Committee Watch: Election Interference, Threats to the Homeland & Yellowstone Grizzlies

Before bills and nominations are brought up for a passage vote in Congress, they typically have to be considered and approved by relevant committees ― which also conduct oversight of federal agencies. Here’s a look at what Congressional committees will be holding hearings on this week.

Schedule subject to change. All times Eastern.

Wednesday

• The Senate Homeland Security Committee will hold a hearing regarding “Threats to the Homeland” featuring testimony from DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, FBI Director Christopher Wray, and the acting director of the National Counterterrorism Center. 8:30am
• The Senate Environment Committee will hold a hearing titled “From Yellowstone’s Grizzly Bear to the Chesapeake’s Delmarva Fox Squirrel -- Successful State Conservation, Recovery, and Management of Wildlife”. 10am
• The Senate Commerce Committee will hold a hearing titled “Consumer Data Privacy: Examining Lessons From the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation and the California Consumer Privacy Act”. 10am

Thursday

• The Senate Armed Services Committee will receive a closed briefing on the military threat posed by near peer adversaries China and Russia. 9:30am
• The Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing to advance S. 2785: DETER Act and S. 3178: Justice for Victims of Lynching Act in addition to a slate of pending judicial nominations, expected to include at least eight district court judges and one circuit court judge. 10am
• The Senate Energy Committee will hold a hearing to examine blackstart, which is the process for returning energy to the power grid after a system-wide blackout and other system restoratin plans. 10am
• The Senate Banking Committee will hold a hearing to examine the cryptocurrency and blockchain ecosystem. 10am

Tell your reps what you think they should be focusing on and share your thoughts on the week’s schedule in the comments below!

― Eric Revell