Members return to Capitol Hill this week after a one-week break and settle in for three weeks of legislative business before the scheduled Memorial Day recess. The Senate is still working to find a path forward on the Energy and Water Appropriations measure for Fiscal Year (FY) 2017 and other FY 2017 spending bills, while the House will take up several measures to address opioid abuse and provide addiction-recovery assistance. In the background looms the now-settled selection of Donald Trump as the Republican presidential nominee and a split in Republican ranks over whether to support him, raising questions on the potential impact Trump will have on Senate and House races in November.

The Senate returns to legislative business on Monday and resumes consideration of the legislative vehicle (H.R. 2028) for the FY 2017 Energy and Water appropriations bill, a $37.5 billion funding measure that had previously been viewed as fairly non-controversial and appeared set for final passage before last week’s recess. The appropriations bill is now held up over an amendment offered by Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR) that would prevent the Administration from spending any funds to purchase heavy water from Iran. Senator Cotton has been a leading opponent of the President’s deal with Iran. Opponents of the amendment, all likely to be Democrats, argue it would directly and adversely affect the implementation of the President’s nuclear deal with Iran. The amendment has prompted a veto threat over the underlying bill from the Administration, and Senate Democrats have called Senator Cotton’s amendment a “poison pill.” Prior to the recess, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell twice attempted to achieve cloture on the Energy and Water bill, but failed to achieve the necessary 60 votes to limit debate. Democrats fear the amendment will pass and will force some of their members, especially those up for reelection, to cast a difficult vote. Leader McConnell will likely try for a third cloture vote this week, although he has given no indication that an agreement has been reached to move forward.

Should the issue over Senator Cotton’s amendment be resolved, the Senate expects to complete action on the Energy and Water appropriations bill this week. Leader McConnell previously indicated that the Senate will likely take up the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development (T-HUD) funding bill as its second FY 2017 appropriations measure. The legislation, reported unanimously out of the Senate Appropriations Committee in April, provides over $56 billion in funding for the Departments of Transportation, Housing, Urban Development, and other related agencies for the fiscal year that begins on October 1. The Military Construction and Veterans Affairs appropriations bill and the Commerce, Justice, and Science appropriations bill have also been reported favorably by the Senate Appropriations Committee and await action by the full Senate. The ability of the Senate to tackle these appropriations bills depends on whether it can find a path forward on the Energy and Water bill. If it cannot, then Leader McConnell’s hopes for completing Senate action on all 12 appropriations bills are likely to collapse amid partisan rancor and recrimination.

If the Senate is unable to move forward on the appropriations front, it is likely to turn its attention to criminal-justice and sentencing-reform legislation. The legislation was favorably reported by the Judiciary Committee several months ago on a 15-5 vote, but the Republicans on the committee split 5-5. Since then, Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) has been seeking further compromises to attract more Republican support. Prior to last week’s recess, he announced a compromise agreement that has attracted some additional Republican support, making the bill a realistic candidate for floor consideration if the appropriations process on the floor collapses.

On the other side of the Capitol, the House is scheduled to return on Tuesday and begin what Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) has dubbed “opioid week,” taking up more than a dozen bills related to opioid abuse and recovery assistance, reported with overwhelming bipartisan support out of the House Energy and Commerce, Judiciary, Veterans Affairs, and Education and Workforce Committees prior to last week’s recess. This issue that has been a top priority for both chambers this year and for many members, whose constituencies are struggling to counter widespread opioid and heroin abuse. On Tuesday House members will consider 10 bills under suspension of the rules, including H.R. 5052, the Opioid Program Evaluation (OPEN) Act, legislation that would require the Attorney General and Secretary of Health and Human Services to evaluate the effectiveness of existing federal programs that provide grants for assistance in addressing opioid abuse.

On Wednesday, House members will consider another 11 bills under suspension of the rules related to opioid abuse and recovery assistance. The proposals range from expanding access to Naloxone (medication that reverses the effects of an opioid overdose) and improving care for pregnant and postpartum mothers and infants affected by substance abuse or withdrawal symptoms, to increasing access to medication-assisted treatment and allowing prescriptions for certain controlled substances to be partially filled. The House will also consider H.R. 4641, subject to a rule. This legislation would establish an inter-agency task force to review, modify, and update best practices for pain management and how pain medication is prescribed.

During the remainder of the week, the House is expected to consider H.R. 5046, subject to a rule. H.R. 5046 would authorize annual appropriations to the Attorney General to make grants to state, local, and tribal governments for programs to combat opioid abuse.

