Summer Standoff: Nominations, Funding, and the Fight to Recess
Summer is in full swing, but there’s still work to do for Congress before their recess to avoid a shutdown in September. The first roadblock to a relaxing summer vacation for Majority Leader Thune is a “minibus”—a package of three bills that are bundled together—of appropriations funding. The second is instructions handed down from President Trump to get his nominees pushed through the Senate before the legislature leaves for August recess. We’re breaking down where everything stands for you here.
The Minibus
The “minibus” of three bills would collectively fund the departments of Justice, Commerce, Agriculture, Veterans Affairs, the FDA, FBI, and some military construction projects. These “minibuses” occur periodically, with Senate leadership linking appropriations bills in the hopes of expediting their passage. This practice is a form of “omnibus” or consolidated appropriations, where multiple spending bills are combined into a single measure to streamline the process, especially when time is short, or when legislators anticipate that there will be controversy and major negotiations surrounding one or more of the bills.
As of this writing, Majority Leader John Thune told reporters that the party is still working through some objections to the contents of the package on their side of the aisle. The Senate will face two, 30-hour-long debate clocks in order to get closer to passage, unless all 100 senators agree to move faster. On top of those sixty hours, there’s the time it will take to discuss amendment votes.
The onus is on the Senate to pass these funding bills in order to avoid a shutdown come September 30th. If the bills aren’t passed by August recess, the Senate has the option to schedule a final passage vote for their first week back in September, but Senate Majority Leader Thune is determined to avoid that fallback plan.
“I think it’s fair to say that we’re going to keep the pressure on the Democrats to, you know, stay here until either they cooperate or we’re just going to grind it out and do it the old-fashioned way,” Thune told POLITICO.
Nominee Confirmation
The real thing standing between Senators and their summer vacation is nominations: the president has urged senators to stay in Washington through August to push through his nominees to various posts. There are a total of 135 nominees waiting in the wings, as Democrats block the procedural votes at every turn.
While there’s a general consensus of annoyance at the prospect of sticking around through August, a few senators agree with Trump and Thune’s approach to strongarming the Senate into staying. Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah) is urging his colleagues to work through the month to advance the nominees, or else cancel all pro-forma sessions to allow the president to make recess appointments.
No one is particularly enthusiastic about recess appointments, however. Thune’s threat to cancel part of the August recess is teeing the Senate up for a major showdown. Unfortunately, there’s another conspiracy afoot: while the House was always scheduled for recess last week, they departed a day early in what bipartisan reports are calling “the Epstein recess”. We’ll leave that there for you to examine.
Despite setbacks, the administration managed to clinch the approval for Emil Bove as a judge on the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The court has jurisdiction over Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Bove was confirmed 50-49, with only Republican votes, after hours of debate and three whistleblower accounts of Bove’s conduct while he was a Justice Department official.
In Education
Late last month, the Trump administration told states—including Pennsylvania—that it was withholding previously approved federal education funds for review. Over $5 billion was held past the July 1 deadline when they’re traditionally dispersed, giving schools time to allocate funds before the school year begins. Now, the Department of Education has been directed to release all formula funds.
How did it happen? Bipartisan lobbying. Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle cited financial strains on local school districts and communities, and 24 states (Pennsylvania included) sued the administration in response. Ten Republican senators even signed a public letter urging the White House to release the funds. The letter read, “We want to see students in our states and across the country thrive…We believe you share the same goal.”
What’s going on in PA?
In Pennsylvania, budget negotiations are still ongoing. Republican Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, Rep. Jim Struzzi (R-Indiana) has said that they’re working to find a compromise, but as we’re seeing on the federal level, this is easier said than done.
After the Supreme Court’s ruling allowing President Trump to proceed with D.O.G.E. cuts, government employees across the Commonwealth are bracing themselves. At the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), a division of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, employees are waiting in limbo. In an article published by the PennCapital-Star, the Pittsburgh-area campus is reportedly shadowed by uncertainty after the beginning of the year saw layoffs of probationary employees, buyouts and offers of early retirement, and reduction-in-force notices.
Meanwhile, in case you missed it, Representative Lloyd Smucker (PA-11) is attempting to “set the record straight” on the One Big Beautiful Bill. In an op-ed published in the York Daily Record, Rep Smucker addressed a number of constituent concerns in response to another article published in the York Daily Record, titled: “York County woman who depends on Medicaid to care for her disabled son fears cuts: forum”. He reiterated reasons for support of the One Big Beautiful Bill on topics like rural healthcare and nursing homes, SNAP program changes, transportation and local funding, and tax relief for families and seniors.
Governor Shapiro’s stance on current events and the legislation passed by the House and Senate is decidedly different. In a recent segment of “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert", Governor Shapiro restated his disagreement with the handling of the reconciliation package, citing the 310,000 Pennsylvanians who will be cut out of Medicaid due to the bill. Of President Trump and his Pennsylvania voters, Shapiro says, “He has abandoned them and he has made their lives worse.”
What’s Next
As August looms closer, we’ll be keeping an eye on what’s happening in the federal government and breaking everything down for you in a succinct, easy-to-understand manner. If you’re interested in keeping up with Pennsylvania politics, don’t forget to subscribe to our other newsletter, The Bellevue Bulletin, which comes out every Friday.
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