VP Harris traveled to a rally in Milwaukee, WI, on Tuesday (July 23), the site of the Republican National Convention, to launch her campaign for the presidency and draw contrasts with former President Trump, who she said "intends to cut Social Security and Medicare, … give tax breaks to billionaires and big corporations and make working families foot the bill, … and end the Affordable Care Act and take us back then to a time when insurance companies had the power to deny people with pre-existing conditions. We are not going back." The next stops for VP Harris are Indianapolis and Houston.

While she didn't venture too far into policy specifics, there have been press stories suggesting some continuity with President Biden's proposals. A story in the July 23 Wall Street Journal said, "Harris would be unlikely to dramatically alter the policy positions adopted by the Biden-Harris campaign so close to the election, some of her allies say. She has already been traveling the country campaigning on the administration's policies … " The report said policy areas where VP Harris may diverge from President Biden are healthcare, trade, climate and taxes. It noted that, as a 2020 candidate, she pivoted from Medicare for All to "a more moderate proposal to expand access to Medicare while keeping private insurance intact," then backed Biden efforts to build on the ACA. Also mentioned was the fact that, as a candidate for the 2020 nomination, then-Senator Harris called for repeal of the Tax Cuts & Jobs Act (TCJA), which would return the corporate tax rate back up to 35%, while President Biden has called for extending the TCJA for those with incomes under $400,000.

A story in the July 23 Washington Post said: "many observers expect Harris's campaign to largely pick up where Biden left off on the economy … Two senior Democrats … said that Harris has been supportive of Biden's agenda even in private conversations, rarely objecting on controversial ideas among Democrats such as rent caps or mass student debt relief. Some policy experts who have worked closely with her office expect her to emphasize her commitment to improving 'the care economy' through federal investments to improve childcare, elder care and home care for people with disabilities."

Tax — There are Senate votes planned today (July 24) on the two Tax Court nominations set up for consideration prior to last week's recess. At 3:15 p.m., the Senate will hold a procedural vote on the nomination of Kashi Way to be a Judge of the United States Tax Court for a term of fifteen years. Then, at 5 p.m., a procedural vote will be held on the nomination of Adam B. Landy to be a Judge of the United States Tax Court for a term of fifteen years. Prior to then, at 2 p.m., Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will address a Joint Meeting of Congress.

Those nominations are part of the first tranche of three nominations, to fill six vacant seats on the Tax Court. On Thursday July 25 (9:30 a.m.), the Senate Finance Committee is holding an executive session to vote on the second group of three, the nominations of Jeffrey Samuel Arbeit (currently Legislation Counsel with the staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation), Benjamin A. Guider III, and Cathy Fung to be Tax Court judges. There will be opening statements during the morning meeting but there is the expectation there won't be a quorum present for votes, which would likely be conducted later in the day, off the Senate floor.

Next week, on Tuesday, July 30 (10 a.m.), the Finance Committee is scheduled to hold a hearing on Tax Tools for Local Economic Development, with at least some expected focus on Opportunity Zones.

Meanwhile, there has been some reporting that the House could scrap next week's session and leave for the August recess a week early, with a decision to be announced as soon as today. Late last night, the House put off a vote on the Energy and Water Appropriations bill (H.R. 8997) due to insufficient support. "Republicans' inability to coalesce around their own fiscal 2025 funding bills, a number of which are normally noncontroversial, once again underscores the conference's divisions over spending, with conservatives and vulnerable moderates warring over proposed cuts and policy provisions," Politico reported. The chamber may take up the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations bill (H.R. 8998) today. The Ways & Means Committee is marking up child support and child welfare bills today.

Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ) is widely reported as planning to leave Congress on August 20, which would create a vacancy on the Finance Committee. Selecting a replacement on the committee is leadership's decision but one name widely floated as a contender is Cory Booker (D-NJ), the other Senator from New Jersey. Senator Raphael Warnock (D-GA) has also been discussed in relation to the Finance seat opening. Currently, three more seats are open in the next Congress because of Democrats retiring (Cardin, Carper, Stabenow).

Congress — Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) on Tuesday (July 23) announced that the Senate will vote this week on advancing the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) and the Children's and Teens Online Protection Act (COPPA), emphasizing the need for improved internet safety for children and teens. Senator Schumer said Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) are behind the KOSA bill, and thanked Senators Ed Markey (D-MA) and Bill Cassidy (R-LA) for COPPA. Leader Schumer filed a procedural motion related to the bills and filled the amendment tree, which in Senate parlance is a maneuver, as the Congressional Research Service (CRS) describes, employed by the Majority Leader "to prevent the offering of or voting on of non-germane amendments to try to speed consideration of a measure or to control the subject or sequence of amendments that may be offered."

The AP said there is the hope that the online safety package, which "could become the first sweeping new regulation of the tech industry in decades," could pass before the chamber leaves for its August recess, planned for the end of next week. Further, "The bill's prospects in the House are so far unclear. But if it passes the Senate with an overwhelming bipartisan vote — as it is expected to — advocates hope it will put pressure on House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., to bring it up before the November election … "

The Senate's focus on the bill likely means the chamber won't conduct a vote prior to the August recess on the House-passed Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act (H.R. 7024) that would expand the Child Tax Credit and the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC); address the TCJA pre-cliffs on IRC Section 174 five-year R&D amortization, 163(j) interest deductibility, and bonus depreciation; and provide disaster relief and tax treaty benefits with Taiwan. The vote would be expected to fail anyway, lacking GOP support to meet the 60-vote filibuster threshold that applies to most legislation, but could put Republicans on record.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D-OR) continues to cite Republican intransigence for preventing a vote. "The ball is in their court," Wyden said in the Bloomberg Daily Tax Report. "It sounds a little bit like, 'Hey, we'll wait until 2025, then we can get that corporate tax breaks for our buddies, and who cares about the family stuff.'" Morning Tax today: "Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), one of the minority of Senate Republicans who has expressed support for the tax bill, said he now thinks it's dead. 'I think that we've decided that if we wait when we [have] the Senate majority, that we will have a better chance of getting a little bit better bill through the finish line,' Marshall said."