Below is the Federal Policy team’s weekly preview, published each Monday that Congress is in session.
HEADLINES
• President Donald Trump on Tuesday (9 p.m. ET Monday in the United States) will participate in his long-awaited meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un – including an initial one-on-one session.
• The House plans to take up a series of bills aimed at addressing the opioid crisis.
• The Senate will debate the annual policy reauthorization for the Defense Department.
• The Supreme Court is expected to issue opinions today and possibly Thursday.
• Congressional primaries will take place Tuesday in Maine, Nevada, North Dakota, South Carolina and Virginia.
HOUSE
- The House plans to vote Tuesday through Friday. The legislative agenda includes dozens of bills from several different committees targeting the nation’s opioid abuse crisis.
- Republicans continue to work toward an immigration compromise. Moderates are pushing a procedural motion that would force a vote on a series of immigration bills. House GOP leaders are trying to block that effort with compromise legislation that could unite Republican lawmakers – so far, a tall order.
- The Appropriations Committee continues its work on fiscal 2019 spending bills, including a full committee markup of the Defense and Financial Services bills.
- On Thursday, lawmakers will participate in the 56th Congressional Baseball Game for charity – exactly one year after the attack on a Republican practice for the game that left four people wounded, including House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.).
- A full listing of House committee activity can be found here.
SENATE
- The Senate plans to be in session throughout the week, and will consider the fiscal 2019 National Defense Authorization Act.
- On Wednesday, the Senate Agriculture Committee will take up its version of the Farm Bill, as the House version remains stalled by the immigration legislative standoff.
- On Tuesday, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee will hear from Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar regarding Trump’s initiative to lower prescription drug prices; the Judiciary Committee also may take up legislation aimed at speeding generic drugmakers’ access to brand-name drugs in a Food and Drug Administration safety program called Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategies.
- The current listing of Senate committee activity can be found here.
WHITE HOUSE
- President Trump is in Singapore ahead of his meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. The key question: Will the meeting be little more than a photo op, or will the two leaders be able to lay the foundation to reduce military tensions on the peninsula?
- The White House this week is expected to finalize $50 billion in tariffs on Chinese products.