Congress is coming back to Washington for an intensive, three-week stretch ahead of their August recess, with a number of big items on their to-do list.
The House Budget Committee may take up the long-delayed 2018 budget resolution in the coming week, moving forward a process that has been stalled by a fight among Republicans over spending levels.
At an event in Tennessee on Wednesday, Budget Committee Chairwoman Diane Black (R-Tenn.) said that she is “hoping we’re going to bring [it] up this upcoming week, when we get back and pass it out of our committee,” according to Roll Call.
{mosads}A spokesman for Black though said there were no announcements yet regarding a mark up.
Black has been forced to delay the budget committee’s work twice already this year with Republicans unable to decide on spending numbers and mandatory cuts.
The Budget committee is expected to raise defense and non-defense spending to levels higher than those proposed by President Trump in his budget. The committee has agreed to $150 billion in cuts, but conservatives want an additional $50 billion.
Expect more tax talk as well in the coming week as House Republicans push forward on their plans to rewrite the code.
The House Ways and Means Committee’s tax policy subcommittee is holding a hearing on Thursday to discuss how tax reform would affect small businesses.
The hearing is one of two tax-reform hearings that the Ways and Means Committee is expected to hold this month. The panel is also expected to hold a hearing on how tax reform would impact individuals and families.
Trade groups and other stakeholders are also expected to be active on the tax front in the coming week.
On Thursday, executives from nonprofits will meet with lawmakers to discuss their tax-reform priorities. And groups have until July 17 to submit tax-reform recommendations to Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah).
Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen will return to Capitol Hill to discuss the economy and the Fed’s semi-annual report to Congress on monetary policy.
Yellen will testify before the House Financial Services Committee on Wednesday and the Senate Banking Committee on Thursday.
Despite the lack of top line budget numbers, appropriators are busy moving ahead with their spending bills.
The Senate Appropriations committee will mark up the Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies appropriations bill, while the subcommittee on transportation, housing and urban development will hear from Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao.
The House Appropriations Committee, which already began marking up bills in recent weeks, will rush ahead with full committee markups of the agriculture bill and the energy and water bill.
Your week ahead:
Tuesday:
A House Appropriations Subcommittee marks up the fiscal 2018 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development Appropriations Bill at 1 p.m.
The Brookings Institution holds an event titled “A blueprint for maximizing the impact of U.S. foreign aid” at 10 a.m.
Wednesday:
Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen will testify before the House Financial Services Committee at 10 a.m.
The Heritage Foundation holds an event on “U.S. Debt: Causes, Costs, and Consequences” at 12 p.m.
The full House Appropriations Committee marks up the fiscal 2018 Agriculture Appropriations Bill and Energy and Water Development Appropriations Bill at 10:30 a.m.
A House Appropriations subcommittee marks up the fiscal 2018 Interior Appropriations Bill at 3 p.m.
A House Appropriations Subcommittee marks up the fiscal 2018 Homeland Security Appropriations Bill at 4:30 p.m.
Thursday:
Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen will testify before the Senate Banking Committee at 10 a.m.
A Senate Appropriations subcommittee marks up the Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2018 at 2:30 p.m.
Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao will testify before a Senate Appropriations subcommittee on the Transportation Department budget for fiscal 2018 at 2 p.m.
The Brookings Institution holds an event on “manufacturing under the Trump administration” at 9 a.m.
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