By Eduardo Bacci — The Investigative Journal
Capitol Hill spent the final stretch of April working two tracks at once: a contentious confirmation fight over President Trump’s nominee to run the Federal Reserve and a grinding appropriations schedule that is starting to produce actual Fiscal Year 2027 bills. A Senate roll call on a Republican concurrent resolution on April 23 showed the chamber’s familiar 50-48 fault line, while House appropriators cleared two of the twelve FY27 bills out of subcommittee before members dispersed for the weekend. Below is a digest of the most consequential developments reported through public records, hearing transcripts, and committee statements.
1. Warsh confirmation hearing exposes Senate fault lines on Fed independence
Former Fed Governor Kevin Warsh, President Trump’s nominee to chair the Federal Reserve, appeared before the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee on April 21 for a four-hour confirmation hearing that veered repeatedly into questions about central bank independence. Records of the hearing show Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) pressing Warsh on whether he would act as the president’s “human sock puppet,” a formulation Warsh rejected by committing to be “an independent actor, if confirmed” and stating he would not adjust interest rates in response to political pressure from the White House.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) used her questioning to enter into the record a list of the administration’s efforts to influence sitting Fed governors, arguing that “the president has repeatedly and illegally attempted to take over the Fed.” Warsh did not dispute the factual predicate but declined to characterize the White House’s posture. On substance, the nominee telegraphed significant changes to Fed operating practice: he called for “a regime change in the conduct of policy,” endorsed a “different, new inflation framework,” and declined to commit to continuing the post-2008 practice of regular press conferences or formal forward guidance.
The more consequential procedural development came from Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), who told the committee he otherwise supported Warsh but would hold up the nomination in committee pending resolution of an ongoing investigation involving current Fed Chair Jerome Powell. “Let’s get rid of this investigation, so I can support your confirmation,” Tillis said, according to the hearing record. With a narrow Banking Committee majority, a single Republican defection is enough to stall the vote, and the nomination is now in a holding pattern while negotiations continue. Links to the committee’s official notice are available at banking.senate.gov.
2. Senate adopts concurrent resolution 50-48; House on recess
The Senate conducted one recorded vote this week of note: roll call vote 105 on April 23, on a concurrent resolution that was agreed to 50 Yeas, 48 Nays, and 2 Not Voting. The vote fell almost entirely along party lines and is cataloged in the official Senate vote menu for the 119th Congress, 2nd Session. The House, by contrast, had no floor votes on April 24; the House Clerk’s office shows the next scheduled votes for Monday, April 27, with members in their districts for a constituent work period for the balance of the week. The most recent House roll call was number 108 on H. Res. 1142.
The quiet House floor belied a busy committee calendar. Full records of all 119th Congress roll calls are maintained at congress.gov/roll-call-votes, and the House Clerk’s vote archive is available at clerk.house.gov.
3. Appropriations subcommittees clear two FY27 bills
The House Appropriations Committee put two of the twelve regular Fiscal Year 2027 spending bills on track this week. On the morning of April 23, the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Subcommittee approved its FY27 bill on a voice vote. Hours earlier, the National Security, Department of State, and Related Programs Subcommittee marked up and approved its bill, the text of which was publicly released on April 22. According to committee statements, the National Security bill “prioritizes American interests, supports our allies, and confronts our adversaries,” with particular attention to counter-China programs and border-adjacent foreign assistance accounts.
The two subcommittee markups are the opening skirmishes in a FY27 cycle that begins October 1. Records from the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget indicate the FY26 cycle was completed through H.R. 7147 and H.R. 7148, meaning appropriators enter FY27 with a clean slate rather than a pile of continuing resolutions to unwind. Full bill text and reports are being posted as they clear subcommittee at appropriations.house.gov.
