PSW Weekly Round-Up - 7/20

Legislative Update

House. Speaker Mike Johnson has laid out an ambitious agenda before the House begins its summer recess on Thursday afternoon. If the House agrees on Tuesday to a rule for floor consideration, which has not been a given lately, the House this week will vote on a budget resolution, a continuing resolution, the defense authorization bill, a stock trading bill that includes voter ID rules, and a package of community bank regulatory reforms.

FY 2027 Budget Resolution. The resolution instructs four House committees to craft legislation to be part of a reconciliation bill, with maximum spending limits for each panel: Agriculture, $12 billion; Armed Services, $60 billion; Intelligence, $13 billion; and House Administration, $10 billion. While the resolution is not intended to provide details of how that money will be spent, the Agriculture funds are designed to help farmers, who have seen fertilizer and fuel costs rise during the Middle East conflict and from tariff impacts; the Armed Services and Intelligence funds are to rebuild weapons stockpiles being depleted by the Iran war and to fund classified programs; and the House Administration’s $10 billion would be designed to fund grants to states that enact stricter voting rules and require proof of citizenship to vote. A number of House Republicans have voiced concerns with the proposal, noting among other things that the $95 billion in spending is not offset; that the Ways and Means Committee, which has jurisdiction over revenue measures, will not be involved in the reconciliation process as it did not receive any instructions; and that the measure does not include the $350 billion in defense spending requested by President Trump.

Continuing Resolution. With no expectation that Congress will pass the 12 FY 2027 appropriations bills before the new fiscal year begins on Oct. 1, the House is looking to vote on a continuing resolution that provides government funding from Oct. 1 until Dec. 4. While the House Appropriations Committee has approved all 12 of the spending measures, only three have been approved by the full House: Agriculture-FDA, Military Construction-Veterans Affairs, and National Security-State Department. The Senate Appropriations Committee hasn’t approved any FY 2027 measure as Republicans and Democrats continue to disagree on topline spending levels.

National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). While the defense bill had bipartisan support when it was approved by the House Armed Services Committee, Democratic support is likely to peel off if the full House votes to approve amendments opposed by the Democratic caucus.

Stock Trading/Voter ID. Two priorities of the House Freedom Caucus are combined in legislation that would (1) impose restrictions on stock purchases by Members of Congress and their families and (2) require voters in federal elections to present government-issued photo ID, including if they vote by mail.

Senate. The Senate and House are not in session at the same time in the coming weeks. While the House leaves Thursday afternoon and will return Aug. 31 for one week before the Labor Day break, the Senate plans to stay in session through Sept. 3 and will not return until Sept. 14. Beginning the week of Sept. 14, the House and Senate will be in session for three weeks, leaving on Oct. 1 and 2, respectively, until the week of Nov. 9. This week, the Senate will continue to consider nominations. Last week, the Senate failed to get sufficient votes to move forward on consideration of its version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), and Senate Democratic leadership doesn’t anticipate the Senate taking up the measure before the summer recess begins.

Committee Action of Note:

Monday, July 20

• House Rules Committee meeting to formulate a rule on legislation, including:
  • H.R. 7008 – Stop Insider Trading Act
  • H.R. 6955 – Main Street Capital Access Act
  • H. Con. Res. 113 – Congressional budget for the US Government for FY27 and budgetary levels for FY28-36.
  • H.R. 9770 – Continuing Appropriations Act, 2027
  • H.R. 8800 – National Defense Authorization Act for FY27
• House Energy and Commerce Committee Markup of 29 measures addressing energy, data center, pharmaceutical, and healthcare issues, including H.R. 9340, the Ratepayer Protection Act, and H.R. 9332, the Load Forecasting Enhancement Act

Tuesday, July 21

• House Judiciary Committee Markup: Permanent Trump Secure Border Act
• House Agriculture Subcommittee on Commodity Markets, Digital Assets, and Rural Development Hearing: "Examining Customer Protections and Market Integrity in Sports Event Prediction Markets"
• House Financial Services Subcommittee on National Security, Illicit Finance, and International Financial Institutions Hearing: Oversight of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network
• House Education and Workforce Committee Markup of legislation, including:
  • H.R. 9723, "Fit Future Act"
  • H.R. 8660, "Valuing Employee Stock Today Act"
  • H.R. 8347, "Reinforcing Underserved, Rural, and Local (RURAL) Healthcare Act"
  • H.R. 5267, "American Franchise Act"
• House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources Hearing on legislation, including:
  • H.R. 8003, "Expanding the Fast Track Act of 2026."
  • H.R. 9640, "Earth MRI Reauthorization Act of 2026."
  • H.R. 9646, "Quantum-Enhanced Critical Minerals Mapping Act of 2026."
• House Financial Services Subcommittee on Housing and Insurance Hearing: “Oversight of the Federal Home Loan Bank System”
• Senate Appropriations Committee Hearing: “A Review of the President’s Supplemental Funding Request of June 24, 2026.”

