WASHINGTON WEEK AHEAD

DRIVING THE WEEK:

• The Senate will be in session this week. The House is in recess for the month of August and will return after Labor Day.

• Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell invoked cloture on the Senate's four-bill fiscal 2019 spending package, setting up the possibility of a floor vote this week: Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies bill, the Financial Services and General Government bill, the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies bill, and the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development and Related Agencies bill.

• The Senate is expected to pass the National Defense Authorization Act as well as an extension to the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) until November.  Funding for the NFIP expires tomorrow

• Two Commodity Futures Trading Commission nominees, Republican Dawn Stump and Democrat Dan Berkovitz, are awaiting confirmation by the full Senate. A successful vote would bring the CFTC to its full slate of commissioners for the first time in years.

• Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will unveil the Trump Administration's "economic strategy for advancing a free and open Indo-Pacific" at the Indo-Pacific Business Forum hosted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce today.

• The Federal Open Market Committee will hold a two-day meeting July 31-Aug. 1.

• President Trump will travel to Tampa, FL and Wilkes-Barre, PA this week to hold rallies.

• Tennessee holds primary elections on Tuesday.

TRUMP'S REIGN OF TARIFFS (Cont.): We hosted one of Washington's top trade analysts, Chad Bown of the Peterson Institute, and covered the span of Trump's latest tariff proposals and their impact: Steel and Aluminum, China, auto and auto-parts - and wrapped with an update on NAFTA. You can access the replay here.

LESS TALK, MORE ACTION | RULEMAKING BEGINS ON DRUG PRICE POLICY: Emily Evans and the healthcare team covered the response to RFI, safe harbor proposed rule, drug importation and more. CVS, ESRX, UNH, CAH, MCK, CI, AET, PFE, NVS.  Find the replay information here.

Capital Brief and Washington Weekly will not publish regularly throughout the month of August.  As always, do not hesitate to call or email with any questions.

Tuesday, Jul 31, 2018 10:00 AM – SD-430	Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions	Hearings to examine reducing health care costs, focusing on decreasing administrative spending.
Tuesday, Jul 31, 2018 10:00 AM – SH-216	Judiciary	An oversight hearing to examine immigration enforcement and family reunification efforts.
Tuesday, Jul 31, 2018 10:00 AM – SR-253	Commerce, Science, and Transportation Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, Innovation, and the Internet	Hearings to examine the internet and digital communications, focusing on the impact of global internet governance.
Wednesday, Aug 01, 2018 9:45 AM – SD-G50	Commerce, Science, and Transportation	Business meeting to consider S.2242, to amend the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 to clarify the authority of the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration with respect to post-storm assessments, S.2773, to improve the management of driftnet fishing, S.2861, to prosecute, as a Federal crime, the assault or intimidation of a passenger train crew member to the same extent as such actions against aircraft crew members are prosecuted, S.3119, to allow for the taking of sea lions on the Columbia River and its tributaries to protect endangered and threatened species of salmon and other nonlisted fish species, S.3143, to provide for a coordinated Federal program to accelerate quantum research and development for the economic and national security of the United States, S.3265, to require the Secretary of Commerce to undertake certain activities to support waterfront community revitalization and resiliency, S.3273, to improve the safety, efficiency, and reliability of the movement of goods through ports and intermodal connections to ports, an original bill entitled, "Space Frontier Act of 2019", and the nominations of Rick A. Dearborn, of Oklahoma, to be a Director of the Amtrak Board of Directors, and Martin J. Oberman, of Illinois, to be a Member of the Surface Transportation Board.
Wednesday, Aug 01, 2018 10:00 AM – SD-226	Judiciary	Hearings to examine pending nominations.
Wednesday, Aug 01, 2018 10:00 AM – SD-419	Foreign Relations	Hearings to examine the nominations of R. Clarke Cooper, of Florida, to be an Assistant Secretary (Political-Military Affairs), and John Cotton Richmond, of Virginia, to be Director of the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking, with the rank of Ambassador at Large, both of the Department of State.
Wednesday, Aug 01, 2018 10:30 AM – SD-406	Environment and Public Works	Business meeting to consider pending calendar business; to be immediately followed by a hearing to examine the Environmental Protection Agency's agenda, focusing on protecting the environment and allowing America's economy to grow.
Wednesday, Aug 01, 2018 2:30 PM – SR-253	Commerce, Science, and Transportation Subcommittee on Space, Science, and Competitiveness	Hearings to examine the search for life, focusing on utilizing science to explore our solar system and make new discoveries.
Wednesday, Aug 01, 2018 2:30 PM – SR-418	Veterans' Affairs	Hearings to examine S.3184, to amend title 38, United States Code, to modify the requirements for applications for construction of State home facilities to increase the maximum percentage of nonveterans allowed to be treated at such facilities, S.1596, to amend title 38, United States Code, to increase certain funeral benefits for veterans, S.2881, to direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to seek to enter into an agreement with the city of Vallejo, California, for the transfer of Mare Island Naval Cemetery in Vallejo, California, S.1952, to improve oversight and accountability of the financial processes of the Department of Veterans Affairs, S.1990, to amend title 38, United States Code, to increase the amounts payable by the Department of Veterans Affairs for dependency and indemnity compensation, to modify the requirements for dependency and indemnity compensation for survivors of certain veterans rated totally disabled at the time of death, S.2485, to amend title 38, United States Code, to provide payment of Medal of Honor special pension under such title to the surviving spouse of a deceased Medal of Honor recipient, S.2748, to amend title 10, United States Code, to require members of the Armed Forces to receive additional training under the Transition Assistance Program, S.514, to direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to carry out a pilot program to provide access to magnetic EEG/EKG-guided resonance therapy to veterans, H.R.299, to amend title 38, United States Code, to clarify presumptions relating to the exposure of certain veterans who served in the vicinity of the Republic of Vietnam, H.R.5418, to direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to carry out the Medical Surgical Prime Vendor program using multiple prime vendors, an original bill entitled, "Veterans Dental Care Eligibility Expansion and Enhancement Act of 2018", an original bill entitled, "VA Hiring Enhancement Act", an original bill to require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish a program to award grants to persons to provide and coordinate the provision of suicide prevention services for veterans transitioning from service in the Armed Forces who are at risk of suicide and for their families, and an original bill entitled, "Modernization of Medical Records Access for Veterans Act".
Thursday, Aug 02, 2018 10:45 AM – SD-419	Foreign Relations	Hearings to examine assessing the value of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization alliance.