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The House and Senate are in recess for the next two weeks, returning to Washington on Tuesday, October 15. While the vast majority of the House will be back home for their "District Work Period," the 22 members of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, chaired by Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), will continue working through the two-week recess regarding the impeachment inquiry of President Trump, with numerous hearings and witness interviews taking place. Additionally, members of the House Foreign Affairs and Oversight Committees are scheduled this week to receive depositions from former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie "Masha" Yovanovitch and former U.S. Special Representative for Ukraine Negotiations Kurt Volker.
When the Senate returns, the chamber will take votes on five executive and judicial nominees: Barbara Barrett to be Secretary of Air Force; Frank Volk to be District Judge for the Southern District of West Virginia; Charles Eskridge to be District Judge for the Southern District of Texas; David Novak to be District Judge for the Eastern District of Virginia; and Rachel Kovner to be District Judge for the Eastern District of New York.
With the continuing resolution (P.L. 116-59) signed into law by President Trump on September 27, the federal government will be funded at enacted FY 2019 levels from October 1-November 21, 2019. On Sept. 27, Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Richard Shelby (R-AL) met with President Trump and discussed next steps in the appropriations process and the 12 subcommittee 302(b) funding allocations for FY 2020. Members of both parties are hopeful that they will only need one continuing resolution in FY 2020. However, there is still plenty to overcome, with unresolved disputes over border wall funding-both in the Homeland Security and Military Construction-VA Appropriations bills-and funding for Title X grant recipients. House and Senate Appropriations Committee staff will begin trying to hammer out common subcommittee allocations over the two-week October recess. Once they reach agreement, it would clear the way to begin "pre-conferencing" the 12 FY 2020 spending bills. That process could begin even if the Senate has not passed any of its appropriations bills on the floor, which is unlikely to occur until late October at the earliest.
On Wednesday, President Trump will meet with the President of Finland, Sauli Niinistö, to "discuss enhancing cooperation between the United States and Finland, including opportunities to promote European and Arctic security," and will hold a press conference with him. On Thursday, Trump is traveling to The Villages, Florida, to sign an executive order on Medicare-on the schedule, it says "an Executive Order Protecting Medicare from Socialist Destruction." On Friday, Trump will speak at the Young Black Leadership Summit.
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