Both chambers are in session this week, although the House will pause its voting schedule so members can travel on Wednesday for the funeral of Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ).
Congress returns from a weeklong recess after Republicans leveraged enough Democratic support in the Senate to pass a continuing resolution that maintains federal funding at current levels through September 30. On Tuesday, House and Senate Republican leadership and committee chairs will meet to try to resolve their differing approaches to reconciliation, though House Leadership issued a statement this morning to “encourage our Senate colleagues to take up the House budget resolution when they return to Washington.” There is hope that a compromise budget resolution will pass before the Easter recess, but that timeline could slip.
The House will hold votes this week on a bill (H.R. 1048) that would require colleges and universities to report in more detail when they accept gifts from foreign entities, with a specific focus on China. Votes are also scheduled on Congressional Review Act resolutions to cancel energy standards for walk-in coolers and freezers (H. J. Res. 24) and commercial refrigerators, freezers, and refrigerator-freezers (H. J. Res. 75).
The Senate will vote on the nominations of John Phelan to be secretary of the Navy and Christopher Landau to be deputy secretary at the State Department. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) has also scheduled votes on the nominations of Michael Kratsios to be director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, Jay Bhattacharya to be director of the National Institutes of Health, Martin Makary to lead the Food and Drug Administration, James Bishop to be deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget, and Aaron Reitz to be an assistant attorney general.
Separately, the Congressional Budget Office plans to release an updated X-date this week, which is an estimated deadline for acting to increase or suspend the debt limit. Congress will need to act to address the debt limit before that deadline.
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