The Senate is aiming to wrap up consideration of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reauthorization bill this week and conclude work on the long-stalled comprehensive energy reform bill, while the House of Representatives will be zeroing in on legislation to provide more oversight of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
The Senate returns on Monday with a vote scheduled on the substitute amendment to the FAA reauthorization vehicle, and a subsequent vote on the motion to invoke cloture on the underlying legislation (H.R. 636). After adopting numerous amendments to the bipartisan bill last week, Senate Commerce, Science, Transportation Committee Chairman John Thune (R-SD) indicated there are additional pending amendments the Senate will consider before a vote on final passage some time this week. Last week, efforts to craft a package of tax breaks to add to the FAA bill fell apart, so the legislation will not carry unrelated tax provisions when the Senate passes it and sends to to the House for consideration.
Following the FAA reauthorization bill, the Senate is expected to resume work on S. 2012, the Energy Policy Modernization Act of 2015, after an agreement was finally reached for concluding its consideration, ending three months of negotiations over unrelated provisions. The agreement reached between leadership and the bill managers, Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairwoman Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Ranking Member Maria Cantwell (D-WA), will allow for consideration of a number of amendments, many of which will be considered by a voice vote, before a vote on final passage. Should the Senate pass the bipartisan legislation, as it is expected to do, it will be a significant step forward for national energy policy, which has not been updated since 2007. The five titles of S. 2012 provide updates and improvements to national energy efficiency, grid infrastructure, energy supply, government accountability, and land conservation.
The House of Representatives passed its own version of energy modernization legislation (H.R. 8) in December, by a largely partisan vote of 249-174. Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairwoman Murkowski has indicated she would like to take S. 2012 to a conference committee with the House bill in order to reconcile differences between the two versions and send a compromise bill to the President’s desk before the end of this year.
The first of the Fiscal Year (FY) 2017 appropriations bills may also see Senate action this week. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has filed a motion to proceed to the $37.5 billion FY 2017 Energy & Water Appropriations measure, marked up by the full Senate Appropriations Committee last week. Majority Leader McConnell has indicated that the Senate will spend 12 weeks of floor time on appropriations bills in order to try to pass all 12 bills by the end of the current fiscal year, September 30.
The House is also scheduled to return on Monday, with votes expected on eight bills, including several name designations for federal buildings and U.S. Postal Service locations, under suspension of the rules.
On Tuesday, the House is expected to vote on an additional seven bills, five of which have been reported out of the House Small Business Committee, under suspension of the rules. The first of the other two suspensions on Tuesday requires that the IRS provide printed copies of official IRS tax instructions to taxpayers when requested, free of charge, and the second prohibits the use of IRS funds to target U.S. citizens for exercising their First Amendment rights.
The legislative business on Wednesday and the remainder of the week will also be focused on IRS oversight. Due to the observance of Emancipation Day in the District of Columbia on April 15, the annual income tax filing deadline for 2016 has been pushed to Monday, April 18. Leadership in the House of Representatives is marking the “Tax Day” occasion by dedicating this week’s floor activity to consideration of legislation aimed at making the IRS more accountable and transparent. Four bills subject to a rule will be considered on Wednesday and Thursday. H.R. 1206 would impose a hiring freeze at the IRS until the Treasury Secretary can certify that it does not employ any individual who is seriously delinquent on federal tax obligations; H.R. 3724 would prevent the IRS from rehiring any former employee fired from the IRS for misconduct, including poor performance or unauthorized access to personal taxpayer information; H.R. 4890 would prevent any IRS employees from receiving a bonus until the Secretary of the Treasury develops and implements a comprehensive customer-service strategy; and H.R. 4885 would prevent the IRS from keeping user fees it imposes and instead require such fees to be deposited into the general fund of the Treasury subject to expenditure only as appropriated by Congress.
Several hearings this week are also dedicated to the tax code and IRS oversight. The House Judiciary Committee Task Force on Executive Overreach meets Tuesday afternoon for its second hearing in recent weeks focused on executive overreach in domestic affairs, including IRS abuse and welfare reform, with several prominent legal experts providing testimony. The House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Oversight also meets Tuesday to discuss taxpayer information security. The House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Oversight is holding a Tuesday hearing on the current tax return filing season, as well as efforts to address identity theft-related tax fraud and cybersecurity threats. On Wednesday, the Joint Economic Committee meets to discuss whether the complexities of the current tax code are having a detrimental effect on the economy.
Events related to cybersecurity and technology continue this week on both sides of the Capitol. The House Energy & Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations is holding a Tuesday hearing on encryption entitled “Deciphering the Debate Over Encryption: Industry and Law Enforcement Perspectives.” Apple’s General Counsel, Bruce Sewell, is scheduled to appear on one of two panels testifying before the subcommittee, along with cybersecurity experts and representatives from law enforcement agencies.