4. Ways and Means grills USTR Greer on Trump trade policy
On April 22 at 10:00 a.m. in Room 1100 Longworth, the House Committee on Ways and Means held a full committee hearing with U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer on the Trump administration’s 2026 trade policy agenda. In his opening statement, Chairman Jason Smith (R-Mo.) framed the hearing around what he called the need to continue “tearing down trade barriers that hurt American producers and workers.” Greer’s written testimony, posted on the USTR website, reported that the administration has signed more than 18 new trade agreements or frameworks since January 2025 and that the U.S. goods trade deficit fell 24 percent from April 2025 through February 2026 under the reciprocal trade program.
Members from both parties pressed Greer on specifics. Rep. Claudia Tenney (R-N.Y.) raised Canadian restrictions on dairy, wine, and bulk produce exports that she said were harming producers in upstate New York. Rep. Carol Miller (R-W.Va.) pushed on digital trade policy, the e-commerce tariff moratorium at the World Trade Organization, and the status of the Jackson-Vanik amendment. The hearing record and Greer’s statement are posted at the Ways and Means committee page, waysandmeans.house.gov, and at ustr.gov.
5. Oversight subpoena fight deepens over Epstein records
The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform is in an extended standoff with former Attorney General Pam Bondi over a deposition subpoena tied to the committee’s investigation into the Department of Justice’s handling of Jeffrey Epstein records. Filings indicate Bondi was scheduled to appear for a deposition on April 14 but did not appear. The Justice Department has argued, in correspondence with the committee, that the subpoena is no longer enforceable because it was served on Bondi in her official capacity, a role she no longer holds. Ranking Member Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) disputes that interpretation; in a statement released through the committee’s Democratic office, Garcia said the “subpoena stands, whether Pam Bondi is the Attorney General or not.”
The broader investigative frame, according to committee records, encompasses a wider subpoena package issued by Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) that covers former U.S. Attorneys General, former FBI Directors, and records relating to Jeffrey Epstein — including correspondence involving Bill and Hillary Clinton. Comer has also publicly acknowledged that the current Justice Department is, in his formulation, “complying” with the records subpoena directed at the department itself. Whether the Bondi deposition is ultimately enforced through civil process, referral, or negotiated testimony remains unresolved; records suggest the committee is weighing its next procedural step after the April recess. Pending-case caveat: no court has ruled on the enforceability of the post-tenure subpoena. Primary documents are posted at oversight.house.gov and the minority site, oversightdemocrats.house.gov.
Separately, Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.) on April 22 moved in the House Committee on Homeland Security to subpoena White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy Stephen Miller and Border Czar Tom Homan after both declined to appear voluntarily. The motion sets up a committee vote that will test the GOP majority’s appetite for compelling senior White House testimony on border enforcement policy.
6. Senate Judiciary turns spotlight on Chinese IP theft — and on AI
The Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing during the week titled “Stealth Stealing: China’s Ongoing Theft of U.S. Innovation,” with Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) presiding as chair for the session. Witnesses and members cited estimates — originally developed by the bipartisan Commission on the Theft of American Intellectual Property — placing annual U.S. losses to Chinese IP theft at between $400 billion and $600 billion, and described what members characterized as China’s transition “from imitator to innovator” in sensitive technology categories.
The hearing took an unexpected turn when Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) shifted questioning toward artificial intelligence, asking whether it would benefit the United States to “win” the AI race against China if domestic AI deployment displaced millions of American workers and, in his words, “destroyed the IP system” that the hearing was convened to protect. The exchange, covered in specialist coverage by IPWatchdog, illustrates a growing intraparty fissure among Senate Republicans over AI policy — with economic-populist senators pushing back on the industrial-policy case advanced by their colleagues. The hearing record is at judiciary.senate.gov.
7. CBO publishes economic sensitivity analysis, flags deficit risk
The Congressional Budget Office on April 21 released a supplemental economic-sensitivity report analyzing how revenues, outlays, and deficits would change if key economic variables diverged from the agency’s baseline forecast. CBO modeled four alternative scenarios; in each, the cumulative deficit for the 2027–2036 window ended up larger than the baseline, by a range of $166 billion to $379 billion.
