Washington Insider: Capitol Hill's Summer Agenda

The White House announced new tariffs on steel and aluminum from Canada, Mexico and the European Union (EU) earlier this week, sharply increasing trade and economic policy uncertainty just ahead of the fall elections. At the same time, House and Senate Republican leaders are getting ready to ramp up work on spending, farm, and infrastructure bills, Bloomberg is reporting this week.House Speaker Paul Ryan R-Wis., and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell R-Ky., also announced plans to swiftly bring to the floor the first of this year’s batch of appropriations bills as part of a strategy to avoid a showdown over federal spending just as voters are tuning in on the election.While the administration’s trade decisions are likely to cause at least some disruptions of plans and schedules, the first three-bill “minibus” – bundling the Military Construction-Veterans, Energy-Water and Legislative Branch measures – is set to hit the House floor when lawmakers return next week. And McConnell has promised to bring a “bundled” bill up in the Senate later in the month.Leaders of both chambers also want to make time for a reauthorization of the Water Resources Development Act, which Bloomberg says would let incumbents brag to voters about voting for the water-project portion of the infrastructure investment promoted by President Trump.They’ll also need to schedule action on a renewal of the National Flood Insurance Program before it expires July 31, just as the hurricane season starts anew.Beyond that, there is considerable uncertainty about the summer work periods—including what legislation will make the cut, and whether the leaders will buckle to a “coequal branch” of government by giving in to Trump on trimming the August recess, as well as possible fights over trade issues, Bloomberg said.Speaker Ryan is regrouping after his chamber rejected a bill to reauthorize farm programs and food stamps at a 10-year cost of $867 billion. While Democrats opposed expanded work requirements for the program some Republicans also withheld support in an effort to force action to toughen immigration enforcement.The House subsequently agreed to a plan to vote this month on a to-be-determined plan for addressing undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as children, and then reconsider the farm bill in late June, likely on June 22.Republicans are trying to “find where the consensus sweet spot is” on immigration, Ryan said.Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Richard Shelby, R., Ala., is the only chairman who so far has won Majority Leader McConnell’s public commitment to have a bill on the floor in June. “We’re actually getting close to a process that both sides will be comfortable with in the future,” McConnell said at the panel’s first markup.Other chairmen are still jockeying for a place in line for their bills.“We’re all trying to get on the calendar and right now we just don’t know how it’s going to play out,” said Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., chairman of the Republican Conference. Thune and other lawmakers said there’s pressure to bring the Senate’s version of the farm bill to the floor as soon as possible.So, we will see. It seems clear that the political environment in Washington is as toxic as ever—and, these bills include numerous explosive issues — and the proximity of the fall elections increases the stakes enormously. These clearly are debates producers should watch very closely as they emerge, Washington Insider believes.