A Capitol View: July 2026

Welcome to A Capitol View!

As SMI’s policy and technology portfolios deepen, so does the need to quickly and clearly translate complicated federal funding mechanisms, regulatory changes, executive orders, and agency directives for our clients.

Leading a new research team is Ron Carlton, SMI’s inaugural director of research and strategic insights, who brings a distinguished career of detailed analyses of legislative and regulatory developments.

Ron served as director of economic development for the late Senator Ted Kennedy and legislative director for Rep. Lori Trahan and former Rep. Marty Meehan. During his time on Capitol Hill, he worked on appropriations, energy and environment, infrastructure, and tax policy. He was also previously legislative director at The Trust for Public Land and the Primacy Strategy Group.

Ron has jumped right into his new role, launching our SMI Insight series, which is producing a steady stream of analyses for our government, industry, and academic partners that draw upon our first-in-class subject matter experts:

Ron has analyzed the implications of new proposed guidelines on grantmaking from the White House Office of Management and Budget;
VP David Howell outlined the imperative to establish a “National Science-at-Scale Collaborative” for critical materials;
Senior VP Jeremy Steslicki delved into the controversial provision in the House version of the National Defense Authorization Act that would give the Navy authority to hire shipyards in allied nations;
VP Dr. Aisha Haynes and Senior VP Mark Gillman examined provisions in the pending NDAA to reverse the military’s dependence on foreign adversaries for a host of materials for weapon platforms and munitions; and
Gillman deciphered a provision in the reauthorization of the Defense Production Act that would apply limits to the Department of War’s authority to purchase and hold equity stakes in private businesses.

“These short briefs on public policy issues that impact the SMI client community are evolving quickly into a critical resource in our work,” said SMI CEO Bill McCann. “And we are thrilled that Ron Carlton has joined the team to lead a new era for thought leadership here at SMI.”

Said Carlton: “I’m thrilled to join the SMI team and lead the SMI Insight series. This new offering is intended to provide timely and relevant updates that explain significant policy shifts in the nation’s capital.”

SMI SPOTLIGHT

SMI is also delighted to bring aboard two seasoned policy and industry leaders to add to our ranks of senior advisors to assist in achieving clients’ objectives.

Dan McCarthy is a former assistant United States Trade Representative for Congressional Affairs, responsible for a range of strategic trade initiatives on critical minerals, semiconductors, electric vehicles, advanced batteries, and steel and aluminum, including tariffs on China. He also enforced the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement and negotiated the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework and U.S.-Japan Critical Minerals Agreement.

McCarthy previously worked as a senior professional staffer on Capitol Hill, where he focused on industrial policy, including the CHIPS and Science Act, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and the Inflation Reduction Act.

Omer Poroy is founder and principal of Poroy Global Advisors, a Boston-based strategic advisory specializing in the naval and maritime defense, autonomous systems, and ocean technology sectors.

Omer has held senior roles at Bluefin Robotics, where he served as VP of business development and VP of corporate strategy, and as a director at General Dynamics Mission Systems overseeing autonomous undersea systems strategy. He also serves as general partner at Thomas and Taylor Partners Holdings and is an active affiliate of NATO DIANA and Blue Xcelerator.

‘Client leadership’: And a big congrats to SMI’s Mary Wentworth, who has been promoted to director. “Over the last 15 months,” remarked McCann, “Mary has become a valued and trusted SMI team member and increasingly demonstrated client leadership.”

BUDGET

LITTLE RUNNING ROOM: It’s crunch time once again for the federal appropriations process as the end of the fiscal year quickly approaches, and the likelihood increases that temporary funding fixes will be needed to keep the government open past September 30.

The House and Senate have only a handful of days left in the legislative calendar before the election-year recess. House Speaker Mike Johnson has identified s the Fiscal 2027 National Defense Authorization Act, spending bills for executive branch agencies, and an emergency $88 funding package for military operations in Iran and aid to farmers as priorities.

Another priority is a new GOP reconciliation funding bill designed to be passed on a party-line vote that would incorporate elements of the SAVE America Act election reform bill and other GOP priorities such as defense and intelligence spending and agriculture.

But that appears to still face a thicket of opposition within the Republican Party, which holds a razor-thin majority in both the House and Senate.

Appropriations update: As for annual spending bills for individual federal agencies, plans to move FY27 appropriations before the July 4 recess fell through due to GOP infighting and are still in the queue awaiting floor debate.

What’s next: The latest word is that Congress will take up a temporary spending measure in the form of a continuing resolution that funds the government through December 4, while still working on key annual spending and other bills.

We expect the NDAA to come up for debate first, with an anticipated 300 amendments. But hard‑liners will likely use their leverage on procedural votes to extract concessions on election‑security policy, including the Trump-backed SAVE America Act, immigration, and to seek potential constraints on Iran war funding.

A limited set of appropriations bills could also get a vote, but a full appropriations package before recess is unlikely given time and intra-party fights. The $88 billion emergency request is being treated as urgent but could be folded into other vehicles or slide into the fall if floor dysfunction persists.

No year-long CR: Expect at least one continuing resolution to keep the government open this fall, but no one is predicting a damaging full-year CR that locks in previous funding levels for the full fiscal year.

DEFENSE

SMI is proud to partner with Torch Technologies, a leading provider of R&D, engineering, and prototyping expertise, and the Michigan Office of Defense and Aerospace Innovation.

This month, VP John Major was pleased to support the visit of Rep. Jack Bergman, a member of the House Armed Services Committee Republicans, to Torch’s Detroit-area facilities.

The company showcased its cutting-edge simulation environments that are empowering the military and its contractors to virtually prototype, integrate, and evaluate sophisticated platforms before any hardware is milled – and conduct independent assessments without being locked into a single vendor.

ENERGY

POWER PLAYS: SMI is proud to play a leadership role in the BATT Coalition, a coalition of leading battery makers and suppliers, as it presses government leaders for trade and investment policies that encourage greater investment in a domestic industry base that is crucial for national security, energy resilience, and economic competitiveness.

This month, Executive Director Samm Gillard and Policy Director Drew Ronneberg urged the Trump administration to prioritize more than a dozen battery materials in efforts to reduce reliance on potential adversaries. “Battery materials should be part of the Administration’s effort from the outset to implement critical minerals action plans, border-adjusted pricing mechanisms, and other tools to support resilient supply chains,” they wrote. Read their full letter.

Meanwhile, in a formal appeal to administration officials, BATT requested that USTR not designate Lithium-ion battery materials as “non-sensitive” items eligible for lower tariffs because it would undermine efforts to incentivize domestic producers to invest in battery materials and components. Read their full comments here.

HYDROMATIC: SMI also supports the Alliance For Clean Vehicle Technology which met with key lawmakers and staff on Capitol Hill this month, and helped organize a demo of PHINIA’s hydrogen internal combustion engine.

Their cutting-edge technology is at the forefront of diversifying the nation’s transportation energy sources, filling the gap where electric batteries are less practical, reducing our carbon footprint, and creating manufacturing jobs.

Learn more.

MANUFACTURING

ON THE AIR: SMI is pleased to support the Steel Founders’ Society of America and was psyched for the premiere on July 9 of its Cast in Steel series on YouTube.

The six episodes will showcase the student competition that is helping to bolster the nation’s workforce at a critical time for domestic manufacturing, particularly in the defense, aerospace, and shipbuilding sectors.

In the first episode, students tested a steel casting of historical significance: George Washington’s sword. Other episodes air each week through August 13. Make sure to tune in!