Today on the Hill: Legislative Approps Bill Pulled from First ‘Minibus’ Package

House Democrats have reduced the first “minibus” from five bills to four, pulling the spending bill for the Legislative Branch from the package late yesterday. The spending bill was pulled amid backlash from lawmakers over a provision that would give lawmakers a pay raise for the first time since 2009 — an issue that has divided rank-and-file and swing-district members. House Rules Committee Chairman James McGovern (D-MA) stated it’s possible that Legislative Branch appropriations could be added to the second minibus (H.R. 3055) slated for consideration next week, which includes the Agriculture, Commerce-Justice-Science (CJS), Interior-Environment, Military Construction-Veterans’ Affairs (VA) and Transportation-Housing and Urban Development (HUD) spending bills.

On the floor, the House will vote on a resolution (H.Res. 340) that would authorize the House Judiciary Committee to pursue civil lawsuits to enforce its subpoenas for information related to former Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s Report on the Investigation into Russian Interference in the 2016 Presidential Election. Meanwhile, the Senate will resume consideration of pending presidential nominees, starting with the nomination of Sarah Daggett Morrison to be a District Judge for the Southern District of Ohio. A full list of nominations up for consideration in the upper chamber can be accessed here.