The House and Senate are in session this week. The House will consider   eight bills under suspension of the rules, including the Homeless Assistance Act of 2019 (H.R. 4302), which authorizes Public Housing Agencies to disclose relevant client information to local government entities and nonprofits in order to facilitate housing and services for individuals and families experiencing homelessness; and the Veteran Housing Opportunities and Unemployment Support Extension (HOUSE) Act of 2020 (H.R. 2398), which expands eligibility for the HUD-VASH program to homeless veterans who have received an "other-than-honorable" discharge. For the remainder of the week, the House will vote on the Protecting Older Workers Against Discrimination Act (H.R. 1230), which lowers the burden of proof for discrimination claims, including workplace age or disability discrimination, to include mixed-motive claims; and a Congressional Review Act (CRA) disapproval resolution (H.J. Res. 76) which overturns the Education Department's 2019 student loan forgiveness rule, set to take effect July 1, 2020, which establishes new policies for the borrower defense program. The House will also vote on a resolution appointing and authorizing managers for the Senate impeachment trial of President Trump, in addition to formally transmitting the two articles of impeachment to the Senate, which the House passed on December 18.

The Senate will vote on the nomination of Peter Gaynor to serve as Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Gaynor has been serving as the Acting FEMA Administrator since March 8, 2019, when Brock Long, who had been accused of misusing government funds, resigned. The Senate may also vote on a joint resolution (S.J. Res. 63), introduced by Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA), directing President Trump to remove U.S. Armed Forces from hostilities against Iran unless explicitly authorized by a congressional declaration of war or a specific authorization for the use of military force. If the resolution meets Senate requirements to get a privileged voting status, it would only need a simple majority of 51 votes to pass.  

 

On Tuesday from 9-11pm ET, six candidates running in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary will debate each other at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, hosted by CNN and The Des Moines Register: former Vice President Joe Biden, Senators Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), former South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg, and entrepreneur Tom Steyer. This will be the final debate before the Iowa caucuses on Monday, February 3.