Both the House and Senate will be in session this week.
The Senate will continue processing President Biden’s nominees and working to finalize an agreement on bipartisan legislation offering a menu of potential sanctions on Russia intended to be a deterrent to any aggression against Ukraine.
Additionally, it is becoming increasingly likely that another continuing resolution (CR) will be needed before the February 18 deadline as Appropriations Committee leaders have still yet to agree on top-line spending figures for defense and nondefense spending, nor on a framework for how to approach contentious policy riders. According to Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK), ranking member of the House Appropriations Labor-HHS-Education Subcommittee, the most likely solution will be a vote in the House this week on another stopgap measure that runs into March.
Democrats are also continuing to evaluate options in the hopes of advancing their Build Back Better Act, the $1.75 trillion tax and spending package, as it continues to evade any consensus in the upper chamber and appears stalled for the time being.
Administration
President Biden will meet on Monday with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. Later in the week, he’ll participate in a roundtable with utilities CEOs to promote his economic agenda.
House Side
Monday – Wednesday, the House will meet for legislative business.
- Bills expected under a rule
- H.R. 4445 – Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act of 2021 (Rep. Bustos – Judiciary), which would end the enforcement of agreements that require arbitration or ban class actions in cases involving sexual assault or harassment. The bill would supersede other provisions of law and would apply to cases brought under federal, state, or tribal laws.
- H.R. 3076 – Postal Service Reform Act of 2021 (Rep. Carolyn Maloney – Oversight and Reform). The bill would shift health care costs for most U.S. Postal Service retirees to Medicare and repeal a mandate for USPS to make “prefunding” payments for retiree health benefits. It would also authorize USPS to provide nonpostal services on behalf of state and local governments, require it to publish data on delivery performance, codify six-day delivery, and give the USPS inspector general authority over the Postal Regulatory Commission.
- H.R. 3485 – Global Respect Act (Rep. Cicilline – Foreign Affairs). Under the legislation, the President would have to impose sanctions on foreign individuals responsible for human rights violations based on sexual orientation, gender identity, or sex characteristics.
- Bills to be considered under suspension
- S. 583 – PRICE Act of 2021 (Sen. Peters – Oversight and Reform)
- S. 566 – To designate the facility of the U.S. Postal Service located at 42 Main Street in Slatersville, Rhode Island, as the “Specialist Matthew R. Turcotte Post Office” (Sen. Reed – Oversight and Reform)
- H.R. 2324 – To designate the facility of the U.S. Postal Service located at 2800 South Adams Street in Tallahassee, Florida, as the “D. Edwina Stephens Post Office” (Rep. Lawson – Oversight and Reform)
- H.R. 735 – To designate the facility of the U.S. Postal Service located at 502 East Cotati Avenue in Cotati, California, as the “Arthur Luis Ibleto Post Office Building” (Rep. Mike Thompson – Oversight and Reform)
- H.R. 3539 – To designate the facility of the U.S. Postal Service located at 223 West Chalan Santo Papa in Hagatna, Guam, as the “Atanasio Taitano Perez Post Office” (Rep. San Nicolas – Oversight and Reform)
- H.R. 2842 – To designate the facility of the U.S. Postal Service located at 120 4th Street in Petaluma, California, as the “Lynn C. Woolsey Post Office Building” (Rep. Huffman – Oversight and Reform)
Senate Side
On Monday, the Senate will vote to confirm Ebony M. Scott and Donald Walker Tunnage to serve as associate judges of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia.
The chamber is also scheduled to hold final confirmation votes on seven other nominees: Loren L. AliKhan and John P. Howard III to be associate judges of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals, Amy Gutmann to be U.S. ambassador to Germany, Lisa A. Carty to be U.S. representative on the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations, Scott A. Nathan to be chief executive officer of the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation, Chantale Yokmin Wong to be the U.S. director of the Asian Development Bank, and John Patrick Coffey to be general counsel of the Department of the Navy.
Further, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell agreed to hold a confirmation vote at a time to be determined for Neil Harvey MacBride to be general counsel for the Treasury Department.