Capitol Hill Briefing: May 20, 2026

Today on Capitol Hill: 1 Senate floor votes; 16 committee meetings; 1 amendments submitted. Full breakdown below.

🗳 Senate Floor Votes

✅ Passed — 52 Yeas, 47 Nays
Evan Rikhye, of the Virgin Islands, to be Judge for the District Court of the Virgin Islands for a term of ten years

🏢 Committee Activity

Senate Veterans' Affairs (Senate): Meeting — Hearings to examine the President's proposed budget request for fiscal year 2027 and 2028 advance appropriations requests for the Department of Veterans Affairs.

House Armed Services Subcommittee on Seapower and Projection Forces (House): Meeting — Department of the Navy Fiscal Year 2027 Budget Request for Seapower and Projection Forces

Senate Armed Services (Senate): Meeting — To receive a closed briefing on anomalous health incidents.

Senate Aging (Special) (Senate): Meeting — Hearings to examine preventing falls and preserving independence, focusing on technology, community programs, and innovation in senior safety.

Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development (Senate): Meeting — Hearings to examine proposed budget estimates and justification for fiscal year 2027 for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Bureau of Reclamation.

Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship (Senate): Meeting — Hearings to examine blowing the whistle, focusing on inside the grift that keeps giving.

Senate Indian Affairs (Senate): Meeting — HR 2302, HR 2388, HR 3620 — Business meeting to consider S.236, to amend the Act of August 9, 1955 (commonly known as the "Long-Term Leasing Act"), to authorize leases of up to 99 years for land in the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe Reservation and land held in trust for the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah), S.1513, to take certain Federal land in the State of Washington into trust for the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe, S.2098, to provide for the conveyance of certain property to the Southcentral Foundation located in Anchorage, Alaska, S.2735, to take certain Federal land in the State of California into trust for the benefit of the Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians, H.R.681, to amend the Act of August 9, 1955 (commonly known as the "Long-Term Leasing Act"), to authorize leases of up to 99 years for land held in trust for the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe and the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah), H.R.2302, to take certain Federal land in the State of California into trust for the benefit of the Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians, H.R.2388, to take certain Federal land in the State of Washington into trust for the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe, and H.R.3620, to provide for the conveyance of certain property to the Southcentral Foundation located in Anchorage, Alaska; to be immediately followed by an oversight hearing to examine the President's proposed budget request for fiscal year 2027 for the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Indian Health Service.

House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations (House): Meeting — Oversight Hearing titled “The Profit Engine Driving Environmental Nonprofits.”

Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Personnel (Senate): Meeting — Hearings to examine the Department of Defense personnel policies and programs in review of the Defense Authorization Request for Fiscal Year 2027 and the Future Years Defense Program.

House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations (House): Meeting — Corrosion, Collapse, and Clean-Up: Examining the Potomac Interceptor Collapse.

House Education and Workforce Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions (House): Meeting — "Bad Medicine: Politics, Unions, and Antisemitism in Health Care"

House Veterans' Affairs (House): Meeting — “Legislative Hearing on: H.R: 6733, The “VISN Reform Act of 2025”; H.R.6580, The “VA National Formulary Act of 2025”; H.R.6599, The “Leasing and Infrastructure Act of 2025”; H.R.6583, The “Research Reform Act of 2025”; H.R. 6549, The “VA Contracting and Procurement Act”; H.R.6740, The “VA TRUST Act”; H.R. 6764, The “Veterans Affairs Advisory Committee Oversight Act of 2025”; H.R. 6904, The “Veterans Readiness and Employment Improvement and Accountability Act of 2025”; H.R. 6843, The “Establishing the Veterans Economic Opportunity and Transition Administration Act of 2025”; H.R. 6833, The “Acquisition Reform and Cost Assessment Act of 2025”; H.R.2303, The “Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney Retention and Backlog Reduction Act”; H.R.210, The “Dental Care for Veterans Act”; H.R.3183, The “SAFE STEPS for Veterans Act of 2025”; H.R.5203, “To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to update directives of the Department of Veterans Affairs regarding the management of acute sexual assault, and for other purposes; H.R.4114, The “EVEST Act”; H.R.3869, The “Every Veteran Housed Act”; H.R.2722, The “VA Funding and Workforce Protection Act”; H.R.1391, The “Student Veteran Benefit Restoration Act of 2025”; H.R.8044, The “Get Justice-Involved Veterans BACK HOME Act”; Discussion Draft: The “Toxic Exposure Advisory Committee Establishment Act”; Discussion Draft, “To amend title 38, United States Code, to establish the Advisory Committee on Toxic Exposure of the Department of Veterans Affairs”; Discussion Draft: The “Honor Vets Act”; Discussion Draft, “To provide for the modernization of the electronic health record system and other health information technology activities and systems of the Department of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes.”

Senate Judiciary (Senate): Meeting — Hearings to examine the nominations of Benjamin M. Flowers, of Ohio, to be United States Circuit Judge for the Sixth Circuit, Matthew A. Schwartz, of New York, to be United States Circuit Judge for the Second Circuit, and Don Richard Berthiaume, Jr., of Virginia, to be Inspector General, Department of Justice.

House Science, Space, and Technology (House): Meeting — HR 8790, HR 8748, HR 7129 — Full Committee Markup

House Judiciary (House): Meeting — “The Southern Poverty Law Center: Manufacturing Hate”

House Oversight and Government Reform (House): Meeting — HR 8840, HR 4662, HR 3350 — the full Committee to consider the following:

5) Several postal naming measures.

📝 Amendments Submitted Today

HAMDT 219
An amendment numbered 50 printed in Part B of House Report 119-648 to redirect $481,832,000 from the NATO Security Investment Program to Military Construction Defense-Wide.

📰 In the News

• Niskanen Center statement on House passage of the Amended 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act – Niskanen Center

• The Race for Congress: Latest 2026 Polls – The New York Times

• Krishnamoorthi Denounces Proposed Constitutional Amendment to Bar Naturalized Citizens from Congress, the Federal Judiciary, Senate-Confirmed Posts – House.gov

• Ballroom won’t be funded after Senate GOP drops $1 billion Trump security request – Politico

• Illinois’ U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth says Congress must curtail war in Iran – IPM Newsroom

• Trump Gets His Payback, but It Comes at a Cost in Congress – The New York Times

📊 See how every member voted on ThePolitibase. Data from Congress.gov, senate.gov, clerk.house.gov, and the FEC.