Summary
The House and Senate are both in session this week as the Senate works to continue confirming President Trump’s cabinet nominees. The Senate is expected to vote to confirm five nominees throughout the week including: Chris Wright as Secretary of the Department of Energy; Pam Bondi as Attorney General; Doug Collins as Secretary of Veterans Affairs; Eric Turner as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development; and Russell Voght as OMB Director.
Confirmation Hearings
Robert Kennedy Jr, President Trump’s nominee for HHS Secretary, faced two contentious hearings in the Senate Finance Committee and HELP Committee last week (see summaries here and here). His nomination will be voted on in the Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday. All eyes are on Senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA) who sits on the Finance Committee and chairs the HELP Committee to cast the deciding vote. Senator Cassidy expressed serious reservations about RFK Jr.’s position on vaccinations during the hearings, and was reported to have spoken with RFK, Jr. over the weekend.
On Wednesday, the Senate Commerce committee is scheduled to vote on the nomination of Howard Lutnick to be Secretary of Commerce.
Budget Reconciliation
The House Budget Committee was expected to start marking up the FY 2026 Budget Resolution this week, which is the first step in the reconciliation process. However, Republicans are far from united in their approach, or in the details of the package. Members of the House Freedom Caucus are still pushing for two reconciliation bills, rather than one big package, and they continue to insist that the level of spending cuts that House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) laid out at the Republican Caucus Retreat last week is inadequate. The framework included $300 billion in cuts, but a $325 billion increase in spending to accommodate President Trump’s requested tax cuts and increases for military spending. Meanwhile, Senate Budget Committee Chairman Lindsay Graham (R-SC) has indicated he is ready to go forward with the Senate Budget resolution and favors a two-bill approach. The Senate has been waiting for the House to start the process first, but that tactic may change if the House cannot come to an agreement. Bottom line is the aggressive schedule laid out by Speaker Johnson is already in jeopardy.=
Regulatory Update
President Trump issued a memorandum directing all executive departments and agencies to implement a regulatory freeze in which no rules may be issued or proposed until the agency head appointed or designated by the President after noon on January 20, 2025, reviews and approves the rule. The memorandum also directs federal agencies to consider postponing for 60 days the effective date of any rules that have been published in the Federal Register, or any rules that have been issued but have not taken effect. During this 60-day period, federal agencies could consider further delaying the rule beyond the initial 60 days. This memorandum creates uncertainty about the timing and applicability of rules.