Today on Capitol Hill: 1 Senate floor votes; 20 committee meetings; 2 amendments submitted. Full breakdown below.
🗳 Senate Floor Votes
✅ Passed — 59 Yeas, 39 Nays
Robert Cekada, of Florida, to be Director, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives
🏢 Committee Activity
Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry (Senate): Meeting — Business meeting to consider the nomination of Glen Smith, of Iowa, to be Under Secretary of Agriculture for Rural Development.
Senate Veterans' Affairs (Senate): Meeting — S 1127, S 3000, S 3098 — Hearings to examine S.749, to amend title 38, United States Code, to extend increased dependency and indemnity compensation paid to surviving spouses of veterans who die from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, regardless of how long the veterans had such disease prior to death, S.1127, to amend title 38, United States Code, to expand eligibility for memorial headstones and markers furnished by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to certain individuals who died before November 11, 1998, S.3000, to require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to identify and report instances of disability benefit questionnaire fraud, S.3098, to amend title 38, United States Code, to require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to publish information about conditions and cohorts the Department of Veterans Affairs is considering for purposes of establishing or removing presumptions of service connection regarding toxic exposure, S.3170, to direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to implement an automated system with callback functionality for each customer service telephone line of the Department of Veterans Affairs, S.3286, to amend title 38, United States Code, to improve processes relating to appeals of decisions regarding claims for benefits under the laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, S.3311, to amend title 38, United States Code, to eliminate conflicts of interest in peer review for quality management of care conducted by the Veterans Health Administration, S.3395, to expand the telescreening mammography pilot program of the Department of Veterans Affairs, S.3591, to require the Secretary of Labor, in coordination with the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, to develop a notice detailing benefits available to veterans, and to require employers to display such notice, S.3647, to require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish a program to address bowel and bladder care needs for veterans with spinal cord injuries and disorders, S.3653, to require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to carry out efforts to inform veterans of their rights with regards to the receipt of health care, benefits, and services furnished under provisions of law administered by the Secretary, S.3706, to amend title 38, United States Code, to authorize the provision of produce prescriptions to veterans, S.3726, to amend title 38, United States Code, to require the President to define veteran success and to develop and implement a National Veterans Strategy, S.3988, to amend title 38, United States Code, to direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to offer annual preventative health evaluations to veterans with a spinal cord injury or disorder and increase access to assistive technologies, S.3992, to amend title 10, United States Code, to codify authority for the Joint Medical Facility Fund of the Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs, S.3993, to amend title 38, United States Code, and title 10, United States Code, to eliminate those provisions relating to veterans educational assistance that disadvantage eligible individuals who choose to pursue programs of apprenticeship or other on-job training instead of a four-year college degree, S.3999, to require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to ensure that women veterans may schedule appointments for women's specialty care under the laws administered by the Secretary without requiring a referral, S.4043, to amend title 38, United States Code, to make permanent the authority of the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to provide treatment and rehabilitation for seriously mentally ill and homeless veterans, S.4108, to amend title 38, United States Code, to increase burial and funeral expenses paid by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs in the case of death from a service-connected disability, S.4140, to amend title 38, United States Code, to improve the Department of Veterans Affairs schedule for rating disabilities, S.4197, to require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish a program under which the Secretary shall award grants to certain State entities to expand access to structured outdoor recreation programs for veterans that enhance veteran wellness, S.4220, to amend title 38, United States Code, to establish within the Veterans Health Administration an Office of Novel Therapeutics, an original bill entitled "Optimizing the VA Workforce for Veterans Act", an original bill entitled "Veteran Acquired Brain Injury Caregiving Act", and an original bill entitled "Maternal Health for Veterans Act".
Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development (Senate): Meeting — Hearings to examine proposed budget estimates and justification for fiscal year 2027 for the National Nuclear Security Administration.
Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship (Senate): Meeting — Hearings to examine the American Entrepreneurship for 250 Years: Driving Innovation, Growth, and Opportunity.
Senate Environment and Public Works (Senate): Meeting — Hearings to examine the President's proposed budget request for fiscal year 2027 for the Environmental Protection Agency.
Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (Senate): Meeting — Hearings to examine Biden Health Officials and COVID-19 Vaccine Safety Signals.
House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health (House): Meeting — HR 3722, HR 8385, HR 4306 — Healthier America: Legislative Proposals on the Regulation and Oversight of Food
(Committee) (House): Meeting — Legislative Hearing on 4 Bills:
•H.R. 7287 (Rep. Johnson of SD), “Lewis and Clark Regional Water System Expansion Feasibility Study Act”
•H.R. 7331 (Rep. Johnson of SD), “Dakota Mainstem Water Supply Project Feasibility Study Act”
•H.R. 7515 (Rep. Strickland), To direct the Secretary of the Interior to convey to the Nisqually Indian Tribe the Clear Creek Hatchery infrastructure
•H.R. 8259 (Rep. Bentz), “Reclamation Project Consultation Improvement Act of 2026”
House Foreign Affairs Oversight and Intelligence Subcommittee (House): Meeting — U.S. Accountability at the United Nations:
Challenges and Opportunities for Reform
Senate Judiciary (Senate): Meeting — Hearings to examine the nominations of Michael J. Hendershot, to be United States District Judge for the Northern District of Ohio, Jeffrey T. Kuntz, to be United States District Judge for the Southern District of Florida, Arthur Roberts Jones and John George Edward Marck, each to be a United States District Judge for the Southern District of Texas.
House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Energy (House): Meeting — HR 6633, HR 6336, HR 6529 — AI and the Grid: Meeting Growing Power Demand While Protecting Ratepayers
House Education and Workforce Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Development (House): Meeting — "Speech or Silence? The Future of the First Amendment in Higher Education"
House Oversight and Government Reform (House): Meeting — HR 8312, HR 8340, HR 8467 — the full Committee to consider the following:
1) H.R. 8463, Pre-Payment Fraud Prevention and Treasury Data Access Act;
2) H.R. 8464, Stopping Fraudulent Payments Act;
3) H.R. 8312, Fraud Prevention and Accountability Act;
4) H.R. 8467, Zeroing Out Monetary Benefits Improperly Expended Act;
5) H.R. 8428, Federal Fraud Prevention Workforce Training Act;
6) H.R. 8466, Taxpayer Resources Used in Emergencies Accountability Act;
7) H.R. 8340, Taxpayer Funds Oversight and Accountability Act;
8) H.R. 1755, Timely and Accurate Benefits Act;
9) H.R. 8107, Government Audit and Accountability of Federally Funded State-Administered Programs Act;
10) Several postal naming measures.
House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources (House): Meeting — Oversight hearing titled "Powering the 21st Century with American Copper."
House Ways and Means (House): Meeting — H.R. 7432, H.R. 7463, H.R. 7343, H.R. 7529, H.R. 7655, H.R. 7995
House Science, Space, and Technology (House): Meeting — HR 8462 — Full Committee Markup
House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Europe (House): Meeting — Orbits of Influence: Emerging Threats to U.S. Space Security and Foreign Policy Implications
House Armed Services (House): Meeting — Department of Defense Fiscal Year 2027 Budget Request
Homeland Security Subcommittee on Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Protection (House): Meeting — “Data Centers, Telecommunications Networks, and Space-Based Systems: Modernizing DHS’s SRMA Role for the Communications and IT Sectors”
Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs (Senate): Meeting — Business meeting to consider the nomination of Kevin Warsh, of Florida, to be a Member and Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.
📝 Amendments Submitted Today
SAMDT 5436
SAMDT 5437
To clarify the provision of excess spare parts to the Commission.
📰 In the News
• Congress Races to Renew Surveillance Law After House Approval – The New York Times
• House advances 3-year extension of federal surveillance program – NPR
• Tracking the Battle to Reshape Congress for the Midterms – The New York Times
• King Charles in America: From White House tea to Congress address – Reuters
• Opinion | The great Black GOP exit from Congress – The Washington Post
📊 See how every member voted on ThePolitibase. Data from Congress.gov, senate.gov, clerk.house.gov, and the FEC.