/>iSenate Continues Reconciliation Consideration
This week, Senate consideration of the reconciliation package will continue, and more text will be made public as the process begins to move out from behind closed doors. Senate committees of jurisdiction are unlikely to hold markups of updated legislative text and instead are releasing their text leading up to Senate floor consideration, targeted for the week of June 23, 2025.
Committees without health jurisdiction started this process last week, and this week we expect text from health committees. The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee has some jurisdiction over the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and is likely to release its text as early as Tuesday. The Senate Finance Committee has jurisdiction over the bulk of the reconciliation package – including Medicare, Medicaid, the ACA, and taxes – and will likely be the last committee to release text, which could happen as early as this Friday, June 13 (we’re trying not to read into that).
Released text is still subject to change, as Senate Republican leadership works to whip votes in their own body while also trying to ensure that any changes made will still enable the House to pass the bill again before it can go to the president for his signature. The process of striking provisions that do not comply with the Byrd rule is also ongoing, but final Byrd rule decisions will not be made until the bill is on the Senate floor. Republicans have just three weeks to pass the updated package in the Senate and send it back for House consideration before their self-imposed deadline of July 4, 2025. If any step does not occur on time during these next three weeks, this timeline could slip into later July.
On the other side of Capitol Hill, the House will vote on the rescissions package sent by the White House last week that would rescind more than $9.4 billion of previously appropriated funding. Most of the rescinded funding targets global development and public broadcasting funding. The package would rescind $900 million of global health funding, including $400 million for the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief. The House Rules Committee will meet on Tuesday to consider the legislation, known as H.R. 4. On both the House and Senate floors, only a simple majority is needed to approve the rescissions, but the package has received more outspoken Republican criticism in the Senate, including from Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Collins (R-ME).
Fiscal year (FY) 2026 appropriations markups continue this week, with the House Appropriations Committee meeting to mark up the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Bill that advanced through subcommittee last week by a party line vote. The Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Bill will be considered in late July; the full schedule of markups is available here. National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director Bhattacharya will testify at the Senate Appropriations Committee on the President’s FY 2026 NIH budget request, although discussion likely will also focus on concerns about delays or cuts to FY 2025 grant funding.
Today’s Podcast
Debbie Curtis and Rodney Whitlock join Julia Grabo to discuss the busy week ahead of Congress, including where they are in the reconciliation, recissions, and appropriations processes.
