By: Adam J. Higgins

Below is this week’s congressional update by BakerHostetler’s Federal Policy team. We’ll continue to post in weeks when both chambers of Congress are in session.

HEADLINES

  • Democrats continue to struggle to find a path forward on President Joe Biden’s domestic agenda, both on infrastructure and on the separate multitrillion-dollar plan to expand safety-net spending and raise taxes.
  • The House panel investigating the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol is kicking into high gear, planning a Tuesday vote to hold former President Donald Trump’s one-time aide Steve Bannon in contempt of Congress.
  • The Senate Foreign Relations Committee will vote on 29 nominees for ambassadorships, including several high-profile nominees.

HOUSE

  • The House will hold votes Tuesday through Friday. The agenda includes workplace protections for nursing mothers, as well as a reauthorization of federal funding for victims of domestic violence.
  • The Select Committee to Investigate the January 6 Attack on the United States Capitol has planned a Tuesday contempt vote on Bannon, the panel’s first major action against a former Trump aide.
  • The House Small Business Subcommittee on Oversight, Investigations and Regulations will hold a Wednesday hearing on global supply chain challenges.
  • The full list of this week’s House committee activity can be found here.

SENATE

  • The Senate will vote on Biden’s judicial nominees and will vote on a revamped version of Democrats’ overhaul of federal election laws.
  • The Foreign Relations Committee plans to take up a slate of Biden’s ambassador nominees, including Rahm Emanuel to be ambassador to Japan, Cindy McCain to be ambassador to the U.N. Agencies for Food and Agriculture, Jeff Flake to be ambassador to Turkey, and Captain “Sully” Sullenberger to be ambassador to the Council of the International Civil Aviation Organization.
  • The Judiciary Committee will hold an oversight hearing with Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
  • The current list of Senate committee activity can be found here.

WHITE HOUSE

  • The president currently has no public events scheduled this week. He is likely to participate in memorial services for former Secretary of State General Colin Powell, who died early this morning of COVID complications.