THIS WEEK:
- After a long August break, the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey and rising tensions in the Korean peninsula, Congress returns today to confront a growing list of “must-pass” issues in the September timeframe of 12 working days for the House and 17 working days for the Senate. Republicans intend to address Hurricane Harvey relief, health care, tax reform, the FY18 budget and raise the debt ceiling before federal funding runs out at the end of September.
- The Senate Appropriations Committee will be beginning their work on spending bills, while the House is expected to pass their final Appropriations package.
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 5:
- The Trump Administration’s decision on whether to rescind the Deferred Action on Childhood Arrivals (DACA) immigration policy is expected today. They have signaled they will rescind the policy but give Congress the opportunity to mitigate the impact on the large group of “Dreamers” by addressing DACA within six months. There will also be demonstrations supporting “Dreamers” across the country.
- The president is hosting a meeting on tax reform with the Big Six: Paul Ryan, Mitch McConnell, Kevin Brady, Orrin Hatch, Gary Cohn and Steven Mnuchin this afternoon.
- The Freedom Caucus is expected to meet tonight and will likely discuss their approach to handling the debt limit as well as Hurricane Harvey funding.
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 6:
- Trump will give a speech in North Dakota on tax reform.
- The president is hosting a follow up meeting with Congressional leaders - House Speaker Paul Ryan, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on tax reform, the debt ceiling, Hurricane Harvey, FY18 and the rest of the September agenda.
- The Trump Administration is expected to brief Congress on the security situations in North Korea and Afghanistan. Defense Secretary James Mattis and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson are part of closed door sessions scheduled.
- The Senate Appropriations Committee will have Subcommittee markups on the FY18 Labor, HHS, Education Appropriations Bill at 11am and the FY18 State & Foreign Operations Appropriations Bill at 2pm.
- The Senate Health Committee led by Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN) will hear testimony from state insurance commissioners. This is the first real interest we’ve seen from Congress to reach across the aisle on health care.
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 7:
- The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee will hold a confirmation hearing for Trump’s nominees at 10am: Republican Kevin McIntyre to be FERC Chairman and Democrat Richard Glick as FERC Commissioner. They expedited confirmation votes in the Committee and should move them to the full Senate by late September or early October.
- The Senate Health Committee led by Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN) will hear testimony from a group of both Republican and Democratic governors. Governors John Kasich (R-OH) and John Hickenlooper (D-CO) unveiled their bipartisan proposal in anticipation of the hearing.
- The Senate Banking Committee will be meeting at 9:30am to discuss sanctions on North Korea. They will later vote on the nominations of Joseph Otting to be the comptroller of the currency and Randal Quarles to be the Federal Reserve's vice chairman of supervision.
- The House Financial Service Subcommittee has a hearing on financial regulations at 10am.
- The Senate Appropriations Committee will have markups on the FY18 Labor, HHS, Education Appropriations Bill and the FY18 State & Foreign Operations Appropriations Bill at 10:30am.
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 8:
- We are anticipating the House holding a vote by the end of the week on a spending package composed of the final eight Appropriations bills. The House Committee on Rules is meeting earlier in the week to discuss which amendments can make it to a floor vote.
HARVEY DELAYS VENEZUELA SANCTIONS & RFS DECISION, EPA REFINER WAIVERS, FERC GETS TO WORK. Our Senior Energy Analyst Joe McMonigle writes Hurricane Harvey delays & expedites decisions. Meanwhile, FERC approves first pipeline even ahead of September 20th meeting. Read the full piece here.
COURT UPHOLDS FCC REJECTION OF DISH AFFILIATE BID CREDITS (DISH): Our Senior Telecom Analyst Paul Glenchur writes DISH loses its bid credit battle in federal court. There is a modest opportunity to "cure" but we doubt a change in outcome. Read his full piece here.
#ACA2.0 | HEALTH CARE EMPLOYMENT +2.1% IN AUGUST: Our Senior Health Policy Analyst Emily Evans wrote Health Care and hospital employment continue their downward trend at +2.1% and +1.7% YoY in August. Read the full piece here.
