This Week on the Hill: Leaders Look to Clinch Budget Deal

White House and Congressional leaders are still working to finalize details of a sweeping budget deal that would address the debt ceiling and budgetary spending caps. Reports suggest that both sides are zeroing in on a deal that would include spending offsets that total less than the administration’s $150 billion demand, as well as a two-year suspension of the debt ceiling. Negotiators are still waiting for President Donald Trump to sign off on this latest proposal. If the president signs off on the deal, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) will look to muscle the package through the lower chamber prior to the six-week August recess.

On the floor this week, the House will consider a bill out of the Ways and Means Committee aimed at bolstering struggling union pensions. The Rehabilitation for Multiemployer Pensions Act would establish a new Pension Rehabilitation Administration and a related trust fund within the Treasury Department to make loans to multi-employer pension plans in critical and declining status. House Democrats have also queued up a border-related measure that would: (1) increase transparency and community engagement within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS); (2) provide independent oversight of border security activities; and (3) improve training for agents and officers of U.S. Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Meanwhile, the Senate will begin consideration of two key presidential nominees, including Mark Esper to be Secretary of Defense and Stephen Dickson to be Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).