Weekly Washington Outlook — June 27, 2016

What to Watch This Week:

 Congress:

House:

The House is in recess, returning Tuesday, July 5.

Senate:

On Monday, the Senate will consider the nomination of Robert F Rossiter to be U.S. District Judge for the district of Nebraska. On Tuesday, Majority Leader McConnell has scheduled a vote on a vehicle for funding to combat the Zika virus. Later in the week, the Senate will resume consideration of the Commerce-Justice-Science appropriations bill and could vote on a gun-related provision sponsored by Senator Collins (R-Maine). The Senate also plans to vote on PROMESA, House-backed legislation to help Puerto Rico’s financial and humanitarian crisis.

White House:

On Monday, the president will welcome the 2015 WNBA Champions, the Minnesota Lynx, to honor the team and their WNBA championship victory.

On Tuesday, President Obama will attend meetings at the White House.

On Wednesday, the president will travel to Ottawa, Canada for the North American Leaders’ Summit, where he will meet with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada and President Enrique Peña Nieto of Mexico. While in Ottawa, President Obama will also address a joint session of the Parliament of Canada.

On Thursday and Friday, the president will attend meetings at the White House.

Also this Week:

Puerto Rico – Following public calls from Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew, Puerto Rican Resident Commissioner Pedro Pierluisi, and others, the Senate will likely vote this week on PROMESA, legislation to address Puerto Rico’s financial and humanitarian crisis. The measure passed the House last month with broad bipartisan support, but Senate Democrats remain concerned with the structure of an authorized oversight board and its scope of authority. Many also object to several labor-related provisions that were critical to garner Republican support in the House. In particular, Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ) has announced he will oppose the bill unless there is an opportunity to vote on amendments. The island has a $2 billion debt payment due on Friday, which Puerto Rican Governor Alejandro Garcia Padilla warned would go unpaid unless PROMESA is signed into law this week.

Appropriations – The Senate will resume consideration of H.R. 2578, the Commerce-Justice-Science spending bill.  Senate Democrats may try to vote on an amendment sponsored by Sen. Collins that would block gun sales to individuals on the “no-fly” list.  Senator McConnell allowed a procedural vote on the amendment last week to test its support; while it received a majority, fewer than 60 Senators (the number needed to overcome a filibuster) voted in favor.

Education – The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee will hear from Education Secretary John King Jr. this Wednesday about implementation of the Every Student Succeeds Act.

Health – The Senate will consider the legislative vehicle for a $1.1 billion “compromise” to combat the Zika virus. To pay for the new spending, the legislation would cut $543 million from an Affordable Care Act fund to help territories set up health-care exchanges, $107 million from funding originally slated to combat Ebola, and $100 million from the Department of Health and Human Services contingency fund. The provision passed the House last week in the midst of Democrats’ “sit-in” to force a vote on gun control and Senate Democrats are widely expected to try to block the measure over objections to the offsets.