Outlook for This Week in the Nation’s Capital Congress. The House and Senate are set to adjourn for the rest of the year once they pass the omnibus and coronavirus relief package, which the House plans to vote on today and the Senate shortly afterwards. Separately, Congress is anticipating President Trump to veto the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) this week, leading discussions among lawmakers about the possibility of voting to override the veto on the morning of Jan. 3 before the new Congress is sworn in.
FY21 Appropriations and COVID Package. The House and Senate completed their negotiations on the FY21 omnibus and coronavirus relief package last night. As of early this morning, the bill language for the package was still being finalized, though a topline summary of the COVID-19 agreement can be found here, and a general breakdown of the entire year-end package can be found here. The package is slated to be considered by the House and Senate today, though the bill will contain a 7-day continuing resolution to allow the Senate more time (if needed) to complete its work on the measure after the House passes it given that the current continuing resolution expires at midnight tonight. The package contains $1.4 trillion in FY21 appropriations, $900 billion in coronavirus relief provisions, an energy package, legislation to end surprise billing, the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) of 2020, certain tax break extensions, and numerous other policy matters and reauthorizations. The House plans to structure its vote into two tranches: one vote on the Defense, Homeland Security, Commerce-Justice-Science, and Financial Services appropriations bills, and another vote on the remaining eight appropriations bills, the COVID-19 relief package, and the additional measures included in the legislation. Together with the omnibus spending bill, the total package is worth $2.3 trillion. The White House has indicated that President Trump is prepared to sign the package.