United States Capitol

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

  • Congress returns from its two-week recess to a busy week of hearings and floor action, including appearances by several Cabinet members and lawmakers investigating the recent leak of classified documents from the Pentagon.
  • Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., return this week from health-related absences, while majority Democrats attempt to manage the ongoing absence of ailing Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif.
  • Labor Secretary nominee Julie Su will have her Senate confirmation hearing.

HOUSE

  • The House returns tonight through Thursday, with a wide-ranging floor agenda including the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act.  
  • Manhattan is the center of the House political universe today, as Speaker Kevin McCarthy gives a speech on the debt limit on Wall Street, and the House Judiciary Committee holds a hearing on crime in New York.
  • Director Steve Dettelbach.
  • The full list of committee meetings can be found here.

SENATE

  • As the Senate returns, Democrats plan to vote to replace Feinstein on the Judiciary Committee until she is able to return from treatment for shingles, but support from Republicans is uncertain.
  • The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions will hold a hearing on Su’s nomination to be Secretary of Labor.
  • Senate budget hearings include Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas at the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.
  • Additional Senate committee meetings can be found here.

WHITE HOUSE

  • Biden has a relatively light public schedule, having just returned from last week’s visit to Ireland.
  • Thursday, Biden will convene a virtual leader-level meeting of the Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate.
  • Later Thursday, Biden will host Colombian President Gustavo Petro at the White House.