Check here for the 2022 Senate Calendar
Check here for the 2022 House Calendar

Upcoming Congressional Hearings

Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee
- Tuesday, January 11, 2022, at 10am EST: Hearing to examine the opportunities and challenges for maintaining existing hydropower capacity, expanding hydropower at non-powered dams, and increasing pumped storage hydropower.
Senate Environment and Public Works Committee
- Wednesday, Jan 12, 2022 at 2:45 PM EST: Business meeting to consider the nominations of David Uhlmann to be assistant administrator for enforcement and compliance assurance at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Henry Christopher Frey to be Assistant Administrator for the EPA’s Office of Research and Development, and Martha Williams to be Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
- The Business Meeting will be followed by a hearing on Water Resources Development Act Oversight: USACE Implementation of Water Infrastructure Projects, Programs, and Priorities. The hearing and business meeting are both accessible at the link provided above.
House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee
- Wednesday, January 12, 2022 at 10am EST: Water Resources and Environment Subcommittee Hearing to consider Proposals for a Water Resources Development Act of 2022.
House Agriculture Committee
- Wednesday, January 12, 2022 at 10:00 AM EST: Hearing to consider Implications of Electric Vehicle Investments for Agriculture and Rural America.

Congressional News

On January 3rd, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer sent a letter to Senate Democrats stating his intention to again consider two pieces of voting rights legislation, the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. Under Senate rules, these bills need 60 votes to advance – they have both failed to reach that threshold on previous attempts. In the letter, Senator Schumer indicates that the Senate will consider rule changes – likely including changes to the filibuster – if there is no bipartisan cooperation on advancing these bills. He set a deadline of January 17th, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, for debate on rules changes.
Further Senate consideration of the Build Back Better Act is expected to remain on hold while the chamber seeks a breakthrough on voting rights legislation.
As a reminder, the government is funded through February 18, 2022 by a continuing resolution that Congress passed in December. Congress must pass a new spending bill before midnight on Feb. 18 to avoid a government shutdown.

On Tuesday, January 11, President Biden will travel to Georgia to highlight his administration’s efforts to pass legislation protecting the right to vote. His remarks may shed further light on the degree of his support for filibuster reform in the Senate.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has invited President Biden to deliver his 2022 State of the Union address to Congress on March 1st.
Last week, President Biden re-nominated a batch of nominees whose nominations had expired when the Senate adjourned its 2021 session. The list includes Laura Daniel Davis, formerly of NWF, to be an Assistant Secretary of the Interior, and Martha Williams to be Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The full list is available here.
See here for additional White House resources, including a comprehensive list of Executive orders to address COVID, the climate crisis, and environmental justice, among other topics.

The House and Senate will both be in session this week, with the House returning for the first time in 2022.
The Senate will consider Commerce Department nominees and continue work on voting rights legislation.
The House will consider a Veterans Affairs bill and a NASA Other legislation may be added to the schedule.
NWF continues to work to advance our priorities on Capitol Hill, so please feel free to share NWF’s 117th Congress National Policy Agenda.

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