PSW Weekly Round-Up - 9/8

Legislative Update

Senate. The Senate will devote most of its floor time this week to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) but will also consider pending nominations and begin work on a procedural move by Majority Leader John Thune that would change Senate rules for nominations. Under Thune’s plan, most executive branch nominees, but not Cabinet officials, could be confirmed as a bloc rather than individually. Thune is planning to use a procedural step that will allow Republicans to change the rules with a simple majority rather than a 60-vote threshold.

House. The House is scheduled to vote on its version of the NDAA.

FY 2026 Funding. The new fiscal year begins on October 1, and Congress will need to pass a continuing resolution before then if a government shutdown is to be avoided as there is no expectation that lawmakers will approve the 12 individual appropriations bills by then.

The House has cleared three individual bills – Defense, Military Construction/Veterans Affairs, and Energy and Water, while the Senate packaged three measures into legislation it approved Aug. 1 – MilCon/VA, Agriculture, and Legislative Branch. The House Appropriations Committee has marked up ten spending bills and is planning to mark up the last two, Labor-HHS-Education and Commerce-Justice-Science, on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively. The Senate Appropriations Committee has marked up eight bills and has scheduled a Sept. 11 markup for the Homeland Security bill. Yet to be scheduled for a committee vote are Energy and Water, State/Foreign Operations, and Financial Services/General Government.

Congress is scheduled to be in recess the week of September 22 for Rosh Hashanah so there are very few legislative days left to consider a stopgap funding bill and there is no agreement among the key players as to how to proceed. The White House and some Republicans are said to want a Continuing Resolution (CR) that extends through at least January. Democrats and Republican appropriators reportedly favor a short-term CR through November or December to allow appropriators more time to work out a House-Senate top-line spending number and move individual bills. And, of course, there’s also the possibility of a government shutdown if nothing is enacted by Oct. 1.

Committee Action of Note

Monday, September 8

• House Rules Committee meeting to formulate a rule on H.R. 3838 – Streamlining Procurement for Effective Execution and Delivery and National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2026

Tuesday, September 9

• House Agriculture Subcommittee on Nutrition and Foreign Agriculture Hearing: “Exploring State Options in SNAP”
• House Financial Services Subcommittee on National Security, Illicit Finance, and International Financial Institutions Hearing: “Evaluating the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network”
• House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Federal Lands Oversight Hearing: “The State of Our Nation’s Federal Forests”
• House Appropriations Committee markup of the FY 2026 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies Bill
• House Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on Health Care and Financial Services Hearing: “Better Meals, Fewer Pills: Making Our Children Healthy Again”
• House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Energy Hearing: “Building the American Dream: Examining Affordability, Choice, and Security in Appliance and Buildings Policies”
• House Financial Services Subcommittee on Financial Institutions Hearing: “Promoting the Health of the Banking Sector: Reforming Resolution and Broadening Funding Access for Long-Term Resilience”
• House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations Hearing: “Exploring the Economic Potential of the Golden Age of American Energy Dominance”

Wednesday, September 10

• Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee Hearing: “AI’ve Got a Plan: America’s AI Action Plan”
• Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee Hearing: “Evaluating Perspectives on Deposit Insurance Reform”
• Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Hearing to examine a discussion draft of the “Wildfire Emissions Prevention Act”
• Senate Appropriations Committee markup to consider the FY 2026 Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act
• House Financial Services Committee Hearing: “Proxy Power and Proposal Abuse: Reforming Rule 14a-8 to Protect Shareholder Value”
• House Natural Resources Committee Hearing on various measures, including:
  • H.R. 573, “Studying NEPA’s Impact on Projects Act”;
  • H.R. 4503, “ePermit Act”; and
  • H.R. 4776, “Standardizing Permitting and Expediting Economic Development Act” or the “SPEED Act”
• House Appropriations Committee markup of the FY 2026 Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Bill
• House Agriculture Subcommittee on Forestry and Horticulture Hearing: “Promoting Forest Health and Resiliency Through Improved Active Management”

Tariff Update

Supreme Court. On Sept. 3, the Trump administration asked the Supreme Court for an expedited review of the appellate court ruling that the President did not have authority under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to impose tariffs. Under the expedited schedule proposed by the Justice Department, oral arguments would take place the first week in November. The Supreme Court is expected to agree to take up the case on an expedited schedule and could announce that decision as soon as Wednesday. Given the importance of the case, it’s possible that the Supreme Court could issue a ruling in December or January.

Recent Executive Actions of Note

Two of President Trump’s Executive Orders last week dealt with tariffs. On Sept. 4, the President issued an EO that will ease the 15% tariffs he imposed on Japan, and on Sept. 5, he issued an order that modifies the list of goods excluded from reciprocal tariffs. These and other executive actions include:

• Restoring The United States Department Of War - Sept 5, 2025
• Modifying The Scope Of Reciprocal Tariffs And Establishing Procedures For Implementing Trade And Security Agreements - Sept 5, 2025
• Strengthening Efforts To Protect U.S. Nationals From Wrongful Detention Abroad - Sept 5, 2025
• Implementing The United States–Japan Agreement - Sept 4, 2025

Political Update

Virginia Special Election. Voters in Virginia’s 11^th Congressional District will go to the polls Tuesday to determine who will fill the seat of the late Rep. Gerry Connolly (D), who passed away May 21. Democrat James Walkinshaw, who serves on the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors and was a former chief of staff for Connolly, is favored in the race against Republican Stewart Whitson. If Walkinshaw prevails, the party breakdown in the House would be 219 Republicans to 213 Democrats, with three vacancies – two Democratic seats (Raul Grijalva in Arizona and Sylvester Turner in Texas) and one Republican seat (Mark Green in Tennessee).

www.psw-inc.com