Congress closed up shop for the summer on July 14 as members of the House and Senate departed Washington to begin a seven-week recess. Upon their return to Capitol Hill after Labor Day, lawmakers will be tasked with passing legislation to keep the government running after the new fiscal year begins on October 1.
Appropriations bills remain the most notable piece of unfinished business on Capitol Hill, as Congress has failed to give final approval to any of the 12 individual spending measures that are necessary to fund the government through FY17. The House and Senate will not have enough time to work through all 12 bills once they return in September, so lawmakers will likely negotiate a short-term continuing resolution to temporarily extend current spending levels past Election Day. This strategy would likely lead to Congress holding a post-election lame duck vote on an omnibus appropriations bill to fund all aspects of the government for the duration of FY17.
Also failing to advance before Congress left town were separate versions of the “Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) of 2016” that had each moved through House and Senate committees earlier this year. The Senate WRDA bill in particular (S. 2848) has been framed as part of Congress’ response to the Flint, Michigan water crisis, and includes $100 million worth of assistance to Flint through the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund as well as $70 million for water infrastructure improvements nationwide through the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) pilot program. The House and Senate will each still have an opportunity to vote on their versions of WRDA in September, but the chambers will have to act relatively quickly if they hope to agree on a final WRDA bill before the end of the year.
After returning to Washington in early September, the House and Senate are each scheduled to remain on Capitol Hill through the end of the month before departing again to hit the campaign trail in October. Lawmakers will likely wrap up any remaining legislative business during a post-election lame duck session that is anticipated to begin in mid-November.