Wednesday, July 22

• House Agriculture Subcommittee on Forestry and Horticulture Hearing: "Testimony from Chief Tom Schultz, U.S. Forest Service"
• House Appropriations Committee Hearing: “Funding Lapses: Analyzing Shutdown Reform”
• House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Markup to consider legislation, including:
  • H.R. 6610, Pharmacists Fight Back in Federal Employee Health Benefit Plans Act
  • H.R. 9720, D.C. Taxing Authority Review Act
  • H.R. 9643, Comment Integrity and Management Act
• House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade Hearing: “Legislative Proposals to Strengthen Consumer Protection in a Changing Marketplace.”
• House Science, Space, and Technology Committee Hearing: “Unleashing the Golden Age of Science: Examining the Priorities of the FY27 Research and Technology Enterprise”
• House Education and Workforce Subcommittee on Workforce Protections Hearing: "Broken Trust: How the Biden-Harris DOL Leaked Confidential Information"
• House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Middle East and North Africa Hearing: “Building a New Regional Security Architecture: The Next Phase of the Abraham Accords”
• Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Oversight Hearing on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
• Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Markup to consider nominations, including Cameron Hamilton to be Administrator of Federal Emergency Management Agency and Jeffrey Brodsky and William Gallo to USPS Board of Governors.
• Senate Finance Committee Hearing: "The President’s 2026 Trade Policy Agenda."
• Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee Markup to consider a package of public health, drug pricing and regulation, food safety, health information, and health workforce bills.
• Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee Markup to consider legislation on aviation, broadband, disaster communications, NOAA aircraft, and transportation nominations.

Thursday, July 23

• Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee Markup to consider the nominations of Sean Kaufman to be Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response, Erica Schwartz to be Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Keith Sonderling to be Secretary of Labor.
• Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee hearing on nominations, including Brian Johnson to be Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Friday, July 24

• House Education and Workforce Committee Field Hearing in Augusta, Ga.: "Building an AI-Ready America: How AI Is Creating Opportunities Across America's Workforce"

Executive Action of Note:

On July 13, President Trump sent to the Senate the nomination of Keith Sonderling to be Labor Secretary; on July 16, the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee held a hearing on the nomination; and on July 23, the HELP Committee is scheduled to vote on the nomination.

• Nomination of Keith Sonderling to be Secretary of Labor - July 13, 2026
• Regulatory Relief for Certain Stationary Sources to Promote American Chemical Manufacturing Security - July 13, 2026

Tariff Update

Brazil. The U.S. will impose 25% tariffs on certain goods imported from Brazil, effective July 22, but trade experts believe two-thirds of Brazilian exports to the U.S. will not have to pay the duties because the order includes a long list of exemptions. The July 15 announcement by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative followed a yearlong investigation under Section 301 of the 1974 Trade Act to determine if Brazil engaged in unfair trade practices. In response, Brazil’s president said that his country did not recognize the legitimacy of the U.S. trade investigation and promised to retaliate.

Canada. This afternoon, President Trump said he would impose 50% tariffs on most goods imported from Canada, effective in 30 days, “in response to Canada’s discriminatory treatment of American products,” according to a White House fact sheet. The 30-day delay provides time for the two countries to negotiate a resolution to the dispute. The tariffs, which would be imposed under Section 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930, would not exempt those goods that are covered by the USMCA trade agreement. In a separate action, the President on July 17 threatened to impose additional tariffs on Canada to pay for the “incalculable” cost of Canadian wildfire smoke impacting the U.S. The White House has not specified what legal authority would be used to impose the tariffs or how the tariff rate would be calculated.

Political Update

Arizona Primaries. In Tuesday’s Arizona primaries, two Republican House members – Reps. Andy Biggs and David Schweikert – are among the contenders to be their party’s nominee to challenge incumbent Gov. Katie Hobbs (D), creating open seats in the 5^th and 1^st Congressional districts, respectively. Both parties have hotly contested primaries for Schweikert’s seat. In the gubernatorial primary, Biggs has President Trump’s endorsement and is expected to win the nomination.

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