09.15.2025 - DC Download

Sep 15

It’s a packed week in Washington. Lawmakers are racing to pass a stopgap bill to avert a shutdown, but a White House list of funding priorities and the exclusion of healthcare funding threaten to stall negotiations. In the House, contentious D.C crime bills are headed for a vote, while in the Senate, Republicans are using a controversial tactic to confirm dozens of Trump nominees in bulk with no Democratic input.

Read on for more of what’s happening this week.

They Work for You

No matter who you are or where you live, we all want a better future for our families and communities. But too often, our voices are drowned out by corporate lobbyists and wealthy special interests.

This new toolkit helps constituents connect with their elected officials, share their stories, and push for the policies they care about. When we come together as we have in the past, we can win the policies our families need—clean air and water, good union jobs, great schools, healthcare for all, paid leave, affordable housing, and more. From stopping the repeal of the ACA to winning more funding for food stamps, our voices can and do make a difference. We’re here to help make sure that everyone has a say in the policies that shape our lives.

Check out our guide here.

House

House Floor

The House will vote on 18 suspension bills from the Committees on Veterans’ Affairs, Small Business, Transportation and Infrastructure, and Financial Services. Suspension bills require a ⅔ majority to pass. For a list of all suspension bills being considered, click here.

This week the House will also consider the following bills, subject to a rule:

H.R. 1047 – Guaranteeing Reliability through the Interconnection of Dispatchable Power Act (Sponsored by Rep. Balderson / Energy & Commerce Committee) – This bill allows electric grid operators to submit proposals to prioritize connecting new power generation projects using “dispatchable,” or known, controllable energy sources ahead of intermittent sources like wind and solar power.

H.R. 3062 – Promoting Cross-border Energy Infrastructure Act (Sponsored by Rep. Fedorchak / Energy & Commerce Committee) This bill overhauls the process for approving or revoking permits for the construction and operation of energy infrastructure across the US-Canada or US-Mexico borders.

H.R. 3015 – National Coal Council Reestablishment Act (Sponsored by Rep. Rulli / Energy & Commerce Committee) This bill permanently reauthorizes the Energy Department’s advisory committee on the coal industry.

H.R. 4922 – DC CRIMES Act of 2025 (Sponsored by Rep. Donalds / Oversight & Government Reform Committee) This bill amends the DC Code to lower the eligibility age for youth offender treatment from under 25 to under 18, and bars courts from issuing sentences below statutory mandatory minimums for youth offenders.

H.R. 5143 – District of Columbia Policing Protection Act of 2025 (Sponsored by Rep. Higgins / Oversight & Government Reform Committee) This bill amends the DC Code to remove existing restrictions and allow police officers to engage in a vehicular pursuit of any suspect fleeing in a motor vehicle.

H.R. 5140 – To lower the age at which a minor may be tried as an adult for certain criminal offenses in the District of Columbia to 14 years of age. (Sponsored by Rep. Gill / Oversight & Government Reform Committee) This bill lowers the age at which minors in DC could be tried as an adult for certain offenses from 16 to 14.

H.R. 5125 – District of Columbia Judicial Nominations Reform Act of 2025 (Sponsored by Rep. Sessions / Oversight & Government Reform Committee) This bill gives the president sole authority to nominate judges to DC courts without input from local officials, as well as authority to designate chief judges for the Superior Court of the District of Columbia and the District of Columbia Court of Appeals.

House Committee Highlights

A full list of this week’s hearings and markups can be found here. Notable hearings and markups include:

Tuesday Hearings

No More Surprises: Reforming College Pricing for Students and Families (Committee on Education and Workforce)

From Protection to Persecution: EPA Enforcement Gone Rogue Under the Biden Administration (Committee on Oversight and Government Reform)

From Gridlock to Growth: Permitting Reform Under the Clean Air Act (Committee on Energy and Commerce)

Virtue Signaling vs. Vital Services: Where Tax-Exempt Hospitals are Spending Your Tax Dollars (Committee on Ways and Means)

Wednesday Hearings

Examining Policies to Enhance Seniors’ Access to Breakthrough Medical Technologies (Committee on Energy and Commerce)

Oversight of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (Committee on the Judiciary)

FBI Director, Kash Patel, is testifying

Opening Doors to Opportunity: The Promise of Expanded School Choice and Alternatives to Four-Year College Degrees (Committee on Government Oversight and Reform)

