The House and Senate are in session this week. The House will consider eight bills under suspension of the rules, including the Advancing Research to Prevent Suicide Act (H.R. 4704), which directs the National Science Foundation to award grants to higher education institutions to support basic research on suicide and its prevention and treatment. For the remainder of the week, the House will vote on the Comprehensive Credit Reporting Enhancement, Disclosure, Innovation, and Transparency (CREDIT) Act of 2020 (H.R. 3621), a package of six bills to improve various aspects of the consumer credit reporting system and impose new regulations on credit bureaus; the No War Against Iran Act (H.R. 5543), to prohibit the use of federal funds for military action in or against Iran absent Congressional authorization; and legislation (H.R. 2456) to repeal the Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) Against Iraq Resolution of 2002.
The Senate will continue its impeachment trial of President Trump this week. The President's legal defense team will continue making its case on Monday. Then, on Tuesday and Wednesday, all 100 Senators will be allowed to submit their questions in writing to Chief Justice John Roberts, who will decide which questions to ask, directing them to the seven House impeachment managers, led by Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), or to the White House legal team. Following this process, the debate on whether to subpoena any witnesses and/or seek additional documents from the White House will likely take place on Thursday, along with a series of rollcall votes. If there are no witnesses called by the Senate, final votes on the two articles of impeachment could occur as early as Friday or Saturday, officially ending the trial. However, if a majority of 51 Senators approve of subpoenaing any witnesses, including former National Security Advisor John Bolton, the trial will likely continue for at least several more weeks, extending well into February, with each witness first being deposed in private session and then potentially testifying publicly in the Senate chamber.
House Democrats will unveil their infrastructure plans this week. The plan will tie together priorities from the House Transportation and Infrastructure, Ways and Means, and Energy and Commerce committees, according to a draft outline of the surface transportation portion. The surface transportation bill, which typically covers highways and railroads, will propose authorizing about $20 billion per year over current spending levels. The Ways and Means Committee meets Wednesday to start discussing financing options for the proposal with state and local officials.
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