Trump budget reaction, reconciliation work headline this week at Capitol

WASHINGTON — Lawmakers will be discussing and debating budgets, appropriations and reconciliation this week — and the Senate may open a debate on regulating digital assets known as stablecoins.

When it comes to the budgeting matters, it’s going to be a complicated week on Capitol Hill.

Friday’s release of a “skinny”version of President Donald Trump’s budget request serves a prelude to fiscal 2026 appropriations hearings this week, all while House Republicans are continuing markups of a fiscal 2025 budget reconciliation bill. And some of the funding outlined in Trump’s budget blueprint would actually come through that reconciliation process. That’s especially true for the Department of Homeland Security.

House Appropriations subcommittees are scheduled to hear testimony from Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent Tuesday morning. Noem is also scheduled to appear before Senate appropriators on Thursday.

Some of the recommended terminations and reductions in the budget request drew skepticism even from Republicans, including Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins of Maine. For instance, the budget proposes eliminating the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program and the Education Department’s outreach programs collectively known as TRIO.

“Based on my initial review … I have serious objections to the proposed freeze in our defense funding given the security challenges we face and to the proposed funding cuts to — and in some cases elimination of — programs like LIHEAP, TRIO, and those that support biomedical research,” Collins said in a statement. “Ultimately, it is Congress that holds the power of the purse.”

Appropriators have other budget review hearings scheduled this week, including with the secretaries of Agriculture and Energy. Meanwhile, House authorizing committees are continuing to hold markups of legislation that they intend to combine into the sweeping reconciliation bill that would implement much of the shared Republican agenda.

The House Natural Resources Committee meets Tuesday to begin marking up its legislative recommendations.

“We know the stakes are incredibly high, and we are committed to getting this done,” Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., said on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures.” “And this one ‘big, beautiful bill,’ it includes so many important provisions, unleashing American energy independence, continuation of the historic Trump tax cuts, and also adding no tax on tips, no tax on Social Security, as well as lifting the state and local tax, the SALT deduction for high-tax states like New York … these are commitments President Trump and Republicans made, and we are committed to getting it done.”

Stefanik, whose name was withdrawn from consideration to be U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, has returned to the House leadership table as chair of leadership.

Members of the House Ways and Means Committee were continuing to work on their key component of the reconciliation package, aiming to extend and potentially expand the tax cuts enacted into law during the first Trump administration.

One non-budgetary hearing that is likely to get plenty of attention is a Tuesday meeting of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee to hear testimony on sports television in the streaming era.

The House floor business for the week is headlined by a measure generally designed to block Homeland Security funding from higher education institutions that maintain a relationship with a Chinese Confucius Institute or the “Thousand Talents” recruitment program. The House also will look to take up a bill implementing one of Trump’s priorities: renaming the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America.

On the Senate side, the focus is on a measure disapproving of a Biden-era EPA rule that sets emissions standards for rubber processing, with other resolutions under the Congressional Review Act continuing to be lined up. Under an agreement reached before the Senate adjourned last week, the vote on confirmation of Frank Bisignano to lead the Social Security Administration is set for Tuesday. Senate Democrats are expected to speak out against Bisignano ahead of that vote.

Stablecoins

Later in the week, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., might call for a test vote on stablecoins legislation dubbed the GENIUS Act, which is a priority for Senate Republicans this work period.

“The GENIUS Act establishes a clear, pro-growth, and secure regulatory framework to modernize our payments system and cement U.S. dollar dominance,” Sen. Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., the lead sponsor of the bill, said in a statement. “I look forward to passing the GENIUS Act in short order to keep digital asset innovation in America, protect customers, and make sure foreign companies are playing by the same rules,”

A group of nine Democratic senators led by Sen. Ruben Gallego of Arizona issued a statement over the weekend saying they cannot support limiting debate on the bill in its current form. Axios reported that Senate Democrats debated the way forward for their caucus on Thursday.

“As stablecoins continue to grow in popularity, it is critical for Congress to work in a bipartisan fashion to create a regulatory framework that sets forth clear rules of the road. We recognize that the absence of regulation leaves consumers unprotected and vulnerable to predatory practices,” the senators said. “However, the bill as it currently stands still has numerous issues that must be addressed, including adding stronger provisions on anti-money laundering, foreign issuers, national security, preserving the safety and soundness of our financial system, and accountability for those who don’t meet the act’s requirements.”