The House and Senate are in session this week. The House will vote on 16 bills under suspension of the rules, including the Stronger Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (H.R. 2480), which reauthorizes, through FY 2025, various c hild abuse prevention and treatment programs authorized under the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA), which expired after FY 2015. For the remainder of the week, the House will vote on the Consumers First Act (H.R. 1500), which reverses several changes made by former Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Acting Director Mick Mulvaney in 2017 and 2018 to the CFPB, including limiting its enforcement work, curtailing enforcement of fair lending laws, removing a stand-alone office on student loans, and replacing a consumer advisory panel; and the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act of 2019 (H.R. 1994), which provides individuals more flexibility to save for retirement and allows unrelated businesses to offer joint retirement plans.

 

Last Tuesday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said that the Senate will vote this week on disaster recovery legislation, even if negotiators have not reached a deal. Negotiators worked out the major issues holding up a disaster aid package last week, including the main sticking point in aid for Puerto Rico. Now, members must settle the details of Democrats' offer to include some funding for the Departments of Homeland Security and Health and Human Services to respond to the influx of people detained at the southern border. Additionally, the Senate will consider at least five judicial nominations this week, including Daniel Collins to be a U.S. Circuit Judge for the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals; Howard Nielson Jr. to be a U.S. District Judge for the District of Utah; Stephen Clark to be a U.S. District Judge for the Eastern District of Missouri; Clark Nichols to be a U.S. District Judge for the District of Columbia; and Kenneth Bell to be a U.S. District Judge for the Western District of North Carolina.  

 

On Tuesday and Wednesday, the full House Appropriations Committee will markup and pass the FY 2020 Defense, Energy-Water Development, Commerce-Justice-Science, and Interior-Environment Appropriations bills; on Thursday, the Transportation-Housing and Urban Development and Agriculture-Rural Development subcommittees will markup their respective FY20 Appropriations bills. Additionally, various House and Senate committees and subcommittees will hold FY 2020 budget oversight hearings for the Departments of the Interior, Homeland Security and Energy; the Coast Guard, Maritime Administration, and Federal Maritime Commission; and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Fish and Wildlife Service.  

 

On Tuesday morning, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), Senate Majority Leader McConnell, and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) will meet with Acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney, Acting Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought, and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to discuss a potential two-year agreement to raise the budget caps, as well as a possible boost to the debt ceiling. On Wednesday, President Trump will meet with Speaker Pelosi and Leader Schumer to discuss how to pay for a proposed $2 trillion infrastructure initiative, which the parties discussed during an April 30 meeting at the White House. On Friday, Trump and First Lady Melania Trump will travel to Tokyo, Japan for four days for a state visit intended to showcase the closeness of the countries' ties.