The House Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on Information Technology has scheduled a Wednesday hearing on federal cybersecurity detection, response, and mitigation. Also on Wednesday, the House Small Business Committee has scheduled a hearing on how cyber attacks threaten small businesses and the federal government. The Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities will be meeting in a closed session on Tuesday afternoon to discuss cybersecurity funding and U.S. Cyber Command in review of the National Defense Authorization Request for Fiscal Year (FY) 2017.
Several of the House Armed Services Subcommittees are scheduled to begin marking up their respective titles of the annual defense authorization bill this week. The Subcommittees on Military Personnel, Tactical Air and Land Forces, and Seapower and Projection Forces have scheduled Wednesday markups, while the Subcommittees on Readiness, Emerging Threats and Capabilities, and Strategic Forces will each be meeting on Thursday.
The House missed its April 15 target date for passing a FY 2017 budget resolution due to the continued dispute over the topline funding number. However, House and Senate Appropriations Committees continue to move forward with the annual process using the $1.07 trillion level set by last year’s Bipartisan Budget Act. The schedule this week includes markups of individual bills for floor consideration. The House Appropriations Committee meets on Tuesday to adopt interim allocations for individual subcommittees and to mark up the Agriculture and Energy & Water appropriations bills. The Legislative Branch Subcommittee is expected to markup and report its bill for FY 2017 on Wednesday morning. House Appropriations Chairman Hal Rogers has expressed his intent to move all twelve appropriations bills across the House floor by the end of June, although House rules prevent their consideration until May 15, unless a budget agreement passed by the House and Senate stipulates an earlier date.
The full Senate Appropriations Committee meets Thursday to markup the Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations bill, which is expected to be reported out of the subcommittee on Tuesday. The Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development is scheduled to meet Tuesday to markup its FY 2017 appropriations bill.
The House Judiciary Committee is expected to hold a markup on Wednesday. A week after successfully reporting H.R. 699, the E-mail Privacy Act, on a unanimous vote, the committee is expected to tackle the renewal of the federal bullet-proof vest grants for local police and the Defend Trade Secrets Act, which passed the Senate unanimously two weeks ago.
Finally, the future of legislation to assist Puerto Rico in addressing its serious debt crisis appears uncertain. The legislation is a priority for Speaker Paul Ryan, as well as for the Administration and congressional Democrats. Responsibility for developing the legislation rests with Natural Resources Committee Chairman Rob Bishop (R-UT). A draft bill was circulated two weeks ago and earned criticism from both the left and the right. A revised bill, H.R. 4900, was introduced last week by Rep. Sean Duffy (R-WI). House Democrats, led by Resident Commissioner Pedro Pierluisi (D-PR), a candidate for governor of Puerto Rico, were muted in their criticism, focusing primarily on the authority for a lower minimum wage on the island. Conservative Republicans remained critical of provisions allowing Puerto Rico to seek bankruptcy-like protection in federal court. Conservatives were branding the bill a “bailout,” even though no taxpayer funds would be authorized for Puerto Rico. Republicans held a conference on Friday to figure out a path forward, and at week’s end media reports were suggesting Republicans were still at odds over the legislation. The situation will be a test of Speaker Ryan’s ability to cobble together a majority for the legislation without opening himself up to the sort of withering conservative invective that drove his predecessor John Boehner to retire last October. Congress was aiming to complete its work on Puerto Rico legislation before May 1, when a major bond payment by the Commonwealth is due, but the political challenges encountered this far make it highly unlikely the House will meet that goal, and the Senate would still have to act once the House does find a path forward and passes some version of its bill. Behind-the-scenes activity on the issue is likely to consume much attention this week, and a committee markup is very possible if a path forward can be found.
A full schedule of events for the week ahead is included below:
Monday, April 18, 2016
House Committees
Pending Legislation
House Energy and Commerce – Subcommittee on Communications and Technology
Subcommittee Markup
5 p.m.
Senate Committees
Pending Nominations
Senate Finance
Full Committee Markup
5:30 p.m.
Tuesday, April 19, 2016
House Committees
Tightening Credit Conditions for Farmers
House Agriculture – Subcommittee on Commodity Exchanges, Energy, and Credit
Subcommittee Hearing
10 a.m.
Agriculture Appropriations/Energy-Water Appropriations
House Appropriations
Full Committee Markup
10:30 a.m.
Reviewing Recent Changes to Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s Silica Standards
House Education and the Workforce – Subcommittee on Workforce Protections
Subcommittee Hearing
10 a.m.
Deciphering the Debate Over Encryption: Industry and Law Enforcement Perspectives
House Energy and Commerce – Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations
Subcommittee Hearing
10 a.m.
Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015: Examining Physician Payment Reforms
House Energy and Commerce – Subcommittee on Health
Subcommittee Hearing
10:15 a.m.
ISIS Profit from Cultural Antiquities Sales
House Financial Services – Investigate Terrorism Financing Task Force
Subcommittee Hearing
10 a.m.
Customs and Border Protection Staffing/Infrastructure
House Homeland Security – Subcommittee on Border and Maritime Security
Subcommittee Hearing
10 a.m.
The Real Victims of Reckless and Lawless Immigration Policy: Families and Survivors Speak Out on the Real Cost of This Administration’s Policies
House Judiciary – Subcommittee on Immigration and Border Security
Subcommittee Hearing
10 a.m.
Endangered Species Critical Habitat Designation
House Natural Resources
Full Committee Hearing
10 a.m.
Unfulfilled Document Request Update (Part II)
House Oversight and Government Reform
Full Committee Hearing
10 a.m.
Commercial Space Launch Industry: Small Satellite Opportunities and Challenges
House Science, Space and Technology – Subcommittee on Space
Subcommittee Hearing
10 a.m.
Health Care Delays for Veterans
House Veterans’ Affairs
Full Committee Hearing
10:30 a.m.
Taxpayer Information Security
House Ways and Means – Subcommittee on Oversight
Subcommittee Hearing
10 a.m.
Pending Legislation
House Energy and Commerce – Subcommittee on Communications and Technology
Subcommittee Markup
2 p.m.
Budget Priorities for East Asia: Engagement, Integration, and Democracy
House Foreign Affairs – Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific
Subcommittee Hearing
1 p.m.
Israel Imperiled: Threats to the Jewish State
House Foreign Affairs – Subcommittee on the Middle East and North Africa
Subcommittee Hearing
1 p.m.
Pipeline Security
House Homeland Security – Subcommittee on Transportation Security
Subcommittee Hearing
2 p.m.
Executive Overreach in Domestic Affairs Part II IRS Abuse, Welfare Reform, and Other Issues
House Judiciary – Executive Overreach Task Force
Subcommittee Hearing
2 p.m.
Mineral Rights Management
House Natural Resources – Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources
Subcommittee Hearing
2 p.m.
Federal Expenditure Access and Transparency
House Oversight and Government Reform – Subcommittee on Information Technology
Subcommittee Hearing
2 p.m.
Senate Committees
Pending Nomination
Senate Armed Services
Full Committee Hearing
9:30 a.m.
Understanding the Role of Sanctions Under the Iran Nuclear Deal
Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs
Full Committee Hearing
10 a.m.
Challenges and Opportunities for Oil and Gas Development in Different Price Environments
Senate Energy and Natural Resources
Full Committee Hearing
10 a.m.
EPA Budget
Senate Environment and Public Works
Full Committee Hearing
10 a.m.
Central America and the Alliance for Prosperity: Identifying U.S. Priorities and Assessing Progress
Senate Foreign Relations
Full Committee Hearing
10 a.m.
Preventing International Mail Drug Trafficking
Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
Full Committee Business Meeting
10 a.m.
Ensuring Accountability for Crime Survivors and Assessing the Crime Victims Fund
Senate Judiciary
Full Committee Hearing
10 a.m.
FY2017 Commerce-Justice-Science Appropriations Markup
Senate Appropriations – Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies
Subcommittee Markup
2:30 p.m.
Cybersecurity Funding
Senate Armed Services – Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities
Subcommittee Hearing (CLOSED)
2:30 p.m.
Wednesday, April 20, 2016
House Committees
Defense Authorization Act
House Armed Services – Subcommittee on Military Personnel
Subcommittee Markup
11:30 a.m.
Legislative Branch Appropriations
House Appropriations – Subcommittee on Legislative Branch
Subcommittee Markup
11:30 a.m.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission Budget
House Energy and Commerce – Subcommittee on Energy and Power
Subcommittee Hearing
10 a.m.
The Pricing of Fetal Tissue
House Energy and Commerce – Select Investigative Panel
Subcommittee Hearing
10 a.m.
How Secure are U.S. Bioresearch Labs? Preventing the Next Safety Lapse
House Energy and Commerce – Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations
Subcommittee Hearing
10:15 a.m.
Pending Legislation
House Foreign Affairs
Full Committee Markup
10 a.m.
Pending Legislation
House Natural Resources – Subcommittee on Water, Power and Oceans
Subcommittee Hearing
10 a.m.
Natural Resource Research at Land-Grant Colleges
House Natural Resources – Subcommittee on Federal Lands
Subcommittee Hearing
10:30 a.m.
Federal Cybersecurity
House Oversight and Government Reform – Subcommittee on Information Technology
Subcommittee Hearing
9:30 a.m.
