DPI Heading to the Windy City, Nominees in the Senate and Maybe the GENIUS Act, Messaging Bills in the House
Jason Pye - Vice President, Due Process Institute
DPI in the Windy City: Shana O’Toole and I will be in Chicago for the Clean Slate Initiative’s 2025 Convening on June 5 and June 6. My significantly better half, Emily, will also be there. I’ll be on a panel on Thursday, June 5, from 4:00 pm to 5:00 pm, called “A New Era in Criminal Justice Reform: Clean Slate and Beyond.” Say hello if you see us walking around!
Nominees and the GENIUS Act (maybe) in the Senate: The Senate reconvenes today at 3:00 pm to resume consideration of the nomination of Michael Duffey to serve as Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment. A roll call vote is expected to begin around 5:30 pm on the cloture motion for the Duffey nomination. Cloture motions have also been filed for Allison Hooker to serve as Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs and Dale Marks to serve as Assistant Secretary of Defense. Although the cloture motion for the nomination of Jared Isaacman to serve as Administrator of NASA was filed and expected to be on the floor this week, the White House has pulled Isaacman’s nomination. The GENIUS Act, S. 1582, has cleared its first procedural hurdle, and negotiations are ongoing. We’re not sure if it’ll be on the floor this week or not.
Just a reminder that the Senate isn’t as transparent as the House when it comes to legislation and nominations that may be considered. We usually know what’s happening at the beginning of the week, but it’s often unclear what will happen after that.
And the tax bill is in the Senate: Before the recess, the House barely passed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), H.R. 1. A final cost estimate wasn’t available before the House passed the bill. Needless to say, there are competing interests in the Senate, and the bill is likely to be substantially changed compared to what the House passed. If the Senate deviates too much from what the House passed by, say, reducing the spending cuts in the bill, finding the votes for passage in the House becomes much more difficult. That said, you have to start from the assumption that this thing will likely pass in some form.
Senate committee schedule: The full Senate committee schedule for the week is here. If you’re interested in watching any of these hearings online, you can find committee websites here.
Schedule and suspensions in the House: The House returns at 2:00 pm on Tuesday for legislative business. Votes are postponed until 6:30 pm. The House will also be in session on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. The last votes for the week are expected no later than 3:00 pm on Friday. Nine (9) bills are expected to be considered under the suspension of the rules (listed below). The cost estimates for those bills are available here.
S. 160, Aerial Firefighting Enhancement Act (Oversight and Accountability Committee)
H.R. 3490, Gerald E. Connolly Esophageal Cancer Awareness Act (Oversight and Accountability Committee)
H.R. 1642, Connecting Small Businesses with Career and Technical Education Graduates Act (Small Business Committee)
H.R. 1816, WOSB Accountability Act (Small Business Committee)
H.R. 787, Plain Language in Contracting Act (Small Business Committee)
H.R. 789, Transparency and Predictability in Small Business Opportunities Act (Small Business Committee)
H.R. 1804, 7(a) Loan Agent Oversight Act (Small Business Committee)
H.R. 1634, ThinkDIFFERENTLY About Disability Employment Act (Small Business Committee)
H.R. 1621, Entrepreneurs with Disabilities Reporting Act (Small Business Committee)
Bills that come to the floor under suspension of the rules require two-thirds of members present and voting for passage. This is the most common way that bills considered by the House come to the floor. Some of these bills may be passed by a voice vote, rather than a roll call vote. Most bills that come to the floor under suspension aren’t widely considered controversial, although leadership may occasionally test a bill under suspension to gauge opposition or sneak a bill through the chamber.
Rule bills: The House Rules Committee will meet at 3:00 pm on Tuesday to markup the rule providing for the consideration of the SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Reauthorization Act, H.R. 2483; the Save SBA from Sanctuary Cities Act, H.R. 2931; the CEASE Act, H.R. 2987; and the American Entrepreneurs First Act, H.R. 2966. Legislation related to rescissions could be on the House floor this week.
Party divisions in the House: With the recent death of Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA), there are 220 Republicans in the House and 212 Democrats. The current vacancies are AZ-07 (Grijalva), TX-18 (Turner), and VA-11 (Connolly). The special election in AZ-07 is on September 23 while the special in TX-18 is on November 4 (December 9 runoff, if needed). The special election in VA-11 hasn’t yet been announced.
House committee schedule: The full House committee schedule for the week is here. If you’re interested in watching any of these hearings online, you can find committee websites here.