Expect lots of attention this week on the GOP immigration enforcement bill and whether White House ballroom security funding can be included — we’ve got plenty on that political drama below.
Meanwhile, there’s a quiet scramble underway to get bipartisan legislating done this week before the midterms loom too large — if President Donald Trump doesn’t screw it up.
Before next week’s Memorial Day recess, GOP lawmakers will try to pass bipartisan measures on affordable housing and college athletics regulation.
Legislation with Republican and Democratic backers regulating cryptocurrencies, overhauling the energy permitting process, governing AI use, boosting U.S. manufacturing and reauthorizing a landmark public lands package are also in the works for the coming months.
Interviews with more than a dozen lawmakers revealed a genuine interest in making progress on long-stalled measures in the few short months before the home stretch of midterm campaigning begins. Members of both parties also see passing legislation as critical to combating a narrative with voters that Capitol Hill is mired in all-time political dysfunction and a lack of productivity.
Strikingly, some of the most reliably conservative members are sounding downright conciliatory: Both Rep. Jason Smith of House Ways and Means and Sen. Mike Lee of Senate Energy and Natural Resources say they want to make progress on cryptocurrency taxation and permitting deals.
“I believe in bipartisan work,” Sen. Raphael Warnock said. “But it has been my experience that the closer you get to an election, the harder it is to get that kind of work done. There’s no question about it.”
Still, over the weekend, Trump doused the prospects for bipartisan passage of two measures — the housing bill and a measure reauthorizing government spy powers — when he demanded his signature election security bill ride along.
The SAVE America Act would institute new voter ID and proof-of-citizenship requirements for federal elections while also banning transgender women from participating in women’s sports, among other provisions.
Combining either bipartisan bill with the SAVE Act, which Trump has called his “No. 1 priority” ahead of the midterms, would almost certainly jeopardize the broader legislations’ chances of getting through Congress.
What else we’re watching:
— GOP RACES TO RE-WRITE TRUMP BALLROOM FUNDING: The GOP’s own reconciliation bill — which Republican leaders in both chambers will try to ram through this week — may also undermine the bipartisan vibes on Capitol Hill. The Senate Budget panel will meet Wednesday morning to assemble the bill in advance of a marathon vote session potentially stretching from Thursday into early Friday morning. The House would then attempt to take up the legislation for final passage Friday. Over the weekend, the Senate’s parliamentarian handed Democrats a win when she ruled against another Trump priority tucked in the bill to fund up to $1 billion for White House ballroom security and other Secret Service measures.
— SCORE ACT HURDLES AHEAD — House Republican leaders might have trouble passing a long-stalled college athletics bill, which is expected to be on the floor during the later part of the week. A handful of Republican hard-liners were noncommittal Friday on whether they would support the procedural rule vote for the bipartisan bill, which addresses name, image and likeness rights for student athletes, among other provisions. The bill, known as the SCORE Act, was already pulled from a scheduled floor vote at the end of last year amid a hard-liner revolt on various aspects of the measure.
Jordain Carney and Mia McCarthy contributed to this report.
