EIW Today - July 16th, 2025

Prism Group's Daily Summary

GOP LEADERSHIP ADVANCES RESCISSIONS PACKAGE DESPITE MODERATE OPPOSITION… Senate Republicans narrowly moved forward with President Trump’s $9 billion rescissions package late Tuesday, relying on Vice President JD Vance to break a 50-50 tie on key procedural votes. The package — which must be passed by Friday or the funds are automatically spent — now heads into a vote-a-rama this afternoon, with final Senate passage expected by Thursday before returning to the House.

PRESIDENT TRUMP FLIPS HOLDOUT REPUBLICANS ON CRYPTO VOTES… President Trump announced he flipped the 12 GOP hard-liners who tanked the House’s procedural vote on advancing key cryptocurrency legislation after a meeting in the Oval Office. Members of the Freedom Caucus have agitated for a ban on any government sponsored digital currency being added to the GENIUS Act out of concern for stifling private sector innovation and privacy. It’s not clear what concessions were made by President Trump and Speaker Johnson — but the GENIUS Act, along with its two accompanying crypto bills, are now expected to easily pass Congress.

PROPOSED EU SANCTIONS TARGETING U.S. AIRCRAFTS AND VEHICLES… 

The European Union has proposed targeting €72 billion ($83,868,186,960 USD) in U.S. goods in retaliatory tariffs, including aircraft, cars, and car parts. The majority of the exports targeted are industrial goods, with an additional portion targeting agricultural products. This all comes after President Trump increased trade stakes by establishing a 30% blanket tariff on EU exports if no trade deal is reached by August 1st. 

JUNE REPORT SIGNALS INFLATION UPTICK…  US inflation picked up in June, with the Consumer Price Index reporting a 2.7% increase from the previous year and 0.3% increase this last month, marking its fastest pace since February. Gasoline prices jumped 1.0% (after falling 2.6% the month prior) and grocery prices nudged up by 0.3%. Meanwhile, the prices for other goods, such as used and new cars and dairy, fell. Some economists predict this pattern of inflation may intensify if new tariffs on the European Union are imposed on August 1. 

PRESIDENT TRUMP APPLAUDS AI DEVELOPMENT CAMPAIGN… On Tuesday, President Trump visited the Pennsylvania Energy and Innovation Summit at Carnegie Mellon University to praise American companies investing upwards of $90 billion towards expanding AI. Companies such as Blackstone private equity and Google announced their pledge to invest $25 billion each in data centers and energy projects, aimed at supporting AI infrastructure. At the event, President Trump extended his commendation for US investments and reaffirmed the urgency behind winning the artificial intelligence race with China.

THE STATE OF THE STATES

SESSIONS BY THE NUMBERS: 

Eight legislatures are in regular session.

WHAT WE'RE WATCHING: 

Virginia General Assembly leaders have advised lawmakers to prepare for a September special session to address budget impacts from the federal government. Economists at UVA expect the state to lose 32,000 jobs this year through federal layoffs.

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) has signed legislation expanding free preschool and full-day kindergarten to the few remaining school districts that did not already offer those programs. The new law mandates full-day kindergarten by 2030.

LAWMAKERS... IN OR OUT? 

The House... convenes today at 10:00 AM. The full schedule may be found here. 

The Senate... convenes today at 10:00 AM. The full schedule may be found here. 

HAPPENING ON THE HILL  

The House...  

Committee on Ways and Means, Oversight Subcommittee will hold a hearing TODAY, July 16th at 9:00 AM entitled, “Oversight Subcommittee Hearing on Making America the Crypto Capital of the World: Ensuring Digital Asset Policy Built for the 21st Century.”

Committee on Natural Resources, Subcommittee on Indian and Insular Affairs will hold a hearing TODAY, July 16th at 10:00 AM entitled, “Puerto Rico’s Fiscal Recovery Under PROMESA and the Road Ahead.”

Committee on Financial Services will hold a hearing TODAY, July 16th at 10:00 AM entitled, “U.S. Policy on Investment Security.”

Committee on Energy and Commerce, Health Subcommittee will hold a hearing TODAY, July 16th at 10:00 AM entitled, “Health Subcommittee: Legislative Proposals to Maintain and Improve the Public Health Workforce, Rural Health, and Over-the-Counter Medicines.”

Committee on Energy and Commerce, Environment Subcommittee will hold a hearing TODAY, July 16th at 10:15 AM entitled, “Environment Hearing: Beyond the Blue Bin: Forging a Federal Landscape for Recycling Innovation and Economic Growth.”

