Today on the Hill: House Continues Work on Four-Bill Minibus

House lawmakers are set for another marathon day on the floor as members look to clear over 200 amendments to the four-bill appropriations “minibus.” The lower chamber held more than two-dozen roll call votes on amendments (batch 1; batch 2) well past midnight yesterday after House conservatives prevented expedited voice-vote adoption by requesting a recorded vote on every amendment. As of this morning, GOP lawmakers are continuing to request roll call votes on amendments being brought to the floor, a move that could push final consideration of the Labor-Health and Human Services-Education, Energy and Water Development, Defense, and State-Foreign Operations package into next week.

Among the key amendments that have been passed, lawmakers approved an amendment that would strike down a longtime ban on federal funding for a national patient identifier. The House also voted on party lines to ban funding for the Trump administration's effort to expand the availability of short-term health insurance plans. Meanwhile, House Democrats defeated GOP efforts to protect the administration’s rules on family planning and religious protections for health care workers.

In the upper chamber, Senators will hold procedural votes to discharge a pair of resolutions that would block the sale of arms to Bahrain (S.J.Res. 20) and Qatar (S.J.Res. 26). Following these votes, the Senate will resume consideration of pending presidential nominees, starting with the nomination of Edward Crawford to be Ambassador to Ireland.