Fusion Energy Science
House Science, Space and Technology – Subcommittee on Energy
Subcommittee Hearing
10 a.m.
Small Business/Federal Government Cyber Threats
House Small Business
Full Committee Hearing
11 a.m.
Pending Legislation
House Transportation and Infrastructure
Full Committee Markup
10 a.m.
Pending Legislation
House Veterans’ Affairs – Subcommittee on Health
Subcommittee Hearing
10 a.m.
Defense Authorization Act
House Armed Services – Subcommittee on Tactical Air and Land Forces
Subcommittee Markup
1:30 p.m.
Endangered Species Delisting (Part I)
House Oversight and Government Reform – Subcommittee on the Interior
Subcommittee Hearing
2 p.m.
Federal Government Hiring Veterans Preference
House Veterans’ Affairs – Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity
Subcommittee Hearing
2:30 p.m.
Defense Authorization Act
House Armed Services – Subcommittee on Seapower and Projection Forces
Subcommittee Markup
3 p.m.
Senate Committees
EPA Budget
Senate Appropriations – Subcommittee on Interior, Environment and Related Agencies
Subcommittee Hearing
10 a.m.
Defense Innovation/Research Budget
Senate Appropriations – Subcommittee on Defense
Subcommittee Hearing
10:30 a.m.
Restoring Stability to Government Operations
Senate Budget
Full Committee Hearing
10:30 a.m.
Maritime Industry Stakeholder Perspectives
Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation – Subcommittee on Surface Transportation and Merchant Marine Infrastructure, Safety and Security
Subcommittee Hearing
10 a.m.
New Approaches and Innovative Technologies for Improving Water Supply
Senate Environment and Public Works
Full Committee Hearing
10 a.m.
Federal Rulemaking Review
Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
Full Committee Hearing
10 a.m.
Pending Judicial Nominations
Senate Judiciary
Full Committee Hearing
10 a.m.
Navy/Marine Corps Aviation Programs
Senate Armed Services – Subcommittee on Seapower
Subcommittee Hearing
2 p.m.
Current State of Research, Diagnosis, and Treatment for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Traumatic Brain Injury
Senate Armed Services – Subcommittee on Personnel
Subcommittee Hearing
2:30 p.m.
Mosul Dam Update
Senate Foreign Relations
Full Committee Hearing
5 p.m.
Hayden Nomination (Librarian of Congress)
Senate Rules and Administration
Full Committee Hearing
2:15 p.m.
Joint Committees
Our Complex Tax Code and The Economy
Joint Economic
Full Committee Hearing
2:30 p.m.
Thursday, April 21, 2016
House Committees
Intelligence Community Budget
House Appropriations – Subcommittee on Defense
Subcommittee Hearing
10 a.m.
Defense Authorization Act
House Armed Services – Subcommittee on Readiness
Subcommittee Markup
9:30 a.m.
Defense Authorization Act
House Armed Services – Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities
Subcommittee Markup
11 a.m.
Brownfields Cleanup/Economic Redevelopment
House Energy and Commerce – Subcommittee on Environment and the Economy
Subcommittee Hearing
10 a.m.
SEC Offices and Divisions Oversight
House Financial Services – Subcommittee on Capital Markets and Government Sponsored Enterprises
Subcommittee Hearing
9:15 a.m.
Endangered Species Delisting (Part II)
House Oversight and Government Reform – Subcommittee on the Interior
Subcommittee Hearing
9 a.m.
Defense Authorization Act
House Armed Services – Subcommittee on Strategic Forces
Subcommittee Markup
12 p.m.
Senate Committees
Scaparrotti Nomination
Senate Armed Services
Full Committee Hearing
9:30 a.m.
Nuclear Energy Modernization
Senate Environment and Public Works – Subcommittee on Clean Air and Nuclear Safety
Subcommittee Hearing
9:45 a.m.
Rosen Nomination (Governor of U.S. Postal Service)
Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
Full Committee Hearing
9:15 a.m.
Administration’s Overtime Rule and the Rising Cost of Doing Business
Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship
Full Committee Hearing
9:30 a.m.
Pending Legislation
Senate Energy and Natural Resources – Subcommittee on Public Lands, Forests and Mining
Subcommittee Hearing
2:30 p.m.
Customs and Border Protection Oversight
Senate Finance
Full Committee Hearing
2 p.m.
Friday, April 22, 2016
Senate Committees
Examining the Impact of the Opioid Epidemic in Ohio
Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
Full Committee Field Hearing
11 a.m., 11100 Euclid Avenue Cleveland, Ohio
Examining EPA’s Unacceptable Response to Indian Tribes
Senate Indian Affairs
Full Committee Field Hearing
1:30 p.m., Phoenix City Hall Council Chambers, 200 W. Washington St., Phoenix, Arizona