Good morning. I hope you’ve had a nice week. It’s been relatively peaceful here in D.C., with both chambers on recess. The Senate is scheduled to return Monday afternoon. The House won’t be back until June 14.

Senate Process Allows Member Input For Once

The Senate will soon vote on the Innovation and Competition Act, a massive bill to invest in research and development and counter the Chinese government. 

The legislation, currently more than 2,400 pages long, calls for science funding for a number of U.S. agencies and includes about $50 billion for America’s semiconductor industry. It would also create a new technology directorate at the National Science Foundation to research areas like artificial intelligence. The package incorporates the Senate Foreign Relations Committee’s China bill, the Strategic Competition Act, among other items.

Members were expected to approve it last week, but Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer pushed a final vote back amid chaotic delays on the floor as senators jockeyed to include their goals in the measure. The bill will go to the House next, where members there will certainly want to add their own priorities and make changes to the Senate’s version. It’s not clear what a final version of the package will look like, or if it will ultimately be able to pass at all.