Aviation bill cleared for takeoff as lawmakers return to Washington

For the first time in recent weeks, lawmakers are returning to Washington without a true legislative crisis breathing down their necks.

Their immediate priority: Reauthorizing the the Federal Aviation Administration ahead of a May 10 deadline. After months of talks, a bipartisan, bicameral group of leaders released compromise legislation shortly after midnight. (Read a detailed section-by-section breakdown.)

The House returns late Monday, while the Senate comes back Tuesday. Here’s a couple additional Hill topics to keep an eye on as we roll into May:

• What’s next on campus protests? Look for lawmakers to remain focused on the wave of Israel-Hamas war protests that have swept college campuses. The House is expected to vote on a bill, the Antisemitism Awareness Act, aimed at countering antisemitism on campuses. And a group of 21 House Democrats sent a letter Monday asking Columbia University to disband the encampment on its campus, which they say has become a “breeding ground for antisemitic attacks.”
• What do conservative agitators do? Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) has been leading the charge of a small bloc of unhappy conservative lawmakers with how Speaker Mike Johnson has run the chamber, but has not committed to the timing of a vote to try and oust him. During the foreign aid vote, she said she’d let lawmakers hear from their constituents on Johnson.

One other note: The House will only be in town through Wednesday to accommodate the funeral of the late-Rep. Donald Payne Jr. (D-N.J.) on Thursday.