Continuing Resolution

With government spending authority set to expire on September 30, congressional leaders focused this week on efforts to avert a shutdown. The House voted 301-123 today to pass a continuing resolution (CR) to extend funding through November 21; the CR also includes several other measures, including provisions to extend the Export-Import Bank charter and the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) through November 21. In the meantime, the Senate Appropriations Committee advanced several of its FY20 spending bills this morning, including the Transportation-Housing and Urban Development (THUD), Financial Services and General Government, and Agriculture, Rural Development, and FDA measures.

Ambassadorial Nominations, National Defense Authorization Act

Elsewhere, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) continued to bring pending executive branch nominations to the floor, including several ambassadorial nominations. The House also passed several consumer protection bills and a motion to go to conference with the Senate on the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) also swore in new Reps. Greg Murphy (R-NC) and Dan Bishop (R-NC), who recently won special elections to fill vacant seats.

Research Security

On Monday, President Trump participated in credentialing ceremonies for new ambassadors before meeting with Bahrain Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa. White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) Director Dr. Kelvin Droegemeier sent a letter to members of the United States research community, including professional societies and universities and other academic institutions providing an update on the Joint Committee on the Research Environment (JCORE) and the importance of research security. The letter notes that OSTP will convene meetings over the coming months at academic institutions nationwide to facilitate dialogue around research security.

Eugene Scalia, the President’s nominee to serve as the next Secretary of Labor, testified in support of his nomination this morning before the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee.

Read more in McGuireWoods Consulting’s Emerging Technologies Washington Update.