Tax returns, artificial intelligence and border security. Those are just some of the issues lawmakers are set to tackle in the coming weeks, as Congress checks items off the legislative bucket list ahead of their summer recess.
Meanwhile, House Republicans are plotting an ambitious schedule to pass all 12 annual government funding bills for fiscal 2025 by August, but negotiators say they are already off to a late start. GOP leadership unveiled the proposed plan at a conference meeting Wednesday, reports The Hill’s Aris Folley, with aims to start in the House in early June.
If we don’t hit any speed bumps it could work,” Rep. Andy Harris (R-Md.), chair of the funding subcommittee that oversees dollars for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, said Wednesday. “But we usually hit speed bumps.”
But first on the docket: the bipartisan Senate border bill, which failed to gain support in February, but is being put up for a new vote today by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.). Though he supported the measure when it was first negotiated, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) told President Biden Monday that Republicans plan to vote against it.
The White House response? Goading Senate Republicans to support the package they abandoned after former President Trump voiced his opposition.
“Senate Republicans will have another opportunity to decide whether they want to support the toughest, fairest border security agreement in decades or whether they will continue putting their partisan political interests ahead of the nation and security,” a senior administration official told reporters Wednesday.
The blame game highlights the downward spiral the erstwhile deal has taken from an actionable piece of legislation early this year to a twice-doomed messaging bill with no chance of becoming law, writes The Hill’s Rafael Bernal. In February, only four Republicans voted for the deal. Across the aisle, the measure raised the ire of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, a key immigration stakeholder that was visibly kept out of the negotiating room.
Meanwhile, lawmakers are already balking at the prospect of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressing a joint session of Congress, with liberal Democrats and progressives vowing a boycott. The conflict has been an ongoing headache for Biden and other Democratic leaders, write The Hill’s Mike Lillis and Mychael Schnell, who are attempting to strike a delicate balance between supporting America’s closest Middle Eastern ally and denouncing elements of Netanyahu’s military strategy, which has resulted in more than 34,000 civilian deaths in Gaza.
“I boycotted his last visit. I certainly will not attend this one,” said Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), a Jewish Democrat who characterized Netanyahu as “a menace.” “It’s not going to help move us forward — it’s a detriment. Should he come for any reason, in any venue, I am not going to be there.”
- CNN: Congressional Democrats are investigating whether leading U.S. oil companies have illegally colluded with one another and with OPEC to inflate prices at the pump.
- Reuters: The House Foreign Affairs Committee voted to advance a bill that would make it easier for the Biden administration to restrict the export of artificial intelligence systems.
There’s still some hope for bipartisanship — in the form of new legislation that would target presidents’ tax returns, as well as any foreign payments, in a bid for increased transparency and an election-year push to curb foreign influence. The bill, introduced by House Oversight Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) and Rep. Katie Porter (D-Calif.), would require presidents and vice presidents to disclose their tax returns and any foreign payments made to them or their families in the two years prior to taking office, during their term in office and in the two years following (The Hill and ABC News).
Porter said that “by boosting transparency and requiring additional financial disclosures, Congress can shine a light on improper conduct in the Executive Branch — or be confident that none occurred.”
- Good news for people hitting the road over what could be a record Memorial Day weekend of driving: Gas prices are lowering again. Also, flying will be messy this summer. Get ready.
- Anger hurts organ function and health.
- A court hearing in the Trump classified documents case became a shouting match in Florida Wednesday between the lawyers, and Judge Aileen Cannon wondered if the case is too complicated for jurors to understand. There is no trial date.