Summary
The House is in recess this week as the House Republicans hold their annual caucus policy retreat at President Trump’s Doral golf club in Miami. President Trump is expected to speak to the group this evening and Vice President Vance will appear tomorrow as the caucus attempts to finalize the blueprint for their reconciliation bill. They are under a strict timeline as Speaker Johnson has said he wants to pass a budget resolution by Feb. 24.
The Senate continues to work towards confirming President Trump’s cabinet nominees. Last week the Senate confirmed Senator Marco Rubio to the position of Secretary of State, Mr. Pete Hegseth to the position of Secretary of Defense, Governor Kristi Noem as Secretary of Homeland Security, and Mr. John Ratcliff to the position of CIA Director. This week the Senate is expected to vote on Mr. Scott Bessent for the position of Secretary of Treasury, followed by former Congressman Sean Duffy for Secretary of Transportation.
RFK Confirmation Hearings
The Senate Finance Committee and the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee are scheduled to hold nomination hearings for Robert Kennedy Jr. for HHS Secretary on Wednesday and Thursday respectively. While both Committees are holding hearings, only the Senate Finance Committee will vote on the nomination and potentially report the nomination to the full Senate for consideration. Several groups in opposition to RFK Jr.’s past positions questioning vaccine safety have launched advertising campaigns against the nominee and we expect the confirmation hearings to be lively and potentially contentious.
Other high profile nomination hearings this week include a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing for FBI Director nominee Kash Patel and a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing for Director of National Intelligence nominee former Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard.
FY 2025 Budget Talks
The House and Senate Appropriations Chairs and Ranking Members met last week and have started negotiating a top line funding amount. Appropriations leaders have said they hope to come to agreement this week on a top line so they can negotiate the 12 different bills prior to the current CR expiring on March 14. The omnibus package is a potential legislative vehicle for Congress to move both a disaster aid package for the California wildfires and the debt limit increase, but it will require bipartisan agreement.
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.