Congress shifted into full appropriations mode the week of June 4 as both the House and Senate began subcommittee markups of the twelve individual appropriations bills. As the White House and congressional Democrats continue to trade barbs about potential vetoes of spending bills above President Bush's request, the House is scheduled to consider its first four appropriations bills on the floor this week — all of which exceed the president's requested spending levels.

Two House Democrats are circulating a draft of legislation that, if passed, would effectively implement the position the Bush administration held regarding greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions prior to a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling. The legislation threatens to create enough disarray among Democrats that the hope for progress on GHGs generated by the court decision and the 2006 elections could be dashed.

By a vote of 396-22, the House approved new lobbying reform legislation on May 24 when it passed the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act of 2007 (H.R. 2316). The bill increases the reporting requirements for registered lobbyists, establishes a new electronic disclosure system, imposes new penalties for violating lobbying laws, and includes the controversial proposal to require registered lobbyists to report their bundled campaign contributions (H.R. 2317). The bill will now go to conference committee with a similar Senate bill that was passed in January.

The Nuclear Information and Resource Service (NIRS), a nonprofit organization, released a report on May 14 that exposes Department of Energy (DOE) practices of dumping nuclear-related waste in facilities that are unregulated and not designed for radioactive material. NIRS found that DOE's policies and procedures are geared toward the "release of radioactive waste, materials and property from regulatory control."