The House and Senate are in session this week. The House will consider
8 bills
under suspension of the rules, including the Local Water Protection Act (H.R. 1331), which reauthorizes, at $200 million annually for FYs 2020-2024, the EPA's Section 319 Nonpoint Source Management Program which
mitigates water pollution originating from diffuse sources; and the Colorado River Drought Contingency Plan Authorization Act (H.R. 2030), which implements drought contingency plans for the Colorado River basin negotiated by seven states and other stakeholders. For the remainder of the week, the House will vote on the Save the Internet Act of 2019 (H.R. 1644), which would restore Obama-era net neutrality rules approved by the FCC in February 2015 which bans Internet service providers from blocking or slowing web traffic. The House may also consider the Investing for the People Act of 2019 (H.R. 2021), a two-year budget caps bill which increases federal discretionary spending caps by about $358 billion over FYs 2020 and 2021 compared with current law, setting
the non-defense discretionary (NDD) cap for 2020 at $631 billion - a 5.7 percent increase over the 2019 cap - and $646 billion in 2021, and the defense cap for 2020 at $664 billion - a 2.6 percent increase over the 2019 cap - and $680 billion in 2021. On Wednesday, House Democrats head to Leesburg, Virginia for their annual 2019 Issues Conference
to discuss policy plans leading up to the 2020 election, including health care and infrastructure.
The Senate will consider six nominations this week:
Daniel Domenico
to be U.S. District Judge for the District of Colorado; Patrick Wyrick to be U.S. District Judge for the Western District of Oklahoma; Cheryl Stanton to be Administrator of the Labor Department's Wage and Hour Division; John Abizaid to be U.S. Ambassador to Saudi Arabia; Holly Brady to be U.S. District Judge for the Northern District of Indiana; and David Morales to be U.S. District Judge for the Southern District of Texas. Talks will also continue this week on reviving a disaster aid package (H.R. 268) for states and territories recovering from natural disasters experienced in 2018 and 2019, including the recent devastating floods that hit the Midwest.
A packed committee schedule highlights another busy week for FY 2020 budget and appropriations. The budget hearings for the House and Senate Appropriations Committees include: Departments of Agriculture, Justice, State, Transportation, and Treasury; the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Bureau of Reclamation; National Institutes of Health; Immigration and Customs Enforcement; and the Internal Revenue Service.
On Tuesday, President Trump will host
a bilateral meeting with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. On Wednesday, Trump will travel to San Antonio and Houston, Texas for fundraisers and to announce, at the
International Union of Operating Engineers' International Training and Education Center, two new executive orders that aim to streamline the permitting of oil and gas projects for pipeline construction and incentivize private investment in energy infrastructure. On Thursday, the President and First Lady Melania Trump will meet with South Korean President Moon Jae-in and his wife Kim Jung-sook to discuss the latest developments regarding North Korea as well as bilateral matters. He will also meet with WWII veterans.
