Federal Update: Senate Breaks for Memorial Day Recess Without Advancing Reconciliation Package

The Senate is expected to recess for the Memorial Day break after failing to reach agreement on a budget reconciliation package that would provide nearly $70 billion for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol operations through fiscal year 2029. The package has been central to congressional Republicans’ strategy for advancing major border security and immigration enforcement priorities through a fast-track budget process that can pass the Senate with a simple majority, rather than the 60 votes typically needed to overcome a filibuster. 

Republican leaders had hoped to move the package through both chambers before the holiday recess, but that timeline collapsed amid internal GOP disagreements over several controversial provisions. Most notably, the package has stalled over a proposed $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund for individuals who allege they were unfairly investigated or prosecuted by the Biden-era Department of Justice. Some Republican senators have raised concerns about how the fund would be administered, including whether individuals involved in the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol could be eligible for compensation. 

The bill also initially included Secret Service funding, including language that could have supported the White House ballroom project. However, that provision was removed after failing to secure sufficient Republican support. It also faced procedural hurdles after the Senate parliamentarian advised that there were jurisdictional concerns with funding the project through reconciliation. 

The delay further complicates the legislative calendar and likely pushes action into June, beyond President Trump’s June 1 target date for signing the bill into law. 

House Lawmakers Advance Major Housing Reform Package 

On May 20, the House advanced a major housing reform package, voting 396-13 to approve an amended version of the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act. The final package reflected a compromise with the White House on several key provisions. Given the broad bipartisan vote and the Trump administration’s statement of support, the House-passed measure is expected to put significant pressure on the Senate to act. 

Under the compromise, the bill restores the Senate’s broader restrictions on institutional investors purchasing single-family homes, while also removing a controversial provision that would have required single-family homes built by large institutional investors as long-term rentals to be sold to individual homebuyers after seven years. In a major win for counties, the House-passed bill also fully removes the Build Now Act, a provision that would have rewarded or penalized Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) entitlement counties based on their performance under certain housing growth metrics. 

Although the President has endorsed the House measure, Senate leaders have not yet indicated how or when the chamber may proceed. 

House Panel Set to Advance Surface Transportation Reauthorization Package 

As of this writing, the House Transportation and Infrastructure (T&I) Committee was considering the BUILD America 250 Act, a bipartisan, five-year surface transportation reauthorization package negotiated by T&I Chairman Sam Graves (R-MO) and Ranking Member Rick Larsen (D-WA). The measure, which was unveiled earlier this week, would replace the current surface transportation authorization included in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. That authorization will expire on September 30^th. 

The bill, which is expected to advance with broad bipartisan support, includes several significant county priorities. Most notably, it would increase annual funding for the Bridge Formula Program from roughly $5.5 billion to $9 billion – an investment that some lawmakers have described as the largest federal bridge investment in the program’s history. The measure also would establish a new 25 percent set-aside for locally owned bridges. 

In addition, the BUILD America 250 Act would expand the highly flexible Surface Transportation Block Grant program, which suballocates a portion of funding to regions for locally identified priorities. It also would preserve the Safe Streets and Roads for All grant program, which has been a successful program for counties and other local governments working to improve roadway safety. 

The measure also would retain the discretionary grant component of the PROTECT program, a key priority for counties seeking to strengthen infrastructure against extreme weather events and natural disasters. However, the bill would eliminate the program’s formula funding component. 

A major feature of the package is the creation of a new revenue stream for the Highway Trust Fund through annual fees on electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids. EV owners would pay $130 per year, while plug-in hybrid owners would pay $35 per year. Beginning in 2029, those fees would increase by $5 every two years, capped at $150 for EVs and $50 for plug-in hybrids. The EV fee is already emerging as a potential point of disagreement with the Senate. Key Senate Democrats have signaled opposition to new EV fees, while some Senate Republicans have argued that EV drivers should contribute to road maintenance. 

The bill also includes permitting and project delivery reforms, passenger rail investments and reforms, disaster recovery provisions, and a federal framework for autonomous commercial motor vehicles. 

Across Capitol Hill, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee is expected to release its own surface transportation proposal later this spring or summer, setting up negotiations between the two chambers. 

A section-by-section summary of the legislation can be accessed here. 

Padilla Presses Forest Service on Wildfire Cuts and Reorganization Proposal 

Senator Alex Padilla (D-CA) recently questioned U.S. Forest Service Chief Tom Schultz during a Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing on President Trump’s fiscal year (FY) 2027 budget request and the administration’s proposed Forest Service reorganization. 

Senator Padilla raised concerns that the budget would eliminate the existing State Fire Assistance and Volunteer Fire Assistance programs, which received a combined $97 million in fiscal year 2026, and replace them with a new $2.8 million Rural Fire Assistance grant program. Padilla characterized the proposal as a more than 97 percent cut and warned that reduced federal support for state and local fire agencies could leave communities with fewer resources, less capacity, and greater wildfire risk. 

Padilla also questioned the administration’s proposal to move the hazardous fuels reduction budget line item to the newly created U.S. Wildland Fire Service. He argued that separating wildfire risk reduction work from Forest Service land managers could weaken prescribed fire, forest management, and other mitigation efforts that depend on local landscape expertise. Schultz acknowledged that the change would require coordination and said the details have not yet been fully worked out. 

In addition, Padilla pressed Schultz on the planned closure of six of the eight Forest Service research facilities in California. Schultz committed to providing written justification for the closures, a cost-benefit analysis, and assurances that ongoing research would not lapse as a result of the reorganization.