Committee on Natural Resoruces, Subcommittee on Federal Lands will hold a hearing TODAY, July 16th at 10:15 AM entitled, “Legislative Hearing on H.R. 1945, H.R. 2290, H.R. 2306, & H.R. 4285.”

Committee on Financial Services will hold a hearing TODAY, July 16th at 2:00 PM entitled, “HOME 2.0: Modern Solutions to the Housing Shortage.”

Committee on Foreign Affairs, Subcommittee on Middle East and North Africa will hold a hearing TODAY, July 16th at 2:00 PM entitled, “Management Family FY26 Budget Posture Hearing.” 

The Senate...    

Committee on Natural Resoruces will hold a hearing TODAY, July 16th at 9:30 AM entitled, “Business Meeting to Consider Pending Nominations.” 

Committee on Foreign Affairs will hold a hearing TODAY, July 16th at 10:00 AM entitled, “Business Meeting.” 

Committee on Foreign Affairs will hold a hearing TODAY, July 16th IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING THE BUSINESS MEETING entitled, “Reforming the State Department to Compete in the 21st Century.”

Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions will hold a hearing TODAY, July 16th at 10:00 AM entitled, “Nominations of Crystal Carey to be General Counsel of the National Labor Relations Board, Brian Christine to be Assistant Secretary for Health, Department of Health and Human Services, and Brittany Panuccio to be a Member of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.”

Committee on Small Business & Entrepreneurship will hold a hearing TODAY, July 16th at 2:30 PM entitled, “Pending Business.”

Committee on Judiciary, Subcommittee on Crime and Counterrerrorism will hold a hearing TODAY, July 16th at 2:30 PM entitled, “Too Big to Prosecute?: Examining the AI Industry’s Mass Ingestion of Copyrighted Works for AI Training.”

Committee on Judiciary will hold a hearing on Tomorrow, July 17th at 9:15 AM entitled, “Executive Business Meeting.”

Committee on Appropriations will hold a hearing Tomorrow, July 17th at 9:30 AM entitled, “Full Committee Markup of Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act.”

Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions will hold a hearing Tomorrow, July 17th at 10:00 AM entitled, “Freedom to Work: Unlocking Benefits for Independent Workers.” 

BILLS OF INTEREST

Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA-17) introduced HR 4406 to authorize the establishment of and support State-based universal health care systems by amending Title I of Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

Rep. Bobby Scott (D-VA-3) introduced HR 4418 to increase the quality and supply of child care and lower child care costs for families. 

Rep. Ami Bera introduced HR 4391 to promote international cooperation to secure critical minerals supply chains.

Sen. Ted Budd (R-NC) introduced S.2284 to prohibit Federal agencies from restricting the use of convertible virtual currency by a person to purchase goods or services. 

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) introduced S.2279 to repeal the OBBB changes to the Medicaid State provider tax authority and provide increased funding for the rural health transformation program.

AT THE AGENCIES  

The U.S. Department of Labor 

In an attempt to minimize the burden on small businesses and strengthen risk reduction measures, the Department of Labor has updated its guidance on penalty and debt collection procedures. The full guidance can be found in the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s Field Operations Manual. The new policies have taken immediate effect. 

The Departments of Labor and Education announced a new partnership to create an integrated federal education and workforce system. Under the agreement, the Labor Department will manage day-to-day operations of adult education and career and technical programs, while the Education Department retains oversight and policy authority. The move follows a Supreme Court decision allowing implementation after a lower court injunction paused it. Officials say the partnership will reduce regulatory burdens, improve coordination, and better serve students and workers. 

The U.S. Department of the Treasury 

Check back tomorrow for possible updates.  

The U.S. Department of Commerce 

Check back tomorrow for possible updates.

The U.S. Trade Representative 

The US Trade Representative has initiated the Rapid Response Labor Mechanism (RRM) in the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) to evaluate whether workers at Liber Gennesys Group, S. de R.L. de C.V. and its affiliates are being denied the right to freedom of association and collective bargaining. 

The USTR has also begun to investigate Brazil under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, and will seek to determine whether the actions of the Government of Brazil related to digital trade and electronic payment services, are reasonable or discriminatory against U.S. commerce.

The U.S. Small Business Administration 

The Small Business Administration launched the Center for Faith to uplift faith-based businesses, community organizations, and places of worship’s access to capital, counselling, and government contracting opportunities. It is also eliminating a Biden-era regulation that banned faith-based organizations from receiving SBA disaster loans.

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