Weekly Washington Outlook – June 16, 2014

What to Watch This Week:

Congress:

The House:

The House returns on Tuesday afternoon to vote on a series of bills to name post offices and other government facilities, under suspension of the rules:

1) H.R. 1458 – To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 1 Walter Hammond Place in Waldwick, New Jersey, as the “Staff Sergeant Joseph D’Augustine Post Office Building” (Sponsored by Rep. Scott Garrett / Oversight and Government Reform Committee)

2) H.R. 43 – Officer Tommy Decker Memorial Post Office (Sponsored by Rep. Michele Bachmann / Oversight and Government Reform Committee)

3) H.R. 1391 – The Lance Corporal Joshua B. McDaniels and Veterans Memorial Post Office Building, as amended (Sponsored by Rep. Steve Stivers / Oversight and Government Reform Committee)

4) H.R. 3765 – To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 198 Baker Street in Corning, New York, as the “Specialist Ryan P. Jayne Post Office Building” (Sponsored by Rep. Tom Reed / Oversight and Government Reform Committee)

5) H.R. 1707– To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 302 East Green Street in Champaign, Illinois, as the “James R. Burgess Jr. Post Office Building” (Sponsored by Rep. Rodney Davis / Oversight and Government Reform Committee)

6) H.R. 3472 – To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 13127 Broadway Street in Alden, New York, as the “Sergeant Brett E. Gornewicz Memorial Post Office” (Sponsored by Rep. Chris Collins / Oversight and Government Reform Committee)

7) H.R. 1865 – To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 35 Park Street in Danville, Vermont, as the “Thaddeus Stevens Post Office” (Sponsored by Rep. Peter Welch / Oversight and Government Reform Committee)

8) H.R. 2112– To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 787 State Route 17M in Monroe, New York, as the “National Clandestine Service of the Central Intelligence Agency NCS Officer Gregg David Wenzel Memorial Post Office” (Sponsored by Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney / Oversight and Government Reform Committee)

9) H.R. 1671 – To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 6937 Village Parkway in Dublin, California, as the “James ‘Jim’ Kohnen Post Office” (Sponsored by Rep. Eric Swalwell / Oversight and Government Reform Committee)

10) H.R. 3786 – To direct the Administrator of General Services, on behalf of the Archivist of the United States, to convey certain Federal property located in the State of Alaska to the Municipality of Anchorage, Alaska (Sponsored by Rep. Don Young / Transportation and Infrastructure Committee)

11) H.R. 3998 – Albuquerque, New Mexico, Federal Land Conveyance Act of 2014 (Sponsored by Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham / Transportation and Infrastructure Committee)

12) H.R. 3375– To designate the community-based outpatient clinic of the Department of Veterans Affairs to be constructed at 3141 Centennial Boulevard, Colorado Springs, Colorado, as the “PFC Floyd K. Lindstrom Department of Veterans Affairs Clinic” (Sponsored by Rep. Doug Lamborn / Veterans’ Affairs Committee)

13) H.R. 1216 – To designate the Department of Veterans Affairs Vet Center in Prescott, Arizona, as the Dr. Cameron McKinley Department of Veterans Affairs Veterans Center (Sponsored by Rep. Paul Gosar / Veterans’ Affairs Committee)

14) H.R. 4199– To name the Department of Veterans Affairs medical center in Waco, Texas, as the Doris Miller Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center (Sponsored by Rep. Bill Flores / Veterans’ Affairs Committee)

15) H.R. 3682 – To designate the community based outpatient clinic of the Department of Veterans Affairs located at 1961 Premier Drive in Mankato, Minnesota, as the Lyle C. Pearson Community Based Outpatient Clinic (Sponsored by Rep. Timothy Walz / Veterans’ Affairs Committee)

16) H.R. 4360 – To designate the facility of the United States Forest Service for the Grandfather Ranger District located at 109 Lawing Drive in Nebo, North Carolina, as the “Jason Crisp Forest Service Building” (Sponsored by Rep. Mark Meadows / Agriculture Committee)

17) S.Con.Res. 37 – Authorizing the use of the rotunda of the United States Capitol in Commemoration of the award of the Shimon Peres Congressional Gold Medal (Sponsored by Sen. Kelly Ayotte / House Administration Committee)

On Wednesday and the balance of the week, the House will consider the FY2015 spending bill for the Department of Defense, and bill (H.R. 4413) to reauthorize the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).  The House will also vote on a motion to go to conference and instructions for conferees to reconcile House and Senate versions of the Veterans’ Access to Care through Choice, Accountability, and Transparency Act of 2014.

