Congress is back from a five-week summer break and faces a tough fall agenda and unclear pathway for must-do bills that would keep the government from shutting down and defaulting on its debts later this year.
The first test will come quickly with lawmakers needing to clear stopgap spending legislation (continuing resolution) to keep agencies open when the new fiscal year begins on October 1st. Moving the temporary funding measure has become a annual fall event on Capitol Hill over the past decade and enacting these measures is only getting harder with conservatives seeking to add politically toxic policy riders. Many predict that Congress will pass a CR through December and avoid shutdown but it will be an ugly and difficult road to get there.
Even if Congress does approve a stopgap funding measure, lawmakers face an even heavier lift in moving a final FY2016 spending deal that is likely to be intertwined with the need to raise the nation’s debt ceiling and other must-do bills that members want to see enacted this year. One of those bills includes the highway and transit authorization. Congress approved a short-term measure in July but that authorization lapses in late October. Members will need to decide if they can come up with a long-term fix or if another short-term bill will be necessary.
The most widely anticipated event on Capitol Hill this fall is not a legislative one but rather the September 24 speech by Pope Francis to a joint session of Congress. There have been more requests for gallery tickets to see the first-ever appearance of a pontiff before lawmakers than anyone can recall for other heads of state. Some say strong remarks from the leader of the Roman Catholic Church calling for an immigration overhaul or rebuking US foreign policy might even spur lawmakers to action. Indeed, Francis’ appearance only adds to the uncertainty that will mark the final months of the first session of the 114th Congress.