Following the expected passage by the House of these opioid-abuse and recovery-assistance bills, the House plans to request a conference with the Senate to resolve the differences between the House-passed bills and the Senate version, the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act (CARA), which passed in March by a vote of 94-1.

On the committee front this week, the subcommittees of the Senate Armed Services Committee will begin marking up the Senate version of the National Defense Authorization Act for 2017. On Monday and Tuesday, each of the six subcommittees will meet to consider its portion of the annual defense spending blueprint. The full committee will meet in closed session to mark up the bill on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. The Armed Services Committee is expected to complete its markup this week, allowing for consideration in the full Senate prior to Memorial Day; House action on its version of the bill is also expected this month.

The Senate Judiciary Committee will be considering privacy issues at two hearings this week. The full committee meets on Tuesday to discuss oversight and reauthorization of the FISA Amendments Act, the law governing federal surveillance of electronic communications. The current law, which came to widespread public attention through the Edward Snowden leaks, will expire at the end of next year. Leaders of the House and Senate intelligence committees have identified reauthorization as a major priority, though other committees share jurisdiction over the authority and agencies involved. Privacy and civil liberties experts and a representative from cybersecurity industry are scheduled to provide testimony before the committee on Tuesday. The House Judiciary Committee held a closed hearing on the FISA Amendments Act reauthorization in February. The Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology, and Law meets on Wednesday afternoon to examine the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC’s) proposed privacy rules for internet service providers (ISPs). The privacy proposal, adopted by the FCC on March 31, would limit the ability of ISPs to track the web history of subscribers for targeted advertising purposes by allowing subscribers to opt out, or by requiring the ISPs to obtain express consent before using and sharing the customer data with third parties. The FCC is currently accepting public comments on the proposal through May 27. FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler and Commissioner Ajit Pai are scheduled to testify at the Wednesday hearing, as are Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chairwoman Edith Ramirez and Commissioner Maureen Ohlhausen.

The House Judiciary Committee Executive Overreach Task Force continues its series of hearings on “overreach” by the Executive Branch this week. A hearing scheduled for Thursday will focus on presidential actions in foreign affairs; two previous hearings focused on executive actions involving domestic affairs.

On Wednesday, the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade (CMT) will host a highly anticipated hearing on daily fantasy sports, a multi-billion dollar industry whose popularity has surged in recent years. Despite the activity’s very large and growing following (an estimated 60 million online users), public debate over whether fantasy sports activities qualify as gambling has led to increased scrutiny, with several states battling industry leaders FanDuel and DraftKings in court over their legality and others passing legislation to establish regulations and consumer protections. In announcing the CMT Subcommittee hearing, the first congressional hearing on daily fantasy sports, Subcommittee Chairman Michael Burgess (R-TX) stated that the event will provide “a forum for all stakeholders to discuss the many aspects of this complicated issue” and “consider whether there is a federal role to play” in oversight.

Continuing the recent trend of hearings focused on the U.S. tax code and tax reform, the House Ways and Means Tax Policy Subcommittee is scheduled to meet Thursday to discuss member proposals on how to improve the tax code.

On Wednesday the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee meets to discuss potential reforms to the U.S. Postal Service, an agency that has been plagued with operations issues and financial losses in recent years, largely stemming from the increase in technology and electronic communications.

By its own rules, the House is unable to consider any annual spending bills on the floor prior to May 15, as Congress has not adopted a budget resolution, but this restriction has not stopped the House Appropriations Committee from moving forward with the annual appropriations process. The full committee has already approved its Agriculture, Energy and Water, and Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations bills for the upcoming fiscal year. The Defense Subcommittee is scheduled to meet Thursday evening to consider its funding bill for FY 2017.

Of final note this week are press reports indicating that a new draft of legislation designed to assist Puerto Rico restructure its debt is likely to be released on Wednesday and potentially marked up by the House Natural Resources Committee next week. The initial draft, H.R. 4900, released in April, was met with criticism from both sides of the aisle. Conservatives worried about the impact of language that would allow Puerto Rico to seek bankruptcy-like protection in federal court and whether support for the debt restructuring package would appear as a “bailout,” (even though no taxpayer funds would be authorized for Puerto Rico), while Democrats wanted to include language on prioritization payments for pensioners over bondholders, a provision that is not included in H.R. 4900. In a letter to congressional leaders last week Secretary of the Treasury Jack Lew warned that “[o]ur worst enemy at the moment is politics” and without legislative action to restructure Puerto Rico’s debt, a “taxpayer-funded bailout may become the only legislative course available.” A major bond payment by the Commonwealth was due on May 1, but the territory opted to default instead of making cuts to essential services for its residents. Bond markets have not yet had a severe reaction to the default because it had already been priced into bond prices. July 1 is the next deadline for congressional action, when another $2 billion in debt is due, a payment Puerto Rico’s Governor Alejandro Garcia Padilla has already said it cannot afford to pay.