The Senate:

The Senate on Monday evening will begin consideration of a number of judicial nominees.  On Tuesday, after these nominees are confirmed, the Senate will move to consider a package of three spending bills for FY2015: Agriculture, Commerce-Justice-Science (C-J-S), and Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development (THUD).

White House:

On Monday, the president and first lady will return to Washington from Palm Springs, Calif.  On Tuesday, President Obama will travel to TechShop Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh, Penn. to deliver remarks on the economy. Following this, he will travel to New York City to attend the DNC LGBT Gala and take part in another DNC Event. On Wednesday, the president will host the first ever White House Maker Faire and meet with students, entrepreneurs and everyday citizens who are using new tools and techniques to launch new businesses, learn vital skills in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM), and fuel the renaissance in American manufacturing.  On Thursday, President Obama will award Corporal William “Kyle” Carpenter, U.S. Marine Corps (Ret.), the Medal of Honor for conspicuous gallantry. On Friday, he will meet with Prime Minister John Key of New Zealand to discuss the Trans-Pacific Partnership, climate change, and military-to-military cooperation.  The two leaders are also expected to engage on the U.S. rebalance to the Asia-Pacific region, regional maritime security issues, and global security issues.

On Monday, Vice President Joe Biden travels to Natal, Brazil to attend the USA v. Ghana FIFA World Cup match. Later in the week, he will travel to Guatemala where he will meet with President Pérez Molina, and he will also meet with President Sánchez Cerén of El Salvador and the senior representative of the Honduran government, Coordinator General Jorge Ramón Hernández Alcerro, to address the rise and flow of unaccompanied children to the United States, to discuss our security and economic support for the countries of Central America, and more generally, to increase our cooperation in the region.

Also this week and beyond:

GOP Leadership Election – Following Majority Leader’s surprising loss in his primary against David Brat last week and subsequent resignation from House leadership, House members will vote to fill the Majority Leader and Whip positions.  Despite a late challenge from Congressman Raul Labrador (R-Idaho), current Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) is widely expected to easily win the Majority Leader position. The race to replace McCarthy as Whip, has become more contentious, however, with current Chief Deputy Whip Peter Roskam (R-Ill.) squaring off against Republican Study Committee Chairman Steve Scalise (R-La.) and Marlin Stutzman (R-Ind.).  While things remain in flux, Congressman Stutzman, best known previously for comments during the government shutdown, appears to have peeled votes away from Scalise as both are appealing to movement conservatives to make the case for a more right-wing voice in Leadership.  Roskam over the weekend attempted to address these concerns in a letter to colleagues.  Despite intense lobbying on all sides, for now, Scalise remains marginally ahead of Roskam with Stutzman gaining ground.

Immigration – With all focus on Leadership elections this week, the path forward for immigration reform in the House remains uncertain.  The House has a light agenda this week while Republicans sort out their internal affairs.  The House Judiciary Committee, however, is planning on moving forward with a hearing also on Thursday aimed to link immigration reform with the rise in unaccompanied minors.

Appropriations – The Senate this week will consider a “minibus,” three spending bills wrapped into one: Agriculture, C-J-S, and THUD.  After the end of the fiscal fights, Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) is eager to return to a more normalized appropriations process and move all 12 spending bills to the floor.  Across the Hill, the appropriations process is somewhat on hold until after Leadership elections.  While the House will vote on the Department of Defense spending bill this week, Leadership had to pull Agriculture off the floor last week and this is not likely to resurface any time soon.  Despite a commitment to return to “regular order” in the House with appropriations, the internal disarray makes next steps highly ambiguous.

Financial Regulations – Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Richard Cordray is scheduled to deliver his semi-annual report to Congress to the House Financial Services Committee on Wednesday. Director Cordray appeared in the Senate last week.

Workforce Investment Act – A compromise reauthorization of the Workforce Investment Act is scheduled for consideration in both the House and Senate during the June work period.

Nominations – The Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee will hold a hearing on Tuesday on San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro’s nomination to Secretary of Department of Housing and Urban Development.