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DC Download - July 14, 2025
It's Crypto Week in Washington as the House returns to vote on key digital asset bills that would establish a regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies and stablecoins and bar the Federal Reserve from issuing its own digital currency. At the same time, the House Appropriations Committee has a packed week ahead, with markups and votes on six Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 spending bills: Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development; Energy and Water Development; Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies; State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs; Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies; and Defense. Over in the Senate, lawmakers are set to consider a package of cuts the Trump administration has asked for.
Read on for what’s happening this week on the Hill.
Table of Contents:
Supreme Court Wrap-Up
With the Supreme Court’s term officially wrapped, we’re rounding up the most consequential decisions of the year and what they mean for our democracy. From rulings that reshape executive power and federal regulatory authority to decisions with major implications for civil rights, gun violence prevention, and reproductive freedom, this term delivered high-stakes outcomes that will be felt across the country.
Read the full SCOTUS roundup here.
House Floor
The House will vote on 18 suspension bills from the Committees on Energy and Commerce and Natural Resources. Suspension bills require a ⅔ majority to pass. For a list of all suspension bills being considered, click here.
This week the House will also consider the following bills, subject to a rule:
H.R. 4016 – Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2026 (Sponsored by Rep. Calvert / Appropriations Committee) This legislation appropriates $831.5 billion to the Department of Defense for fiscal year 2026.
H.R. 1919 – Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act (Sponsored by Rep. Emmer / Financial Services Committee) This legislation prohibits the Federal Reserve from studying or issuing a central bank digital currency, or using one to implement monetary policy.
H.R. 3633 – Digital Asset Market Clarity Act of 2025 (Sponsored by Rep. Hill / Financial Services Committee) This legislation provides a framework for regulating cryptocurrency, with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission overseeing popular tokens such as Bitcoin. The bill defines most tokens as commodities rather than securities, thereby exempting them from stricter securities laws, and exempts issuers of certain tokens from registering with the Securities and Exchange Commission, allowing them to file more limited investor disclosures than issuers of stocks and other securities.
S. 1582 – GENIUS Act (Sponsored by Sen. Hagerty / Financial Services Committee) This legislation establishes federal rules for stablecoins, and
allows qualified financial institutions and non-bank entities to issue the digital assets. Under the measure, federal regulators would oversee larger stablecoin issuers, while smaller issuers could choose to be overseen by state-level regulators.
House Committee Highlights
A full list of this week’s hearings and markups can be found here. Notable hearings and markups include:
Monday Hearings
Markup of Fiscal Year 2026 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Bill (Committee on Appropriations)
Markup of Fiscal Year 2026 Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Bill (Committee on Appropriations)
Tuesday Hearings
Dodd-Frank Turns 15: Lessons Learned and the Road Ahead (Committee on Financial Services)
Markup of Fiscal Year 2026 Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Bill (Committee on Appropriations)
Markup of Fiscal Year 2026 National Security, Department of State, and Related Programs Bill (Committee on Appropriations)
Markup of Fiscal Year 2026 Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Bill (Committee on Appropriations)
Bankruptcy Law: Overview and Legislative Reforms (Committee on the Judiciary)
Antisemitism in Higher Education: Examining the Role of Faculty, Funding, and Ideology (Education and Workforce)
How Leftist Nonprofit Networks Exploit Federal Tax Dollars to Advance a Radical Agenda (Committee on the Judiciary)
Wednesday Hearings
Making America the Crypto Capital of the World: Ensuring Digital Asset Policy Built for the 21st Century (Committee on Ways and Means)
An Inside Job: How NGOs Facilitated the Biden Border Crisis (Committee on Homeland Security)
Oversight of the Department of Transportation's Policies and Programs and Fiscal Year 2025 Budget Request (Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure)
U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary, Sean Duffy, is testifying
U.S. Policy on Investment Security (Committee on Financial Services)
Safe Workplaces, Stronger Partnerships: The Future of OSHA Compliance Assistance (Education and Workforce)
Beyond the Blue Bin: Forging a Federal Landscape for Recycling Innovation and Economic Growth (Committee on Energy and Commerce)
HOME 2.0: Modern Solutions to the Housing Shortage (Committee on Financial Services)
Thursday Hearings
Markup of Fiscal Year 2026 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Bill, Fiscal Year 2026 Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Bill, and Updated Interim Subcommittee Allocations (Committee on Appropriations)
