HEADLINES
Below is this week’s congressional update by BakerHostetler’s Federal Policy team. We’ll continue to post in weeks when both chambers of Congress are in session.
- The 118th Congress is up and running for the first full week that both chambers are in session.
- The House will take up legislation that would prohibit the Secretary of Energy from tapping the Strategic Petroleum Reserve for nonemergency reasons until establishing a plan to increase oil and gas production on federal lands and waters.
- President Joe Biden will host a reception for new members of Congress, as well as a reception to celebrate the Lunar New Year.
HOUSE
- The House will hold floor votes tomorrow through Friday, including on the Strategic Production Response Act.
- House committees have not yet scheduled any hearings, as they are not yet fully constituted after operations were delayed by the drawn-out speaker election.
- Republicans have completed their committee assignments, while Democrats plan to do so this week.
SENATE
- The Senate will return to the floor to vote on Biden’s nominees.
- The Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing on promoting competition and protecting consumers in live entertainment, examining repeated problems with ticket sales by Ticketmaster.
- Senate committee organization and rosters also still must be finalized, as the chamber has been out of session since Jan. 3.
- Any additional committee meetings can be found here.
WHITE HOUSE
- The White House is working to mitigate a growing scandal over Biden’s handling of classified documents.
- Tomorrow, the president will meet with Democratic congressional leadership before hosting a White House reception for new members of Congress.
- Thursday, Biden will speak on the economy and host a Lunar New Year reception at the White House.