The House and Senate are back in session today, as both chambers work towards finishing work for the year. The House is poised to send legislation protecting same-sex marriage to President Joe Biden’s desk this week, capping off months of bipartisan negotiations spurred this summer by Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas calling for the reversal of the ruling safeguarding LGBTQ rights. The Senate passed the bill last week, sending it back to the House after the upper chamber added an amendment that was crucial to securing Republican support. Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-California) last week said the bill will come up in the House on Tuesday.
The NDAA, the annual defense authorization bill, will also be a focus in the Capitol this week, as lawmakers attempt to get the must-pass legislation done by the end of the month. The two chambers have agreed to $847 billion in spending for national defense. That number, however, increases to $858 billion when factoring in programs not under the jurisdiction of the Armed Services Committee. The figure is the same as the one approved by the Senate Armed Services Committee earlier this year and it is $45 billion more than the $802 billion the White House requested for fiscal year 2023. It is anticipated the NDAA will be brought to the House floor Tuesday, however the timing is less clear in the Senate with some Republicans threatening to vote against advancing the must-pass measure unless a vote is held on ending the COVID-19 vaccine mandate for military personnel. Senator Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) and Senator Lindsay Graham (R-South Carolina) led a letter along with 20 Republican senators in an effort to postpone the NDAA until next year. The House and Senate typically debate their own versions of the bill before developing a compromise version, but Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York) decided to forgo formal Senate debate to conserve floor time. Democratic leaders are also trying to slip controversial permitting provisions developed by Senator Joe Manchin (D-West Virginia) into the latest version and lawmakers were maneuvering over the weekend to get the provisions included in the final version of the annual bill. The latest Senate version of the NDAA included numerous other energy and environment provisions, most notably billions for water infrastructure projects as part of the Water Resources Development Act authorization and huge funding for domestic uranium capabilities. The House NDAA, which passed that chamber in June, also included dozens of energy and environment amendments, but it is uncertain how many in either version survived conference negotiations. After House passage, and resolution of the troop vaccination issue, it is expect the Senate will take up and pass the legislation the week of December 12th.
Members of both chambers will also continue negotiations on government funding this week, as the December 16th deadline inches closer. Lawmakers are likely to extend that deadline to December 23rd with a short-term continuing resolution that keeps funding levels the same. And, if all else fails, it is possible lawmakers resort to a longer-term CR. If no agreement is reached, lawmakers could potentially use a continuing resolution to keep the government funded for an additional year.
For today, the Senate will convene at 3:00 P.M. and following Leader remarks, the Senate will proceed to Executive Session and resume consideration of the nomination of Frances Kay Behm to be US District Judge for the Eastern District of Michigan. At approximately 5:30 P.M., the Senate will vote on confirmation of the nomination of Doris L. Pryor to be United States Circuit Judge for the Seventh Circuit.
The House convened at 12:00 P.M. and will consider twelve bills listed for consideration under suspension of the Rules.
