Washington Watch
Welcome to the First Session of the 119th Congress.
The U.S. Senate is in session this week, but the House is in an unscheduled recess following last week’s return to Washington to vote on the budget reconciliation bill.
The focus in Washington this week will be on the Administration and what happens Wednesday, which is the President’s self-imposed deadline for executing trade deals. Based on messaging over the weekend from several Administration officials, it appears likely that this week’s deadline will be extended into August. According to Administration comments to the media, letters will be sent today to a number of countries urging them to come to the table or face April 2 tariff levels on August 1.
In the Senate, the National Defense Authorization Act will be the focus with several markup sessions scheduled in the Senate Armed Services Committee. On Thursday, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee will hold a hearing on the President’s Fiscal Year 2026 budget request for the U.S. Forest Service.
U.S. House of Representatives - Schedule for the week of July 7, 2025
U.S. Senate - Schedule for the week of July 7, 2025
- The Senate comes back into Session on Tuesday.
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Cheat Sheet
July 10, 2025
Trade Deadline Delayed: On July 7, President Trump signed an Executive Order executive order extending the deadline for forging trade deals from July 9 to August 1. The action effectively extends the baseline additional 10 percent “reciprocal” tariff on all countries (except Mexico, Canada and China) until August. This pause is an extension of the original pause in the “reciprocal” tariffs that were announced on April 2. The pause has been in place since April 9.
The President sent letters to 14 countries that have not yet come to the table to negotiate a new trade agreement with the U.S. You can see the list of countries contacted and the new tariff rates here. Although the White House has signaled that trade agreements are being forged and may be revealed in the next day or two, nothing has been announced yet.
Hearing on Forest Service Budget: The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee held a hearing this morning on the U.S. Forest Service’s Fiscal Year 2026 budget. The proposed budget reduces funding for Forest Service functions and delegates wildfire management to the Interior Department. Forest Service Chief Tom Shultz is the sole witness. In questioning this morning, Senator Steve Daines (R-MT) asked Chief Shultz if the Forest Service would prioritize implementation of language in the recently enacted budget reconciliation legislation to increase timber production on federal lands. Chief Shultz responded that the USFS would take steps necessary to ensure that an increase of 250 million board feet of timber is produced from federal lands year over year going forward.
Farm Bill Fall Resurrection: House Agriculture Committee Chairman Glenn Thompson (R-PA) appears to have moved off his goal of marking up Farm Bill reauthorization legislation before the August recess. He had signaled to committee staff in late June that he wanted to proceed on a Farm Bill markup in late July. He is now signaling that his committee will try to proceed in mid-September. The Hardwood Federation team continues to advocate for full funding and authorization of the Wood Innovation and Community Wood grant programs, as well as a robust Forest Inventory and Analysis program, inclusion of Jobs in the Woods Act provisions and language recognizing the carbon neutrality of forest-based biomass energy.
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