Lawmakers have a lengthy list of tech goals they want to accomplish before the 2024 election distracts from any progress on policy, Maria and Ashley report.

Why it matters: Policy work is taking second place to winning the White House. But lawmakers have a short window of time — about 10 days — to advance their legislative priorities before they take off for a five-week recess.

The big picture: It's unlikely that any legislation will cross the finish line during this time.

• But lawmakers can inch forward by holding markups, moving appropriations bills and introducing companion legislation.
• Bills that advance could end up being attached to must-pass legislation, such as the annual defense policy bill or year-end spending measures.

What we're watching: The Senate continues to take the lead on AI with a variety of bills in the works.

• The Senate Commerce Committee has repeatedly tried to hold a markup, but scheduling snags and a spectrum-related impasse have gotten in the way.
• Sources tell Axios they expect a markup to happen before recess that would include both spectrum and a number of AI bills.
• Commerce Chair Maria Cantwell's office said it has no updates on the schedule yet.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer reiterated earlier this month that protecting kids online continues to be "a top priority" of his.

• Schumer specifically pointed to the Kids Online Safety Act and the Children and Teens' Online Privacy Protection Act in a July 11 floor speech.
• "Sadly, a few of our colleagues continue to block these bills without offering any constructive ideas for how to revise the text. So now we must look ahead, and all options are on the table," Schumer said.

On privacy, Cantwell says there's still hope for the American Privacy Rights Act to advance, even after House leaders poured cold water on it.

• We're watching for Cantwell to formally introduce companion legislation to the House bill led by Energy and Commerce Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers.
• Civil rights advocates say they're confident Cantwell's version would include the civil rights provisions stripped from the House bill, setting up another roadblock for federal privacy efforts.

Behind the scenes: Lobbyists are applying pressure on lawmakers to act.

• BSA's Aaron Cooper said they'll be pushing bills to codify the AI Safety Institute, advance AI education and workforce development and harmonize government cybersecurity requirements.

Our thought bubble: Bills that task agencies to come up with AI guidelines and protocols without allocating new funding — like the CREATE AI Act and the Future of AI Innovation Act — are more likely to find bipartisan support than others.

• It's also possible AI and elections bills move, but Republicans may be less likely to place any restrictions on election content as the race gets more contentious.

Here's the hearings and markups we're keeping an eye on this week.

1. House rules: The House Rules Committee meets today at 4pm ET on several funding bills, including the Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act.

• The legislation would provide $388.7 million for the FTC — $146.3 million below the president's FY25 budget request — and $416.1 million for the FCC, $31.9 million below its ask.

2. AI, housing and finance: Tomorrow at 10am ET, House Financial Services convenes a hearing to discuss the findings of the committee's bipartisan AI working group staff report on AI applications in the housing and financial services industries.

• NASDAQ's John Zecca, Zillow's Ondrej Linda, Scale AI's Vijay Karunamurthy and National Fair Housing Alliance's Lisa Rice are among those testifying.
• Lawmakers will also discuss four legislative proposals focused on AI, including the Preventing Deep Fake Scams Act.

3. Post-Chevron world: Then at 10:15am ET, the Committee on House Administration examines how Congress should operate in the wake of the Supreme Court's decision that puts the onus squarely on lawmakers to craft detailed legislation.

4. HSGAC business meeting: The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee gathers Wednesday at 10am ET to consider bills including the bipartisan PREPARED for Artificial Intelligence Act.

5. Senate approps: On Thursday at 9:30am ET, the Senate Appropriations Committee marks up its Commerce-Justice-Science legislation.

6. DPA dive: A half hour later, the Senate Banking Committee holds a hearing titled "Advancing National Security through Export Controls, Investment Security, and the Defense Production Act."