Both chambers return to work this week after a two-week recess, with a packed agenda awaiting them.

The most consequential item on the House floor is the reauthorization of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). The current authorization is set to expire next week, and the White House is pushing for a clean 18-month extension.

Beyond FISA, the House has a relatively light but varied schedule. Tuesday's suspension calendar is dominated by post office naming bills, along with an agricultural conservation program measure and an emergency alert systems bill. Later in the week, the House is also expected to take up three Energy and Commerce deregulatory bills targeting telecom and energy regulation, as well as a Ways and Means resolution in support of family-focused tax policies. Also flagged as possible floor action are a Democratic War Powers resolution directing the withdrawal of U.S. forces from hostilities with Iran, and a discharge petition, a procedural maneuver to bypass committee leadership, that would force a vote on designating Haiti for Temporary Protected Status.

Over in the Senate, debate is set to resume on the SAVE America Act, which would impose new requirements on voter registration.

The Department of Homeland Security partial shutdown has now stretched past 60 days. The latest plan, recently endorsed by President Trump, would use a narrow budget reconciliation bill to fund just immigration enforcement. Because reconciliation bills cannot be filibustered, this approach would need only a simple majority, but with Republicans' razor-thin margins in both chambers, it would require near-unanimous support from the party. This funding measure would supplement a broader bill, already passed by the Senate, that would fund most of DHS but notably exclude ICE and Border Patrol.

Democrats in both chambers intend to force additional votes on war powers resolutions related to the conflict with Iran. The issue could come to a head if the U.S. military is still operating in the Persian Gulf by April 29, which would mark 60 days since hostilities began. Under the 1973 War Powers Resolution, the president must end military operations after 60 days unless Congress has authorized them. Though the law does allow an additional 30-day window for the safe withdrawal of troops. It remains highly unlikely that either chamber will produce a binding measure that would compel the administration to cease operations.

Finally, congressional appropriators are back at it in full swing, beginning hearings on agencies' and departments' budget requests for the next fiscal year.

Committee Hearings of Interest This Week: 

House Oversight Committee has a hearing on Fraud Prevention: Understanding Fraud in Federally Funded Programs Run by the States at 10:00 AM Wednesday. (details here)

House Committee on the Budget has a hearing to examine the President’s Fiscal Year 2027 budget on Wednesday 10:15 AM today. (details here)

House Committee on Small Business has a hearing on Lower Taxes, Stronger Main Street: The Benefits of the Working Families Tax Cuts. Wednesday at 10:30 AM. (details here)

House Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party has a hearing on China’s Campaign to Steal America’s AI Edge. On Thursday at 11:00 AM. (details here)