Streaming Success: Small Businesses in the Age of Digital Influence (Committee on Small Business)

Shaping Tomorrow: The Future of Artificial Intelligence (Committee on Government Oversight and Reform)

Thursday

AI at a Crossroads: A Nationwide Strategy or Californication? (Committee on the Judiciary)

Fraud in Focus: Exposing Financial Threats to American Families (Committee on Financial Services)

Oversight of the District of Columbia (Oversight and Government Reform)

DC Mayor, Muriel Bowser, is testifying
DC Council Chairman, Phil Mendelson, is testifying
DC Attorney General, Brian Schwalb, is testifying

Senate

Senate Floor

The Senate will vote on the following legislation:

S.377 (Sponsored by Senator John Thune) Authorizing the en bloc consideration in Executive Session of certain nominations on the Executive Calendar - This resolution allows various Presidential nominations to pass with a simple majority vote.

Nominations

The Senate this week has teed up final votes on the following nominee:

Stephen Miran, to be a Member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System

Senate Committee Highlights

Tuesday Hearings

Oversight of the Federal Bureau of Investigations (Judiciary)

FBI Director, Kash Patel, is testifying

Examining the Harm of AI Chatbots (Judiciary)

Wednesday Hearings

Another Biden Blunder: Missing Unaccompanied Alien Children and Criminal Sponsors (Judiciary)

Hearing to consider various ambassador nominations (Foreign Relations)

Prescription for Trouble: Drug Safety, Supply Chains, and the Risk to Aging Americans (Special Committee on Aging)

Restoring Trust Through Radical Transparency: Reviewing Recent Events at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Implications for Children’s Health (Health, Education, Labor, & Pensions)

Using the 504 Program to Build America’s Manufacturing Future (Small Business & Entrepreneurship)

Thursday Hearings

The State of K-12 Education (Health, Education, Labor, & Pensions)

Issues to Watch

Shutdown Showdown

Congress continues to barrel toward a government shutdown when the fiscal year ends on September 30. House GOP leaders are aiming to move a stopgap bill this week to keep the government funded through November 20, though the details of the continuing resolution (CR) have yet to be released. Republicans insist the bill will be “clean,” but Democrats are drawing a red line around preserving Affordable Care Act (ACA) tax credits that lower insurance premiums for people purchasing coverage through the ACA exchanges.

Last week, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries came out publicly to oppose a CR that fails to renew these tax credits that 22 million Americans rely on. The tax credits expire in December, but since insurance companies typically send out letters regarding premiums in October, Democrats are insisting that the issue be addressed in this month’s stopgap bill to prevent a cost spike.

Meanwhile, top appropriators are still wrangling over a White House list of “anomalies,” or additional priorities the White House wants funded under a CR. The wish list includes funding for boosted security for federal officials, SNAP, WIC, housing, nuclear submarine programs, and a DC budget rider that would allow the District to spend $1 billion of its own local revenue.

White House Anomalies List Kick-starts Stop Gap Funding Talks (Roll Call)
House GOP eyes stopgap into November to avert shutdown (The Hill)

Senate Nuclear Option

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) led an effort to change the Senate rules by invoking the “nuclear option” to confirm Trump nominees. The majority party can use this maneuver to change the chamber’s rules with a simple majority vote, instead of the usual 60. The Senate has recently been under pressure from the White House to increase the speed of presidential nominees’ confirmations.

As a result, last Thursday, the Senate voted 53-45 to create a new rule allowing the chamber to confirm large groups of certain nominees “en bloc”—meaning, with a single vote to approve the batch, rather than individual votes for each nominee. This significantly diminishes Democratic senators’ ability to slow down or block action on Trump nominees. Accordingly, the Senate has moved to hold an “en bloc vote” to confirm 48 executive and ambassador nominees this week.

While the tactic has been used before by both parties, deploying it now—even with the exclusion of judicial nominees—underscores a broader escalation in the Senate’s willingness to discard long-standing rules and norms at a moment of deep national strain and divide. While the GOP blames Democrats for the nominee backlog, the change constrains all senators’ opportunities to scrutinize nominees one by one and ensure their qualifications.

More on this:

Senate Republicans turn to ‘nuclear option’ to speed confirmation of Trump nominees (NPR)