Apollo Counsel https://apollocounsel.com/ Commentary on what is moving in Congress and the federal agencies, plus the weekly congressional schedule. en-us This Week on the Hill — Week of September 21, 2026https://apollocounsel.com/hill/2026-09-21/https://apollocounsel.com/hill/2026-09-21/Mon, 21 Sep 2026 00:00:00 -0400The congressional floor and committee schedule for the week of September 21, 2026 (7 items). AI Safety, Recess Editionhttps://apollocounsel.com/insights/ai-safety-legislation-recess-2026/https://apollocounsel.com/insights/ai-safety-legislation-recess-2026/Thu, 17 Sep 2026 00:00:00 -0400Panic over AI reaches a fever pitch; Speaker Johnson responds by starting recess early. The House returns after Election Day as the Senate bides its time. Responding to a congressional oversight letter: the first 72 hourshttps://apollocounsel.com/insights/congressional-oversight-letter-first-72-hours/https://apollocounsel.com/insights/congressional-oversight-letter-first-72-hours/Mon, 14 Sep 2026 00:00:00 -0400A committee letter is a request, not a court order — and the first three days are about reading the letterhead, preserving everything, and getting on the record before a deadline you cannot meet runs out. Community project funding for FY2028: the calendar and what a request needshttps://apollocounsel.com/insights/community-project-funding-fy2028/https://apollocounsel.com/insights/community-project-funding-fy2028/Mon, 14 Sep 2026 00:00:00 -0400The request window opens in late winter and closes inside a few weeks — and member offices stop taking requests weeks before the Appropriations Committees do. No FY2028 guidance exists yet; the FY2027 rules are the only responsible template. When CMS changes what Medicare pays: the calendar, and where the decisions get madehttps://apollocounsel.com/insights/cms-medicare-payment-change-when-to-engage/https://apollocounsel.com/insights/cms-medicare-payment-change-when-to-engage/Mon, 14 Sep 2026 00:00:00 -0400The comment window on a Medicare payment rule closes roughly 60 days after the proposed rule publishes — and that calendar is fixed, published years ahead, and almost entirely knowable. Commenting on a federal rule: what actually gets readhttps://apollocounsel.com/insights/federal-rulemaking-comment-what-gets-read/https://apollocounsel.com/insights/federal-rulemaking-comment-what-gets-read/Mon, 14 Sep 2026 00:00:00 -0400Rulemaking is not a vote. What gives a comment force is the agency’s duty to respond to significant comments, the logical-outgrowth rule, and the fact that an argument not raised is generally lost on judicial review. You have been invited to testify: what happens between the letter and the gavelhttps://apollocounsel.com/insights/invited-to-testify-before-congress/https://apollocounsel.com/insights/invited-to-testify-before-congress/Mon, 14 Sep 2026 00:00:00 -0400An invitation is a letter, not an order — but declining invites a subpoena and an empty chair, and nearly all of the outcome is decided in the written statement and the disclosure form filed days before you sit down. LDA registration and the 20 percent test, in plain Englishhttps://apollocounsel.com/insights/lda-registration-20-percent-test/https://apollocounsel.com/insights/lda-registration-20-percent-test/Mon, 14 Sep 2026 00:00:00 -0400The 20 percent test does not measure time spent talking to Congress. It measures lobbying activities — which the statute defines to include the preparation, research and coordination behind a contact. This Week on the Hill — Week of September 14, 2026https://apollocounsel.com/hill/2026-09-14/https://apollocounsel.com/hill/2026-09-14/Mon, 14 Sep 2026 00:00:00 -0400The congressional floor and committee schedule for the week of September 14, 2026 (4 items). SNAP out of it: the traditional Farm Bill coalition isn’t coming back togetherhttps://apollocounsel.com/insights/senate-agriculture-farm-bill-2026/https://apollocounsel.com/insights/senate-agriculture-farm-bill-2026/Tue, 08 Sep 2026 00:00:00 -0400All Senate Agriculture Committee Democrats held together in August to demand a two-year SNAP delay, presaging a difficult negotiation to renew the Farm Bill. September Outlookhttps://apollocounsel.com/insights/congress-fall-2026-september-deadline-funding-farm-bill/https://apollocounsel.com/insights/congress-fall-2026-september-deadline-funding-farm-bill/Tue, 01 Sep 2026 00:00:00 -0400The September 1 CR carried government funding and highway authority to December 11. It left out the farm bill, which kept its own September 30 deadline. Northern Exposure: the looming Canada Tariff Standoffhttps://apollocounsel.com/insights/senate-canada-tariffs-2026/https://apollocounsel.com/insights/senate-canada-tariffs-2026/Thu, 27 Aug 2026 00:00:00 -0400Wyden's Congressional Trade Powers Reform Act would eliminate Section 338 — the 1930 law Trump used to impose 50% duties on August 22.