Congressional leaders will try to advance a number of legislative priorities — each of them with energy and environment provisions — before the August recess, but they will have to overcome some major challenges in order to make any progress.
The House and Senate return Monday from their Fourth of July break facing a mountain of pending action but little certainty about how to push them forward. The annual defense policy bill and fiscal 2027 spending measures in both chambers are facing headwinds.
Senate leaders are planning to take the first procedural vote on their version of the National Defense Authorization Act this week. The bill includes language to expedite Pentagon reviews of wind energy projects, and senators will soon begin sorting through dozens of introduced amendments related to energy and environment issues.
But the Senate’s work on fiscal 2027 appropriations bills remains stalled for now. Partisan disagreements over top-line spending levels and potential amendments have thwarted Senate appropriators’ typically bipartisan process.
