Both the House and Senate will be in session this week. However, activity in the House has ground to a halt over the past few weeks after Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) was ousted from his position as Speaker by members of his own party.
The latest GOP nominee for Speaker is Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), a member of the Freedom Caucus. There has been indication that a vote could come as early as Tuesday, although many are skeptical Jordan will be able to secure all the votes he needs from his party to be elected Speaker.
In the Senate, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said the upper chamber will resume consideration of H.R. 4366, the three-bill funding package of the chamber’s Agriculture-FDA, Military Construction-VA, and Transportation-HUD spending measures this week.
The Senate also hopes to focus on quickly confirming former Treasury Secretary Jack Lew as ambassador to Israel. This has taken on a renewed sense of urgency since war broke out between Israel and Hamas in the previous weeks. Efforts to aid Israel and contain the conflict from spilling over into the larger Middle East region have been hamstrung by the absence of a House Speaker.
Meanwhile, President Joe Biden plans to send Congress a request for a supplemental spending bill as lawmakers discuss packaging together aid for Israel, Ukraine, and Taiwan, along with border security measures. Additionally, House Democrats are having informal talks with Republicans about a bipartisan solution to finding a Speaker so they can consider these types of bills and move forward with critical legislation. This includes funding the government when the current stopgap spending package expires on November 17.
The Administration
On Friday, President Biden hosts European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Charles Michel at the White House for bilateral discussions.
Senate Side
On Monday, the Senate will resume consideration of Jennifer Hall as a judge for the District of Delaware. Schumer also filed motions to consider the nominations of Julia Munley to be a judge for the Middle District of Pennsylvania and Karla Gilbride to be general counsel of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.