This Week in Congress

Congress has 18 days left to pass nine appropriations bills to prevent a partial government shutdown.

The House considered five bills advanced by the Education and the Workforce Committee aimed at reforming employment regulations: H.R. 2262, which permits employers to conduct voluntary after-hours, job-related training sessions without compensating employees for attendance; H.R. 2270, which exempts child and dependent care benefits from overtime pay calculations; H.R. 2312, which revises the criteria for classifying tipped employees eligible for reduced minimum wage; H.R. 2988, which limits the use of ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) investing in private pension plans; and H.R. 4366, which facilitates businesses’ ability to avoid being classified as “joint employers.” Additionally, the House continued consideration of H.R. 4593, legislation proposing a new definition for showerheads pertaining to federal water pressure standards.

Additionally, the House has voted on legislation authorizing the Commerce Department to require export licenses for cloud-based technology transfers (H.R. 2683). Five bills from the Judiciary Committee were considered, including a Senate-approved measure to increase compensation for bankruptcy trustees (S. 3424). The House also addressed three bills aimed at combating child abuse (H.R. 6715, H.R. 6719, and H.R. 6732), as well as three measures originating from the Ways and Means Committee: a Senate-passed bill preventing Social Security payments to deceased individuals (S. 269), and two bills to extend duty-free trade preferences for nations in sub-Saharan Africa (H.R. 6500) and Haiti (H.R. 6504) for an additional three years, thereby reinstating programs that expired last September.

Finally, the House leadership is preparing to introduce the next appropriations minibus, consisting of two bills, for consideration on the floor.

Meanwhile, the Senate plans to begin consideration of the three-bill appropriations minibus that the House passed last week. The chamber will also proceed on the Venezuela war powers resolution, although it might not conclude consideration of the measure this week and it is likely to vote on the confirmation of administration nominees.