Senate Floor
This week the Senate will also consider the following bill:
H.R. 4 – Rescissions Act of 2025 (Sponsored by Rep. Steve Scalise/Appropriations Committee)
Nominations
The Senate this week has teed up final votes on the following nominees:
Whitey Hermandofer, to be U.S. Circuit Judge for the Sixth Circuit
Luke Petit, to be an Assistant Secretary of the Treasury
Anthony Tata, to be Under Secretary for Personnel Readiness
Joseph Edlow, to be Director of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Department (USCIS)
Senate Committee Highlights
Tuesday Hearings
Hearing to Consider Various Ambassador Nominations (Foreign Relations)
Beyond the Smash and Grab: Criminal Networks and Organized Theft (Judiciary)
Voices of the Vaccine Injured (Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs)
Stakeholder Perspectives on Federal Oversight of Digital Commodities (Agriculture, Nutrition, & Forestry)
Wednesday Hearings
Reforming the State Department to Compete in the 21st Century (Foreign Relations)
Too Big to Prosecute?: Examining the AI Industry’s Mass Ingestion of Copyrighted Works for AI Training (Judiciary)
Hearing to Consider Various Nominations (Health, Education, Labor, & Pensions)
Constructing the Surface Transportation Reauthorization Bill: Stakeholders’ Perspectives (Environment & Public Works)
Nominations Hearing for Modal Administrators of the Department of Transportation (Commerce, Science, & Transportation)
Nomination Hearing to consider Mr. William Kirkland to be Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs within the Department of the Interior (Indian Affairs)
Business Meeting to consider legislation (Small Business & Entrepreneurship)
Aging with Purpose: The Positive Impact of Seniors in Today’s Economy (Special Committee on Aging)
Thursday Hearings
Business Meeting to Consider Various Judicial Nominations and Legislation (Judiciary)
Freedom to Work: Unlocking Benefits for Independent Workers (Health, Education, Labor, & Pensions)
Reconciliation Reality Check
The Republican Megabill is now law, rewriting the rules of who gets help and who gets left behind in major ways, including:
Tax policy: Extends Trump-era tax breaks for the rich, including higher SALT caps to benefit high-income households in high-tax states, while raising the standard deduction, offering little benefit to families who don’t make enough to benefit.
Here’s who stands to gain from the ‘big, beautiful bill.’ And who may struggle (CNN)
‘It’s harsh. It’s mean, brutal’: Trump bill to cause most harm to America’s poorest (Guardian)
Child tax credit: Increases the maximum credit to $2,200 per child, but tightens eligibility requirements that will cut off 2.6 million children from the benefit.
Clean Energy: Ends major tax credits for electric vehicles, solar, home efficiency, and green infrastructure, raising household energy bills and undercutting climate goals.
See how your energy prices will change because of the GOP tax bill (CNN)
These Republicans Promised to Protect Clean Energy. Then They Voted to Kill It Anyway (Evergreen Action)
Here’s How Republicans’ New Federal Budget Affects You (Evergreen Action)
SNAP & Food Assistance: Imposes new work reporting requirements, state cost-sharing, and benefit reductions affecting 16 million children, disrupting school meals and exacerbating food insecurity.
Trump’s Big Cuts Are Going to Overwhelm Food Banks With Hungry People (The New Republic)
Medicaid & ACA: Cuts Medicaid provider taxes, imposes work paperwork requirements and co-pays (up to $35 per service), and ends premium tax credits, potentially taking coverage from 17 million people.
Planned Parenthood: Bans Medicaid reimbursement, jeopardizing 200 clinics across 24 states.
Planned Parenthood ‘defunding’ threatens women’s health beyond abortion (The Hill)
Judge blocks Trump from cutting off Planned Parenthood funding under "big, beautiful bill" (CBS News)
Student Borrowers: Replaces existing income-driven repayment plans with a narrower, costlier set of (2) options, imposes significant caps on federal loans, tightens Pell Grant eligibility, eliminates economic hardship deferment, and reduces the duration and accessibility of forbearance.
What the Republicans’ New Policy Bill Means for Higher Education (NYT)
Student loan borrowers navigate new landscape as options dwindle under Trump (The Hill)
ICE & Immigration: Boosts ICE Detention funding by 365%, making ICE the highest-funded federal enforcement agency.
The Anti-Immigrant Policies in Trump’s Final “Big Beautiful Bill,” Explained (NILC)
How Trump Codified Hateful and Extreme Anti-Immigrant Policies by Passing Trump’s Budget Bill (NIJC)
Other Cuts: Significantly reduces funding for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, rolls back parts of Medicare drug-price negotiations, and repeals excise taxes on high-risk weapons.
Republicans attack gun safety, put Americans at risk (Giffords)
Drugmakers Notch a $5 Billion Win in Republicans’ Policy Bill (NYT)
The massive budget reconciliation bill delivers tax relief for the wealthy, while siphoning critical resources from low-income families, clean energy projects, healthcare access, support for children and families, and immigrant communities. Its long-term costs will add an estimated $4 trillion to the deficit.
For a more detailed analysis of the package, please read the CPC Center’s latest update on reconciliation here.
July 14-18: House Appropriations Markups
July 18: Rescissions Vote Deadline
July 28-31: House not in session