The Senate is in recess until July 12th at 3:00 p.m. for the Fourth of July Holiday. The House will reconvene today at 12 p.m. with votes at 6:30 p.m. and is expected to consider 11 bills under suspension of the Rules including H.R. 3261 – To repeal the Authorization for the Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-California) said she wanted the House to pass an infrastructure bill by July 4th, and in an effort to stick to this deadline, this week the House is bringing a five-year, $715 billion infrastructure bill — drafted by the Transportation and Infrastructure and Energy and Commerce committees — to the floor. House Democrats are expected to use H.R. 3684 – INVEST in America Act (TEXT; FACT SHEET; SECTION by SECTION) as a baseline for negotiations if and when the upper chamber passes its own standalone infrastructure package. This week, the House will also consider legislation establishing a select committee to investigate the attacks incited by Former President Donald Trump on the U.S. Capitol on January 6th. The select committee came about after Senate Republicans blocked a bill to create an independent commission to probe the attack, which was opposed by both House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-California) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky). Six GOP senators voted with Democrats to pass the commission, but it would have needed at least ten to overcome the filibuster.
A fragile bipartisan infrastructure deal appears to be moving forward once again today, as moderate Republicans said they had been reassured that President Joe Biden would not hold it hostage while Democrats simultaneously work on a larger, partisan economic package. Biden threw the accord’s fate in doubt Thursday by saying he wouldn’t sign it unless it arrived on his desk paired with a much larger infrastructure bill passed through the reconciliation process that lets his party go it alone if they are united. On Thursday, shortly after announcing Democrats and Republicans had reached an agreement on a nearly $1 billion package, Biden told reporters he would sign it only in tandem with his American Families Plan, a separate bill that includes spending on items Democrats have argued are also critical infrastructure such as child care, elder care and clean-energy investments. On Saturday, Biden issued a lengthy statement asserting that his comments had not amounted to a veto threat of the bipartisan bill after Republicans began to walk away from it. Statement by President Joe Biden on the Bipartisan Infrastructure Framework.
The President will welcome His Excellency Reuven Rivlin, President of the State of Israel, to the White House this afternoon. Under a deal brokered by a range of right and left wing parties united in their desire to oust long-serving prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, right-wing leader Naftali Bennett succeeded him two weeks ago. Bennett has agreed to step aside as prime minister in two years for Yair Lapid, a centrist who now serves as foreign minister. In a statement, the White House said Rivlin’s visit would “highlight the enduring partnership between the United States and Israel and the deep ties between our governments and our people.” The meeting will also come less than a day after the United States carried out airstrikes in Iraq and Syria against two Iranian-backed militias that the Pentagon said had conducted drone strikes against American personnel in Iraq in recent weeks.
Adam S. Olsen, Washington, D.C.
