Congress returns from a one-week break to try once again to fund Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and ICE for the fiscal year. New hurdles continue to pop-up: last month the hurdle was the inclusion of $1 billion in funds for security of the planned White House ballroom on the site of the now-demolished East Wing. That hurdle still exists but is joined by bipartisan concerns surrounding the $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund created as part of the settlement of the President’s lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Justice.

While those battles make the headlines, NAW is helping lead efforts to derail the Faster Labor Contracts Act in the House of Representatives, now on track for floor vote. Lauren shares the details below, but politically this legislation is a clear signal that pro-union populism is a force inside the Republican Conference. We have been concerned about the erosion of free enterprise policy for a while, a growing alignment of younger Republicans seeking to burnish their “working man” credentials by supporting union bosses. This pro-union wing of the GOP invited Teamsters President Sean O’Brien to speak at the Republican National Convention, hosts regular meetings with union leaders, and are about to force debate on a bill allowing government arbitrators to set employment contracts.