Separately, CBO’s monthly budget review showed the federal deficit totaled $1.2 trillion in the first half of FY26, which is $139 billion less than the corresponding period a year earlier, a modest narrowing driven largely by higher tariff receipts and lower disaster-relief outlays. CBO’s full-year projection remains a $1.9 trillion deficit in FY26, with federal debt held by the public projected to reach 120 percent of GDP by 2036 under current-law assumptions. The sensitivity analysis and accompanying tables are available at cbo.gov/publication/62257; the broader outlook is at cbo.gov/publication/61882.
8. Bipartisan introductions: Medicare Advantage, veterans’ mental health
Two bipartisan bills of note were introduced in the last ten days. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-Iowa) and other physician members of the Congressional Doctors Caucus introduced the Medicare Advantage Improvement Act of 2026, which according to its sponsors would increase transparency, impose additional accountability on Medicare Advantage plan denials, and align coverage standards more closely with traditional Medicare. The bill responds to a multi-year stream of complaints to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services about prior-authorization practices in Medicare Advantage.
In the Senate, Sens. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) and Chris Coons (D-Del.) introduced the Every State Counts for Veterans Mental Health Act, which would give priority consideration under the SSG Fox Suicide Prevention Grant Program to entities located in states — such as North Dakota — that have not previously received a grant. Both bills are at the introduction stage and await committee referral. Text and sponsor lists are available through congress.gov.
Looking ahead: week of April 27
Records from the Senate Daily Press office and the House Appropriations Committee show the following key items on deck:
- Monday, April 27 — Senate reconvenes at 3:00 p.m.; a cloture vote on the nomination of Robert Cekada to be Director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is set for 5:30 p.m. House Appropriations holds a 3:30 p.m. budget hearing on the Environmental Protection Agency and a 4:30 p.m. budget hearing on the U.S. Air Force and Space Force.
- Thursday, April 30 — House Appropriations budget hearing on the Indian Health Service at 9:30 a.m.
- Tentative — Senate Banking may move toward a Warsh committee vote if the Tillis-Powell investigation dispute is resolved; records suggest no vote is yet scheduled.
The Senate Daily Press schedule is at dailypress.senate.gov, and the House legislative activity calendar is at house.gov/legislative-activity.
Items relevant to TIJ’s investigative beats
Two threads from this week’s activity intersect directly with the reporting beats TIJ has been tracking. First, the Oversight Committee’s Epstein-records subpoena fight — and the extension of that inquiry to former U.S. Attorneys General and former FBI Directors — is the most significant congressional attempt in years to pry loose documentary records that the Justice Department has historically withheld. Whether the committee moves to enforce the Bondi deposition subpoena, or settles for documentary production, will shape the investigative landscape for the remainder of the session. Second, the Senate Judiciary hearing on Chinese IP theft is directly relevant to TIJ’s ongoing coverage of Chinese-affiliated logistics and technology firms operating in North America; the estimates and testimony entered into the hearing record provide citable baselines for follow-on investigative work.
Right-of-reply note: Neither the office of former Attorney General Pam Bondi nor the White House press office has issued public responses to the specific subpoena correspondence described above beyond the Justice Department’s letter asserting the subpoena lapsed with Bondi’s tenure. TIJ will update this digest if statements are released.
Sources: Senate roll-call records (senate.gov); House Clerk vote archive (clerk.house.gov); Senate Banking Committee nomination hearing notice (banking.senate.gov); House Ways and Means event page and Chairman Smith opening statement (waysandmeans.house.gov); USTR Greer opening statement (ustr.gov); House Oversight Committee press releases (oversight.house.gov, oversightdemocrats.house.gov); Senate Judiciary Committee hearings page (judiciary.senate.gov); Congressional Budget Office reports 62257 and 61882 (cbo.gov); House Appropriations Committee releases (appropriations.house.gov); Senate Daily Press and House legislative activity schedules.