SBLC Update - September 21, 2026

The House recessed last Wednesday, a day earlier than planned, to avoid a politically complicated, procedurally mandated vote on articles of impeachment filed by Rep. Tom Massie (R-KY) against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.  It will not return to session until November 9.

The Senate returns tomorrow.  Its schedule contemplates legislative work this week and next.  If leadership instead adjourns before the end of this week, the next Hill Update will arrive after the November elections.

Crypto Bill Flops / College Sports Bill on Deck: Last week, the Senate failed to pass a procedural motion that would have allowed it to move to debate and a vote on the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, a bill to establish a regulatory framework for the crypto market.  GOP leaders then pivoted to the Protect College Sports Act, which, among other things, would establish federal standards for athlete name, image, and likeness deals.  Members voted 74-24 to approve the preliminary procedural motion.  Unless the parties agree to a deal to move more quickly, the earliest the chamber could vote on passage would be Friday.

Permitting Reform: Senate Republicans and Democrats have been negotiating for months on legislation to ease permitting approvals for energy projects.  Environment and Public Works Committee Chair Shelly Morre Capito (R-WV) and Ranking Member Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) said late last week that they are close to agreement, but some difficult issues remain unresolved.  With respect to big-picture strategy should a deal come together, Sen. Whitehouse is pressing Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) to get assurances from Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) that the House will vote later this year on whatever the Senate passes.  If the parties cannot agree to move to a floor vote on the permitting bill in the coming days, the Senate might adjourn after it completes its work on the college sports bill.  

Possible Vote on Data Center Bill: Last week, the House overwhelmingly passed the Ratepayer Protection Act (H.R. 9340) by a vote of 417-3.  The bill would open a path to requiring data centers to pay for upgrades to the energy grid needed to serve their electricity needs.  Sen. Jon Husted (R-OH) sponsors the Senate companion bill, the issue is highly contested in his upcoming reelection, and Democrats need their candidate in Ohio to win that seat to have a chance at capturing the majority in the next Congress.  Senate Democrats blocked an expedited floor vote on the bill last week.  Majority Leader Thune is considering bringing up the bill for a vote on a preliminary procedural motion.  Democrats would likely oppose that motion, but the tactic would force them to go on the record on an issue that is top of mind for many voters.

Reconciliation 3.0: Majority Leader Thune has definitively confirmed that the Senate will not vote on an FY 2027 budget resolution before the midterm elections.  Whether Republicans will revisit the effort to pass another party-line tax and spending bill in the Lame Duck session will depend on a variety of factors, including election outcomes and potential attendance issues among members who lose their races.

Iran War Powers Resolution Passed in the House: Last week, the House voted for a third time to pass a resolution (H. Con. Res. 93) that would direct the President to end the war with Iran.  This time, a record seven Republicans – Reps. Tom Barrett (R-MI), Warren Davidson (R-OH), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), Nancy Mace (R-SC), Tom Massie (R-KY), Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-IA), and Zach Nunn (R-IA) – joined every Democrat in agreeing to the measure.  Notably, Reps. Barrett, Fitzpatrick, Miller-Meeks, and Nunn are all running reelection campaigns in very competitive districts, and Reps. Mace and Massie are not returning to Congress next year.  Passage of the resolution has political significance but no practical impact since concurrent resolutions do not have the power of law.

House Democrats Consider Caucus Rule Changes: Since the House returned from its August recess, two Democrats – Reps. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-OR) and Dan Golden (D-ME) – have twice bucked longstanding tradition by supplying votes that Republicans needed to move to floor consideration of legislation.  In the first such instance, they blindsided their party’s leadership by helping the majority pass a rule that allowed votes on the passage of some GOP-sponsored political messaging bills and a bill that Golden cosponsored that would freeze whale protections to benefit lobstermen in his state.  The second time, their votes paved the way to enactment of a Russia sanctions bill that grants the president new tariff authorities.

In response to their actions and other long-simmering issues within the House Democratic caucus, the party is discussing some rule changes.  Some have suggested punishing members who do not pay their Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee dues, fail to show up for critical votes, or side with Republicans on procedural motions by barring them from serving in leadership or as committee chairs and perhaps also from sitting on exclusive committees (meaning Appropriations, Rules, Ways and Means, Energy and Commerce, and Financial Services).   Rep. Golden is retiring at the end of this Congress so any rule change would not impact him, but the proposed changes obviously target Perez.  They also would have a big impact on members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, many of whom do not pay their annual fundraising dues (or do not pay in full).  

The caucus might not agree to pass these contemplated rule changes.  But the debate reflects concerns that if the party flips the House in the upcoming elections, especially if Democrats win just a narrow majority, its leaders could experience the same difficulties as GOP leaders have in this Congress in trying to manage intra-party disputes and avoid floor chaos.

House: The House is in recess and will not reconvene until November 9.

Senate: As noted above, the Senate will continue working this week on the Protect College Sports Act (S. 4668).  Leadership also plans on votes to confirm at least one of the President’s nominees for federal judicial seats and perhaps the next Secretary of Labor.  And it might bring up the House-passed Ratepayer Protection Act (H.R. 9340) for a preliminary procedural vote.

Republicans are expected to force votes on Congressional Review Act resolutions to disapprove of EPA waivers approved during the Biden administration that allow California to adopt stricter vehicle emissions standards (H.J. Res. 210 and H.J. Res. 213).  The House passed those resolutions last week.

Democrats are expected to force a vote on another Iran War Powers resolution.

Notable committee action this week includes:

Wednesday, September 23, 9:30 am

Senate Armed Services Committee

To receive a closed briefing on an update on the United States Central Command area of operations

Wednesday, September 23, 2:30 pm

Senate Armed Services Committee

To receive a closed briefing on cyber operations and readiness for the second and third quarters of Fiscal Year 2026 as well as an update on election security

Wednesday, September 23, 2:30 pm

Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism

Hearing to examine flock’s nationwide AI surveillance network