Happening on the Hill: July 11, 2016

Schedule

The House and Senate are in session this week. Members and senators will leave town at the end of this week for a recess for nearly two months.

House

This week the House will take up the spending bill for the Interior appropriations bill. The chamber will also debate and vote on H.R. 4768, the Separation of Powers Restoration Act of 2016, introduced by Rep. John Ratcliffe (R-Texas). This legislation would reclaim power from agency bureaucrats whose decisions must be deferred to under a Supreme Court decision, Chevron U.S.A. v. NRDC.

H.R. 4768 will help pull power away from federal agencies and allow the courts to decide important matters of law that involve agencies, which is the constitutional way our government should operate. H.R. 4768 is necessary to restore the proper scale and scope of the separation of powers the Founders wanted.

Senate

The Senate will be working on the Department of Defense spending bill this week. They may also vote on funding for Zika.