The Imperial March

03 Mar The Imperial March

Coming in like a lion, March 2020 promises to move the ball somewhere on the Democratic presidential process with Super Tuesday tomorrow followed by 13 other elections the rest of the month. Aside from the political theater, the unsettling specter of the coronavirus has begun to cast its shadow over Washington with supplemental funding to deal with the growing outbreak expected in the House and then possibly the Senate this week. Both chambers are in the middle of a three-week work period (was it just last month that we were dealing with an impeachment trial?) with a week break in the middle of the month coinciding with St. Patrick’s Day and then a two week work period before the traditional Spring recess in April. Congress will continue to follow through regular order as best that it can, with full hearing schedules on both sides of the Hill, including appearances by Trump Administration officials as part of the Administration’s FY21 budget proposal and the appropriations process, three House Financial Services Committee (HFSC) hearings focused on Wells Fargo and testimony from Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Director Kraninger and Comptroller Otting in Senate Banking. We cover these and other issues below in a brief preview of what we believe will be the focus in Washington in March, subject as always to external or unexpected events that could disrupt the schedule.