Look Ahead to the Week of June 24: House Continues to Advance Spending Bills

Only the House will be in session this week before leaving town for the July 4 recess, while the Senate has already begun its recess. Both chambers will return after the holiday. Including this week, the House has only seven weeks of legislative session before the election on November 5, 2024. The Senate only has six weeks of session remaining before the election.

This week, the House will vote on additional fiscal year 2025 spending bills, including Defense, Homeland Security, and State-Foreign Operations. The bills will face a narrow path to passage after House Republicans proposed a 1 percent increase for defense spending along with a 6 percent cut to nondefense programs, which does not comport with a previous agreement reached by President Joe Biden and former Speaker Kevin McCarthy last year in conjunction with the Fiscal Responsibility Act.

House appropriators will also hold markups on the Commerce-Justice-Science, Energy & Water, Interior-Environment, Labor-HHS-Education, and Transportation-HUD bills in their respective subcommittees.

Many eyes will be on the House Energy & Commerce Committee as members mark up the American Privacy Rights Act, championed by Chairwoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA). Ranking member Frank Pallone (D-NJ) also supports the legislation after changes were made to the draft text last week, which increases the likelihood of passage out of committee. However, the outlook for floor consideration is dim right now with House Republican leadership not yet offering support for the legislation.

Administration

On Thursday, President Biden will participate in a presidential debate with former president Donald Trump in Atlanta. During the weekend, Biden will attend campaign events and fundraisers in North Carolina, New York, and New Jersey.

House Votes

On Tuesday, the House will meet to consider multiple bills under suspension.

• Bills expected under suspension of the rules.
  • H.R. 6586 – To require a strategy to oppose financial or material support by foreign countries to the Taliban, and for other purposes, as amended (Rep. Burchett – Foreign Affairs). The bill would require the State Department to report to Congress on foreign countries that have provided financial or material support to the Taliban, inconsistent with U.S. law since September 1, 2021.
  • H.R. 7089 – Global Anti-Human Trafficking Enhancement Act, as amended (Rep. James – Foreign Affairs). The bill would authorize the State Department’s law enforcement arm to investigate transnational human trafficking.
  • H.R. 7152 – Korean American Divided Families National Registry Act, as amended (Rep. Wexton – Foreign Affairs). The bill would require the State Department to create a private internal national registry of Korean American families who want to host family reunions in South Korea, the United States, or other countries.
  • H.Res. 901 – Expressing support for democracy and human rights in Pakistan, as amended (Rep. McCormick – Foreign Affairs). The resolution would express strong support for democracy in Pakistan and call on the U.S. president to strengthen engagement with Pakistani leaders to ensure the rule of law and human rights are upheld.
  • H.R. 4132 – Falun Gong Protection Act, as amended (Rep. Perry – Foreign Affairs). The legislation would require the President to impose sanctions, including financial asset freezes and visa restrictions, on foreign persons involved with the harvesting and trafficking of human organs in China.
  • H.R. 2789 – American Cooperation with Our Neighbors Act, as amended (Rep. Stanton – Foreign Affairs). The legislation would require the State Department to submit to Congress a strategy to strengthen subnational cooperation between the United States and Mexico to address opioid trafficking and support border communities.

  Wednesday – Friday, the House is scheduled to meet for legislative business.

• Bills expected under a rule.
  • H.R. 8752 – Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2025 (Rep. Amodei – Appropriations). The measure would provide the Homeland Security Department with $64.8 billion in baseline discretionary funding subject to spending limits for fiscal year 2025.
  • H.R. 8771 – Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2025 (Rep. Diaz-Balart – Appropriations). The measure would provide the State Department and foreign aid programs with $51.7 billion in discretionary funding for fiscal year 2025.
  • H.R. 8774 – Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2025 (Rep. Calvert – Appropriations). The measure would provide the Pentagon and defense-related activities with $833.1 billion in discretionary funding for fiscal year 2025, which is $8.6 billion more than fiscal year 2024 and $151.9 million more than requested.

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