Both the House and Senate are back in session today (Monday, February 9) through Thursday for the House and Friday for the Senate before a planned President's Day recess next week (beginning February 16). At 6:30 p.m. today, the House will begin suspension votes on a series of bills from the Financial Services Committee, including the "Financial Stability Oversight Council Improvement Act" (H.R. 3682). Later in the week are planned votes on bills including the "Securing America's Critical Minerals Supply Act" (H.R. 3617).

Also among the bills set for House votes today is the "Housing for the 21st Century Act," which addresses housing supply issues, rural housing, affordable housing, transparency, consumer protection, and other areas. The bipartisan bill, by Financial Services Chairman French Hill (R-AR) and Ranking Member Maxine Waters (D-CA), is intended to streamline housing development and affordability by updating outdated programs, easing regulations and increasing local flexibility. It was approved by Financial Services by a 50-1 vote in December.

The bill is viewed as the chamber's negotiation position for a potential housing compromise with the Senate's "ROAD to Housing Act," which House Chairman Hill rejected for inclusion in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) last year.

On Tuesday, February 10 at 10 a.m., the House Ways and Means Committee is scheduled to hold a hearing on "Foreign Influence in American Non-profits: Unmasking Threats from Beijing and Beyond." Witnesses:

• Scott Walter, Capital Research Center
• Caitlin Sutherland, Americans for Public Trust
• Adam Sohn, NCRI and Narravance
• Bruce Dubinsky, Dubinsky Consulting
• Robert Weissman, Public Citizen

At 5:30 p.m. today, the Senate will hold a procedural vote related to the nomination of Daniel Burrows to be an Assistant Attorney General.

The Senate Finance Committee has noticed a hearing entitled, "The U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement: Evaluating North American Competitiveness," for Thursday, February 12, at 10 a.m. The hearing comes as the U.S., Mexico, and Canada prepare for the statutory review of the free trade agreement. Witnesses will include:

• Kevin Brady, Former Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee
• Eric Gottwald, AFL-CIO
• Paul McCarthy, Vehicle Suppliers Association
• Ted Vander Schaaf, Vander Schaaf Farms, an Idaho dairy farm

On the congressional agenda this week is continued negotiation on reforms to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) enforcement procedures, with temporary DHS funding expiring at the end of the week. The process promises to be difficult given competing priorities of members of the two parties and threatens the Senate's President's Day recess.

State tax — The Senate may also vote on the House-passed disapproval resolution on Washington, DC Council action related to "One Big Beautiful Bill Act" (OBBBA) conformity. "Senate Republicans might need to pass the resolution this week to ensure they beat the 30-legislative day deadline afforded to Congress to strike down most D.C. laws," Morning Tax reported. While states regularly decide not to adopt every new change from a new federal tax law, "What is new is Congress striking down a D.C. tax measure, something that Democrats repeatedly have noted last week hasn't been done before under the 1970s law governing federal oversight of laws in the nation's capital."

H. J. Res. 142, Disapproving the action of the District of Columbia Council in approving the D.C. Income and Franchise Tax Conformity and Revision Temporary Amendment Act of 2025, passed the House 215-210 along party lines February 4. The joint resolution nullifies legislation enacted by the Council of the District of Columbia (DC) on December 20, 2025, and reinstates certain DC tax code provisions that were in place before the enactment of the DC legislation and that address, among other things, the standard tax deduction, taxation of tipped wages, and depreciation of qualified property.

The Congressional Research Service said: "DC automatically adopts, as DC law, changes to federal tax law (known as rolling conformity). Upon enactment of H.R.1 (commonly known as the "One Big Beautiful Bill Act"), its tax provisions became DC law, including provisions that increase the standard tax deduction, exempt tips from taxable income, and provide for an elective 100% depreciation allowance for nonresidential real property. The DC legislation subsequently decoupled the DC tax code from these and other tax provisions that originated in H.R.1, and it amended several other provisions in the DC tax code, including restoring the DC child tax credit."

Trade — A decision by the Supreme Court on whether the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) authorizes the President to impose tariffs is still pending, and the Court is currently on a recess. Asked on Fox "Sunday Morning Futures" about the Administration's plan if the Supreme Court rules against the President, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said, "Well, it would be a gigantic loss for the American people. President Trump has used his IEEPA authority consistently throughout the year to negotiate better deals for the American people. And it's an emergency authority."

The latest WCEY Trade Lines Alert is available here.

Cryptocurrency — Asked about "crypto legislation that seems to be hung up in the Senate," Sec. Bessent said, "I think what we're seeing in the crypto market over the past few months means more than ever that the US, we need market structure, we need clarity, and we need to get this across the line this spring."

Punchbowl News February 8 pondered whether congressional inaction contributed to declining crypto values. On the flip side, "The question now for lawmakers — mostly Democrats — is whether crypto's volatility makes a bipartisan market structure effort a political liability among voters," the report said.