After a sleepy couple of weeks, by Washington standards, it’s back to business as usual with Congress back in town. Down Pennsylvania Avenue, President Joe Biden will continue his rapid rollout of legislation, including his recent FY2022 budget proposal. The Washington Week Ahead includes lots of legislation, more political wrangling and even some international insight.
BACK IN TOWN
Both chambers of Congress will stream back into the nation’s capital with very different priorities. The House of Representatives will focus on a series of workforce legislation, including the Paycheck Fairness Act. It will also begin crafting its version of the president’s $2.3T infrastructure plan. Meanwhile, in the Senate, it will be all about how to best use new budget reconciliation rules to capitalize on what the slim Democratic majority is able to accomplish.
BUDGETING WITH BIDEN
Biden unveiled his $1.52T budget and it’s full of line items focused on education, health care, climate change and housing. But as they will so often remind us, Congress has the power of the purse, and legislators write and pass the budget. Usually the final budget looks significantly different than the president's ask, but this time the Democratic government trifecta means that there’s more of a chance to work together.
TRACKING THREATS
It has been two years since the Senate Intelligence Committee heard from the directors of the intelligence community. It has been even longer for the House Intelligence Committee: nearly six years. That's about to change. Both the Senate and the House will host the new heads of the intelligence community to discuss global threats. The routine briefing fell to the wayside during the Trump administration, faced with a president skeptical of the government’s intelligence-gathering capabilities. So this hearing will put the spotlight on Biden’s intel chiefs, Director National Intelligence Avril Haines and CIA Director William Burns. Both will face tough questioning on both sides of Capitol Hill and provide insight into just what threats we face on a global scale.
SUPREME COMMISSION
As a Friday surprise, Biden announced a commission to study the current Supreme Court and make assessments. The 36-member body will be appointed by Biden and should release a report shortly after its first meeting. This fulfills Biden’s campaign promise to look into whether today’s Supreme Court truly represents the interests and needs of the American people.
