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August Recess Looms over Congress’s Unfinished Business

July 28, 2026

The House advanced several key initiatives last week before leaving DC for the August recess, but the bills as written are not likely to pass the Senate. 

Why it matters: Congress must pass a government funding bill before September 30. Republicans want to advance spending priorities in Reconciliation 3.0, and the White House is pressing for additional funds for the miliary amid the ongoing Iran war. 

• Although the House votes were a victory for Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and President Trump, the Senate vote math is more complicated with the filibuster and growing group of disaffected GOP senators. 
• The White House has been openly critical of Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) amid the stalled SAVE America Act, which does not have the votes to advance in the Senate. 

Government Funding: The House passed H.R. 9770, the Continuing Appropriations Act, 2027, last week by a vote of 220-205. 

• The bill would extend current funding through December 4 and is intended to avoid a September 30 shutdown while preserving additional time for FY2027 appropriations negotiations.
• Thune said that the Senate will not take up the House-passed CR this week, but will instead move forward with their own package that will include anomalies negotiated with the White House.

Budget Reconciliation: Reconciliation now shifts to the Senate after the House passed H. Con. Res. 113 last week, a $95 billion FY2027 budget resolution intended to unlock the next party-line reconciliation package. 

• The resolution is narrowly focused on defense funding, election-related provisions, and farm aid, with instructions to the House Administration, Agriculture, Armed Services, and Intelligence Committees to develop legislation by September 11.
• The Senate path remains uncertain. Thune has indicated that they will not move on Reconciliation before they pass a government funding bill, which effectively puts the package on ice before the August recess. 

NDAA: The House passed H.R. 8800, the FY2027 National Defense Authorization Act, last week after a difficult and highly partisan floor process. 

• The final House vote was narrow, reflecting Democratic opposition to the bill’s topline defense spending level and policy riders, as well as some GOP defections.
• The Senate has not yet passed its own version, and the final conference process is likely to be complicated by provisions added in the House. These include election-related language and several conservative policy amendments that the Senate is expected to revisit.

Contact David McCarthy (dmccarthy@crefc.org) with questions. 

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House Committee Advances Data Center Energy Bill

July 28, 2026

The House Energy and Commerce Committee unanimously advanced the Rate Payer Protection Act (H.R. 9340) last week. 

Why it matters: We previously covered subcommittee action on this bill, which is intended to shift the cost of utility grid upgrades to large power users. 

• The action is one of the first federal legislative efforts to address growing voter concerns and backlash against data centers and utility prices. It largely mirrors President Trump’s Rate Payer Protection Pledge. 
• The bill advanced 52-0.

Go deeper: Ahead of the committee markup, the legislation was narrowed to apply only to data centers. Originally it would have targeted all power uses above 100 megawatts. 

• If enacted the bill would require state regulatory commissions to consider establishing a large-load standard to provide that a rate charged to a large-load customer shall recover the full, incremental cost of any generation, transmission, or distribution upgrade necessary to serve the load of such customer and to provide for financial assurances to cover such upgrades.
• Even if the federal bill becomes law, states could choose to enact or not enact the policy. 
• Sen. Jon Husted (R-OH) introduced a companion bill S. 5028. Husted is in a tough reelection fight where data centers have been featured in attack ads.

What they’re saying: While Republicans and Democrats supported the bill, there were clear differences on how far federal efforts should go. 

Committee Chairman Brett Guthrie (R-KY) opposes a blanket moratorium and urged balance between A.I. innovation and costs: 

What’s next: The House is out until August 31, but it could attempt to vote on the legislation before the election break in October. 

• If Democrats take control of the House, Pallone would likely become chairman of the committee and have significant control over new legislation focused on data centers. 
  
• Even if H.R. 9340 becomes law, the continued political focus will likely remain. 
  

Contact David McCarthy (dmccarthy@crefc.org) with questions.

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New CREFC Signal Podcast Episode Just Released

July 28, 2026

Episode #2 │ Bank Capital Proposals: What’s Changed, What It Means for CRE Finance, and CREFC’s Plan of Action

David McCarthy, CREFC’s Managing Director, Chief Lobbyist, and Head of Legislative Affairs, is joined by Sairah Burki, Managing Director and Head of Regulatory Affairs at CREFC, and Matthew G. Bisanz, Partner at Mayer Brown LLP, to discuss the recently released bank capital proposals from U.S. regulators and what they could mean for CRE lenders, issuers, and the broader market. The conversation explores what changed from the 2023 proposal, what’s at stake, CREFC’s plan of action, and what comes next.

What they are saying.

• “This is not a ‘submit a letter and walk away’ issue. This bank capital framework is going to shape CRE finance for the next decade or more, so the engagement will definitely continue.” – Sairah Burki
• “If warehouse facilities become punitively more expensive for banks, loan originators will have fewer options for aggregating loans pre-securitization, which could raise execution costs across the CMBS market.” -- Matthew Bisanz

Where to listen:

• Signal Podcast Homepage
• Apple Podcasts
• Spotify

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