Both the House and Senate are in session this week, but votes will not take place until late Tuesday in observation of Rosh Hashanah. They are entering the final week to pass a stopgap government funding bill before fiscal 2022 funds expire on Friday.
The Senate will be taking the lead in introducing the continuing resolution, but as of this weekend, the text of the bill had not been released. Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) is working to secure 60 votes for his energy-permitting legislation so it can be included in the bill. It is likely that the House will have to consider and pass the continuing resolution with very little time late this week.
A bipartisan group of Senators on the Agriculture Committee are hoping to confirm three nominees by unanimous consent this week. That includes: Alexis Taylor as the Department of Agriculture’s undersecretary of agriculture for trade and foreign agricultural affairs; Jose Emilio Esteban as the Department of Agriculture’s undersecretary for food safety; and Vincent Garfield Logan as a member of the Farm Credit Administration board.
Administration
On Tuesday, Vice President Kamala Harris will be in Japan for the funeral of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. On Wednesday, President Biden will host the inaugural U.S.-Pacific Island Country Summit.
House Side
On Wednesday, the House will meet to consider multiple bills under suspension.
- S. 4900 – SBIR and STTR Extension Act of 2022 (Sen. Cardin – Small Business). The bill would authorize through fiscal year 2025 the Small Business Innovation Research, Small Business Technology Transfer, and other pilot programs.
- H.R. 8956 – FedRAMP Authorization Act (Rep. Connolly – Oversight and Reform). The bill would formally authorize the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP), a government-wide program designed to standardize the use of cloud computing services and ensure they meet federal security requirements.
- H.R. 8466 – Chai Suthammanont Healthy Federal Workplaces Act of 2022, as amended (Rep. Connolly – Oversight and Reform). The measure would require federal agencies to publish plans to protect employees and contractors during a nationwide public health emergency declared for an infectious disease.
- S. 3470 – End Human Trafficking in Government Contracts Act of 2022 (Sen. Lankford – Oversight and Reform). The bill would require federal agencies to refer any contractor or grant recipient found to have engaged in human trafficking to their suspension and debarment officials.
- S. 2551 – AI Training Act (Sen. Peters – Oversight and Reform). The measure would direct the Office of Management and Budget to develop an artificial intelligence training program for the federal acquisition workforce.
- H.R. 6967 – Chance to Compete Act of 2022, as amended (Rep. Hice – Oversight and Reform). The bill would modify the federal hiring process to allow the use of skills-based assessments to evaluate candidates and permit subject matter experts to conduct examinations.
- H.R. 8163 – Improving Trauma Systems and Emergency Care Act, as amended (Rep. O’Halleran – Energy and Commerce). The legislation would reauthorize and modify the Health and Human Services Department programs for improving emergency medical services and trauma care in rural areas.
- H.R. 5141 – Maximizing Outcomes through Better Investments in Lifesaving Equipment for (MOBILE) Health Care Act (Rep. Susie Lee – Energy and Commerce). The measure would permit federally qualified health centers to use New Access Point grants to establish mobile health units.
- H.R. 4081 – Informing Consumers about Smart Devices Act (Rep. Curtis – Energy and Commerce). The legislation would require manufacturers of certain internet-connected devices to disclose whether a product contains a camera or microphone as a component.
- H.R. 6965 – Visit America Act (Rep. Titus – Energy and Commerce). The bill would create an assistant secretary position within the Commerce Department to develop a strategy to support the recovery of the U.S. travel and tourism industry from the Covid-19 pandemic.
- H.R. 6889 – Credit Union Board Modernization Act (Rep. Vargas – Financial Services). The bill would direct the board of directors of a federal credit union to meet at least six times a year with at least one meeting held quarterly.
- H.R. 2710 – Banking Transparency for Sanctioned Persons Act of 2021 (Rep. Steil – Financial Services). The legislation would require the Treasury Department to report to Congress twice a year on any authorizations for financial institutions to conduct transactions with sanctioned individuals.
- H.R. 6364 – To amend the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area Improvement Act to extend the exception to the closure of certain roads within the Recreation Area for local businesses, and for other purposes (Rep. Cartwright – Natural Resources).
- H.R. 7321 – Global Aircraft Maintenance Safety Improvement Act, as amended (Rep. DeFazio – Transportation and Infrastructure). The legislation would subject aircraft repair stations located outside the U.S. to an annual unannounced inspection and require air carriers to submit reports to the Federal Aviation Administration.
- H.R. 3482 – National Center for the Advancement of Aviation Act of 2022, as amended (Rep. Carson – Transportation and Infrastructure). The legislation would establish the National Center for the Advancement of Aviation as a private, tax-exempt, federally chartered organization focused on developing a skilled and robust U.S. aviation and aerospace workforce.