A full schedule of events for the week ahead is included below:

Monday, May 9, 2016

House Committees

Life on the Border: Examining Border Security through the Eyes of Local Residents and Law Enforcement
House Homeland Security – Subcommittee on Border and Maritime Security
Subcommittee Field Hearing
1 p.m., Sahuarita Town Hall Building, 375 West Sahuarita Center Way, Council Chambers, Sahuarita, Arizona

Senate Committees

Defense Authorization Act
Senate Armed Services – Subcommittee on Airland
Subcommittee Markup (CLOSED)
2:30 p.m., 232-A Russell Bldg.

Tuesday, May 10, 2016

House Committees

Will President Obama Prioritize the Release of Prisoners of Conscience in Vietnam?
House Foreign Affairs – Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights and International Organizations
Subcommittee Hearing
4 p.m.

Senate Committees

Defense Authorization Act
Senate Armed Services – Subcommittee on Seapower
Subcommittee Markup (CLOSED)
9:30 a.m., 232-A Russell Bldg.

Evaluating China’s Financial Risks
Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs
Full Committee Hearing
10 a.m., 538 Dirksen Bldg.

Gustafson Nomination (IG for the Dept. of Commerce)
Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation
Full Committee Hearing
10 a.m., 253 Russell Bldg.

Can Evidence Based Practices Improve Outcomes for Vulnerable Individuals and Families?
Senate Finance
Full Committee Hearing
10 a.m., 215 Dirksen Bldg.

Terrorism and Instability in Sub-Sahara Africa
Senate Foreign Relations
Full Committee Hearing
10 a.m., 419 Dirksen Bldg.

Understanding Dyslexia: The Intersection of Scientific Research & Education
Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions
Full Committee Hearing
10 a.m., 430 Dirksen Bldg.

Oversight and Reauthorization of the FISA Amendments Act: The Balance between National Security, Privacy and Civil Liberties
Senate Judiciary
Full Committee Hearing
10 a.m., 226 Dirksen Bldg.

Defense Authorization Act
Senate Armed Services – Subcommittee on Personnel
Subcommittee Markup
11 a.m., G-50 Dirksen Bldg.

Defense Authorization Act
Senate Armed Services – Subcommittee on Readiness and Management Support
Subcommittee Markup
2 p.m., G-50 Dirksen Bldg.

Intelligence Matters
Senate Select Intelligence
Full Committee Briefing (CLOSED)
2:30 p.m.

Defense Authorization Act
Senate Armed Services – Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities
Subcommittee Markup
3:30 p.m., G-50 Dirksen Bldg.

Defense Authorization Act
Senate Armed Services – Subcommittee on Strategic Forces
Subcommittee Markup (CLOSED)
5:30 p.m., 232-A Russell Bldg.

Wednesday, May 11, 2016

House Committees

Foreign Military Sales
House Armed Services – Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations
Subcommittee Hearing
10 a.m.

Health Care Solutions: Increasing Patient Choice and Plan Innovation
House Energy and Commerce – Subcommittee on Health
Subcommittee Hearing
10 a.m.

Daily Fantasy Sports: Issues and Perspectives
House Energy and Commerce – Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade
Subcommittee Hearing
10:15 a.m.

Reforming the Postal Service
House Oversight and Government Reform
Full Committee Hearing
10 a.m.

Dept. of Energy Oversight: Office of Fossil Energy
House Science, Space and Technology – Subcommittee on Energy
Subcommittee Hearing
10 a.m.

Inspiring Entrepreneurs: Learning from the Experts
House Small Business
Full Committee Hearing
11 a.m.

Pending Legislation
House Veterans’ Affairs – Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity
Subcommittee Markup
11 a.m.

FY 2017 Budget Priorities for South Asia: Recovery, Development, and Engagement
House Foreign Affairs – Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific
Subcommittee Hearing
2 p.m., 2172 Rayburn Bldg.

The U.S. Role in Helping Nigeria Confront Boko Haram and Other Threats
House Foreign Affairs – Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights and International Organizations
Subcommittee Hearing
2:30 p.m., 2255 Rayburn Bldg.

Pending Legislation
House Veterans’ Affairs – Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs
Subcommittee Markup
1 p.m.

Implementation of the Medicare Access & CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA)
House Ways and Means – Subcommittee on Health
Subcommittee Hearing
2 p.m., 1100 Longworth Bldg.

