After an eventual two-week Easter Recess, the Senate returns to session this evening, and the House joins tomorrow.  The news cycle during the recess was primarily dominated by the Iran War and the resulting economic and diplomatic fallout. 

The District of Columbia retreated indoors today when threatened with heavy rains and tornado-like winds. Such was the level of concern that the House cancelled its Monday vote series. The House is in after a week-long recess; the Senate returns for another week. 

It is a fairly quiet week legislatively, as the State of the Union slows activity on the House floor due to added security measures.

The focus this week continues to be on DHS funding.  Last week, Congress passed appropriations bills for all other agencies, with an agreement to work on an agreement on changes to ICE procedures. That deadline expires on Friday, so we expect a good amount of back-and-forth this week. 

We are looking forward to the Winter Olympics, beginning this Friday, February 6th. If you are looking for a thrill, tune in to the biathlon—any event, really, but the relay is particularly exciting.

The House Financial Services Committee will hold its first markup of 2026 this Thursday, with measures related financial reporting, artificial intelligence, bank tailoring, and terrorism risk insurance reauthorization.

We are returning after the holiday break and first week of session for both chambers. Last week, the House advanced a partial funding package that will be considered in the Senate. 

The US Senate will take up the confirmation of 97 nominees under the new Senate rule that permits considering nominees together rather than individually. Included in this group will be Travis Hill to be Chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and Michael Selig to be the Chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

Due to the angle of the sun in relation to the Earth, it is colder in December than in March when the spring equinox occurs. Regardless, it looks and feels like winter here in the nation’s capital.

The government is reopened and the House and Senate are back to work, at least until Thursday. The House and Senate are in recess next week for Thanksgiving and return on December 2. 

Last night, the Senate voted 60-40 to take up a package that would reopen the federal government and fund parts of the government for FY26. Included in the package are three of the 12 annual appropriations bills, including Military Construction and Veteran Affairs, Agriculture, and the Legislative Branch.

The federal government has entered the second month of FY 2026 without a passing any appropriations bills so the government remains closed for the most part. If the shutdown continues until Wednesday, which it most certainly will, we will break the record for the longest federal government shutdown.

Tomorrow night's new moon should provide a dark sky for viewing two comets, Lemmon and SWAN, which will be closest to the earth in our lifetimes. Commet Lemmon will not make its way around to earth for another 1300 years and Comet SWAN for another 700 years.

Tonight is the Harvest Moon and the first of three Super Moons this year. It is the Harvest moon because it is the full moon closest to the autumnal equinox. 

With the end of FY 2025 looming on Tuesday at midnight, all indications are that Congress will fail to pass a Continuing Resolution (CR) to keep the government funding into FY 2026. 

Today marks the end of summer with the autumnal equinox.  I am always a bit melancholy about the end of summer; fall is also a lovely if you ignore the shorter days and the ubiquitous pumpkin spice.  

In DC, this week has been dubbed “Crypto Week” with multiple digital asset bills up for floor consideration in the House. We will be keeping an eye on those vote tallies.

The Senate is in session this week, but the House has canceled votes after staying in D.C. last week to pass the reconciliation package. 

Last week, several committees in the House marked up their portions of the reconciliation bill, marking another step in the process toward completion of President Trump’s signature legislative effort. 

This is week two of a three-week work period ahead of the Easter recess, and both Chambers are feeling urgency to act on a unified budget resolution.  In addition, the Trump administration plans to unveil a new, expansive set of tariffs on Wednesday.

This week will be focused on government funding, as the March 14th shutdown deadline looms.  Over the weekend, Congressional Republicans released text for a continuing resolution that would extend funding through September.