- Senate Amendment to H.R. 5641 – SPEED Act (Rep. Sam Graves – Transportation and Infrastructure). The measure would increase to $1 million the threshold to qualify for disaster relief assistance to cover “small projects.”
- H.R. 5703 – Post-Disaster Mental Health Response Act, as amended (Rep. Pressley – Transportation and Infrastructure). The legislation would authorize professional counseling services for victims of declared emergencies.
- H.R. 3304 – AUTO for Veterans Act, as amended (Rep. Fletcher – Veterans’ Affairs). The bill would permit the Veterans Affairs Department to provide, or assist in providing, an eligible disabled veteran with an additional automobile or other conveyance through its automobile allowance and adaptive equipment program.
- H.R. 8888 – Food Security for all Veterans Act (Rep. Peltola – Veterans’ Affairs). The bill would require the Veterans Affairs Department to establish an office to provide veterans with information on the availability of and eligibility requirements for federal nutrition assistance programs.
- H.R. 8875 – Expanding Home Loans for Guard and Reservists Act (Rep. Sean Ryan – Veterans’ Affairs). The bill would extend eligibility for the Veterans Affairs Department housing loans to National Guard members who’ve performed active duty for at least 90 cumulative days, including a consecutive 30-day period.
- H.R. 5918 – To amend title 38, United States Code, to ensure that the Secretary of Veterans Affairs repays members of the Armed Forces for certain contributions made by such members towards Post-9/11 Educational Assistance, as amended (Rep. Banks – Veterans’ Affairs).
- H.R. 7589 – REMOVE Copays Act, as amended (Rep. Takano – Veterans’ Affairs). The bill would prohibit the Veterans Affairs Department from imposing or collecting copayments for a veteran’s first three mental health care outpatient visits in a calendar year.
- S. 1198 – Solid Start Act of 2022 (Sen. Hassan – Veterans’ Affairs). The legislation would codify and expand the Veterans Affairs Department’s Solid Start program for recently separated service members.
- H.R. 8510 – Strengthening Whistleblower Protections at the Department of Veterans’ Affairs Act (Rep. Pappas – Veterans’ Affairs). The Veterans Affairs Department would no longer have the authority to investigate whistleblower claims, which would instead be referred to the Office of Special Counsel, and whistleblowers would receive additional protections under the legislation.
- S. 2794 – Supporting Families of the Fallen Act (Sen. Tuberville – Veterans’ Affairs). The bill would increase life insurance payouts for service members and veterans from $400,000 to $500,000.
- S. 4791 – A bill to amend section 301 of title 44, United States Code, to establish a term for the appointment of the Director of the Government Publishing Office (Sen. Blunt – House Administration).
- H.R. 8681 – John Lewis Civil Rights Fellowship Act of 2022, as amended (Rep. Nikema Williams – Foreign Affairs). The bill would create a John Lewis Civil Rights Fellowship Program to fund international internships and research placements for early-to-mid career individuals to study nonviolent movements and civil rights.
- H.R. 8446 – Global Food Security Reauthorization Act of 2022, as amended (Rep. McCollum – Foreign Affairs). The measure would reauthorize through fiscal year 2028 the Global Food Security Act of 2016.
- H.R. 8463 – Millennium Challenge Corporation Eligibility Expansion Act (Rep. Castro – Foreign Affairs). The bill would expand eligibility for Millennium Challenge Corporation assistance to include the world’s 125 poorest countries, if they aren’t disqualified by other criteria.
- H.R. 4821 – Combating the Persecution of Religious Groups in China Act, as amended (Rep. Hartzler – Foreign Affairs). The bill would consider the persecution of Christians or other religious minorities by senior Chinese government officials a gross violation of human rights as a matter of U.S. policy.
Thursday – Friday, the House will meet for legislative business.
- Bills expected under a rule
- H.R. 7780 – Mental Health Matters Act (Rep. DeSaulnier – Education and Labor). The bill would create grant programs to increase the hiring and retention of school-based mental health services providers.
- H.R. 3843 – Merger Filing Fee Modernization Act of 2022 (Rep. Neguse – Judiciary). The bill would modify and index for inflation filing fees for premerger notifications.
- S. 3969 – PAVA Program Inclusion Act (Sen. Lujan – House Administration). The legislation would provide eligibility for the Northern Mariana Islands and an American Indian consortium to receive voting accessibility grants.
Senate Side
On Tuesday, the Senate will vote to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed to H.R. 6833, the legislative vehicle for the continuing resolution. 60 votes are required to move forward for debate and passage of the final stopgap funding bill.