Defense Appropriations
House Appropriations – Subcommittee on Defense
Subcommittee Markup
5:30 p.m., H-140

Senate Committees

Defense Authorization Act
Senate Armed Services
Full Committee Markup (CLOSED)
9:30 a.m., 222 Russell Bldg.

Leveraging U.S. Science and Technology Enterprise
Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation
Full Committee Hearing
10 a.m., 253 Russell Bldg.

Oversight of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agency
Senate Finance
Full Committee Hearing
10 a.m., 215 Dirksen Bldg.

Pending Nominations
Senate Finance
Full Committee Hearing
3 p.m., 215 Dirksen Bldg.

Pending Legislation
Senate Indian Affairs
Full Committee Hearing
2:15 p.m.

Examining the Proposed FCC Privacy Rules
Senate Judiciary – Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology and the Law
Subcommittee Hearing
2:30 p.m., 226 Dirksen Bldg.

Thursday, May 12, 2016

House Committees

The Past, Present, and Future of SNAP: The Retailer Perspective
House Agriculture
Full Committee Hearing
10 a.m.

A Comparison of United Kingdom-U.S. Affordable Housing Models
House Financial Services – Subcommittee on Housing and Insurance
Subcommittee Hearing
10 a.m.

Terrorism, Missiles and Corruption: The Risks of Economic Engagement with Iran
House Foreign Affairs
Full Committee Hearing
10 a.m., 2172 Rayburn Bldg.

Current Terrorist Financing Trends and the Threat to the Homeland
House Homeland Security – Subcommittee on Counterterrorism and Intelligence
Subcommittee Hearing
10 a.m., 311 Cannon Bldg.

Executive Overreach in Foreign Affairs
House Judiciary – Executive Overreach Task Force
Subcommittee Hearing
10 a.m., 2141 Rayburn Bldg.

Pending Legislation
House Natural Resources – Subcommittee on Federal Lands
Subcommittee Hearing
10 a.m.

TSA Management and Misconduct (Part II)
House Oversight and Government Reform
Full Committee Hearing
9 a.m.

FDIC Data Breaches: Can Americans Trust that Their Private Banking Information Is Secure?
House Science, Space and Technology – Subcommittee on Oversight
Subcommittee Hearing
10 a.m.

Committee Documents Access Request
House Select Intelligence
Full Committee Business Meeting (CLOSED)
9 a.m.

The New Faces of American Manufacturing
House Small Business
Full Committee Hearing
11 a.m.

Controlling the Rising Costs of Federal Disaster Response
House Transportation and Infrastructure – Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings and Emergency Management
Subcommittee Hearing
10 a.m.

Combating the Crisis: Evaluating Efforts to Prevent Veteran Suicide
House Veterans’ Affairs
Full Committee Hearing
10 a.m.

Member Tax Improvement Proposals
House Ways and Means – Subcommittee on Tax Policy
Subcommittee Hearing
10 a.m.

Local and State Perspectives on BLM’s Draft Planning 2.0 Rule
House Natural Resources – Subcommittee on Oversight & Investigations
Subcommittee Hearing
2 p.m.

D.C. Home Rule: Examining the Intent of Congress in the District of Columbia Home Rule Act of 1973
House Oversight and Government Reform
Full Committee Hearing
2 p.m., 2154 Rayburn Bldg.

Senate Committees

Defense Authorization Act
Senate Armed Services
Full Committee Markup (CLOSED)
9:30 a.m., 222 Russell Bldg.

Beard Nomination (IG for the Dept. of Energy)
Senate Energy and Natural Resources
Full Committee Hearing
10 a.m.

Due Process in Administrative Hearings
Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs – Subcommittee on Regulatory Affairs and Federal Management
Subcommittee Hearing
9 a.m., 342 Dirksen Bldg.

Pending Legislation
Senate Judiciary
Full Committee Markup
10 a.m., 226 Dirksen Bldg.

Intelligence Matters
Senate Select Intelligence
Full Committee Hearing (CLOSED)
2 p.m.

Friday, May 13, 2016

House Committees

Using Social Media in Federal Background Checks
House Oversight and Government Reform – Subcommittee on Government Operations; House Oversight and Government Reform – Subcommittee on National Security
Subcommittees Joint Hearing
9 a.m.

Concussions in Youth Sports: Evaluating Prevention and Research
House Energy and Commerce – Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations
Subcommittee Hearing
9:30 a.m.

Senate Committees

Defense Authorization Act
Senate Armed Services
Full Committee Markup (CLOSED)
9:30 a.m., 222 Russell Bldg.