While the House has recessed until after Labor Day, the Senate is back in session today through the end of this week, and perhaps beyond if necessary, pending progress on nominations. There are several moving parts this week as follows:
Nominations. The Senate will work through a list of nominations, cloture on which has been previously filed, including:
- David Wright (Nuclear Regulatory Commission)
- Earl Matthews (General Counsel, DoD)
- William Kimmitt (Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade)
- Susan Monarez (Director of the CDC)
- Sam Brown (Under Secretary of Veterans Affairs for Memorial Affairs)
The Senate GOP continues to be focused on processing as many nominations as possible prior to leaving for recess. To that end, we expect multiple votes on the foregoing begin this evening, with the cloture vote on Wright at 5:30, followed by a confirmation vote circa 8pm, followed by cloture on the Matthews nomination. In addition to the above list, there is a consent agreement in place to vote on the nomination of Emil Bove to be a Judge on the Third Circuit Court of Appeals this week at a time to be set by the Majority Leader in consultation with the Minority Leader.
Appropriations. At the same time, the Senate is tackling its first appropriations measure of the year, the FY26 Military Construction, Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies bill. To this, Senate Leaders hope to add both the FY26 Agriculture Appropriations bill as well as the FY26 Commerce-Justice-State Appropriations bill.
Despite continued consternation from Senate Democrats about the $9 billion FY25 recissions package signed into law last week, each of these measures was reported by the Appropriations Committee with overwhelming majority votes, and the Senate voted to proceed to consideration of MilCon-VA by a vote of 90-8. Note, however, that it will require consent to add either Ag and/or CJS to the underlying MilCon bill; previously Leader Thune had hoped to add Legislative Branch appropriations, but Sen. Kennedy objected. Failing consent, the Senate could attempt to suspend application of Rule XVI (2/3 supermajority vote required) but there has been resistance to utilizing that procedure in the recent past.
While Senate passage of MilCon (likely with Ag and CJS attached to it) will mark a measure of progress in the regular order appropriations process, it remains the case that September will be focused largely on enacting a Continuing Resolution and avoiding a government shutdown.
National Defense Authorization Act. Leader Thune has also stated that he intends to process the annual NDAA bill when the Senate returns after Labor Day. To that end, we anticipate that the Chair and Ranking Member of the Senate Armed Services Committee will ask that Senators begin submitting amendments to the NDAA this week, in anticipation of a floor process in early September. This will give Chairman Wicker and Ranking Member Reed some time in August to begin assembling a managers’ package that will encompass additional Member input and priorities.
Additional Nominations. While the Senate has been confirming Executive Branch nominations at a fairly rapid clip, the Executive Calendar continues to grow lengthier, with more than 140 nominations waiting to be voted on. There is widespread interest among Republican members as well as the White House in expediting votes on a number of these nominees prior to leaving for August recess. Thus far, Senate Democrats have not allowed any nominations to circumvent the time-consuming cloture process — nor has President Trump nominated any Democrats to boards and commissions. We will see as we get closer to the end of the week whether an accommodation can be worked out; if not, Leader Thune has threatened possible weekend work, or beyond.
Committee Work. Off the floor, several Senate committees will hold significant markups, including:
- Monday – Senate Agriculture: committee vote on Brian Quintenz for Chairman of the CFTC
- Tuesday – Senate Banking Committee marks up the ROAD to Housing Act, bipartisan housing legislation, and the first major housing bipartisan markup in several years
- Wednesday – Senate HELP marks up ESOP legislation
- Thursday – Senate Appropriations Committee marks up FY 26 Defense and Labor-HHS Appropriations bills
OUTLOOK/ANALYSIS. The Senate has accomplished a lot over the first 6 months of the Trump Administration, from working to enact “OB3,” to a year-long spending bill, to overturning a long list of late-stage Biden regulations, to regulating stable coins and more, all the while plugging away at an ever-growing list of nominations and beginning the annual appropriations process.
When the Senate returns in September, Senate Republicans will need to shift focus to completing work on NDAA so as to ensure that legislation can be enacted later in the year, while working on the next big challenge, which is averting a potential government shutdown come Oct. 1. In the meantime, Members have a list of accomplishments to tout when they return home for August, but in order to do so they must first find a way to confirm a requisite number of nominations, a task made more difficult than usual given the lack of Democratic nominees sent up by the Administration.
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