Congress Returns With A Busy Agenda After Month-Long Recess

After being gone for more than a month, Congress returned to the nation’s capital Monday with plenty to get done before leaving again in three weeks. Priority number one is avoiding a government shutdown by passing a stopgap funding measure before the end of the month.

House GOP leadership, at the urging of the conference’s most conservative members, is trying to push through a continuing resolution (CR) that’s not only coupled with a partisan voter ID bill, but also would extend current funding all the way to the end of March, which is not what some more moderate Republicans would prefer.

“I personally think we just ought to get our work done between now and December,” said House Appropriations Chairman Tom Cole (R-OK4) in an interview last week. 

Congressman Cole says he understands why some Republicans may favor a 6-month CR, believing that would allow a reelected President Donald Trump to help shape FY 2025 spending, but he says, whether it's Donald Trump or Vice President Kamala Harris, the next president will be busy early next year getting a team in place and putting together a 2026 budget proposal.

“That’s a lot to do,” said Cole. “This is a problem they shouldn’t have, this is a problem that should be solved by this Congress and by this administration.”

Cole says he also prefers that spending bills not be used as vehicles for non-spending bills but, at the same time, is OK with Speaker Johnson’s decision to attach the SAVE Act to the continuing resolution. Cole (and all Republicans and a handful of Democrats) voted for the bill, which would require voters show proof of citizenship when registering, when it passed the House earlier this year. 

But it hasn't been taken up in the Democrat-led Senate and Senate leaders say attaching it to the CR shows House leaders are more interested in making political statements than averting a potential government shutdown.

“Shutting down the government never benefits anyone,” said Rep. Frank Lucas (R-OK3) in an interview.

Like Cole, Rep. Lucas believes Congress should get its work done, which he points out includes more than just passing a stopgap funding bill.

“There are a number of other programs, like the Farm Bill, where we need at least a short-term extension,” Lucas said. “We'll see how we work our way through all of that sort of stuff in the next three weeks — but it's going to be a roller coaster.”