modernization”
• House Small Business Committee Hearing: “Securing America’s Mineral Future: Unlocking the Economic Value Beneath Our Feet”
• House Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, Artificial Intelligence, and the Internet Hearing: “Fiscal Accountability and Oversight of the Federal Courts”
• House Administration Committee Hearing: “Serving and Voting: Oversight of the Federal Voting Assistance Program”

Wednesday, June 25

• Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee Hearing: “The Federal Reserve’s Semi-Annual Monetary Policy Report” with Jerome Powell, Chairman of the Federal Reserve
• Senate Commerce Committee markup of 7 measures, including S. 1872, “Critical Infrastructure Manufacturing Feasibility Act”
• Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee to consider the nomination of Susan Monarez to be Director of the Centers for Dusease Control and Prevention
• Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies FY 2026 Budget Hearing: Request for the Department of Justice with Pamela Bondi, U.S. Attorney General
• Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Federal Courts, Oversight, Agency Action, and Federal Rights Hearing: “Enter the Dragon: China and the Left’s Lawfare Against American Energy Dominance”
• House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health Hearing: “Health at Your Fingertips: Harnessing the Power of Digital Health Data”
• House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the U.S. and the CCP Hearing: “Algorithms and Authoritarians: Why U.S. AI Must Lead”
• House Financial Services Subcommittee on Capital Markets Hearing: “Reassessing Sarbanes-Oxley: The Cost of Compliance in Today’s Capital Markets”
• House Budget Committee Hearing: “Reversing the Curse: Rooting Out Waste and Fraud and Restoring the Dignity of Work”
• House Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on Health Care and Financial Services Hearing: “Sacrificing Excellence for Ideology: The Real Cost of DEI”
• House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Administrative State, Regulatory Reform, and Antitrust Hearing: “The Proxy Advisor Duopoly’s Anticompetitive Conduct”
• House Energy and Commerce Committee Markup of 13 bills, including the Reliable Power Act, the GRID Power Act, the Power Plant Reliability Act, and the Electric Supply Chain Act

Thursday, June 26

• Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense FY 2026 Budget Hearing: “Request for the Air Force and Space Force”
• House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Federal Lands Hearing: “Fix Our Forests: Advancing Innovative Technologies to Improve Forest Management and Prevent Wildfires”
• House Appropriations Committee Markup of the FY 2026 Legislative Branch Bill
• House Agriculture Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities, Risk Management, and Credit Hearing: “A Review of the U.S. Grain Standards Act”
• House Financial Services Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations Hearing: “From Watchdog to Attack Dog: Explaining the CFPB’s Chopra-era Assault on Disfavored Industries”
• House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade Hearing: “Looking Under the Hood: The State of NHTSA and Motor Vehicle Safety”

Tariff Update

Supreme Court. In a one-sentence order, the Supreme Court said June 20 that it would not hear expedited arguments in a case brought by two educational toy companies challenging the legality of tariffs imposed by President Trump under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). The companies had prevailed in an earlier court ruling, when the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on May 29 agreed that IEEPA could not be used to impose sweeping tariffs. However, an appeals court put that decision on hold and has allowed the tariffs to continue. The appeals court is set to hear the case in late July, but the toy companies were hoping the Supreme Court would fast-track the issue and take up the case rather than waiting on the appeals court.

Canada. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said last week that Canada will continue trade negotiations with the U.S. for the next month and on July 31 will revisit the countermeasures it targeted at U.S. steel and aluminum in response to U.S. actions. President Trump in March imposed 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum imports. Canada, which is the largest foreign supplier of both steel and aluminum to the U.S., responded by imposing the same level of tariffs on U.S. steel and aluminum. On June 4, Trump doubled the tariff rate to 50%, but Canada has not increased its tariffs.

Recent Executive Actions of Note. On June 16, President Trump signed an Executive Order removing some of the trade barriers between the U.S. and the United Kingdom. The EO addresses automobiles, aerospace, and steel and aluminum. This and other recent executive actions include:

• Presidential Permit Authorizing the City of Eagle Pass, Texas, to Expand and Continue to Maintain and Operate a Vehicular and Pedestrian Border Crossing at the Camino Real International Bridge Land Port of Entry - June 20, 2025
• Further Extending The TikTok Enforcement Delay - June 19, 2025
• Implementing The General Terms Of The United States Of America-United Kingdom Economic Prosperity Deal – June 16, 2025

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