Both the House and Senate are scheduled to depart Washington, DC on Friday but have a long list of tasks to finish before adjourning the 118th Congress.
Last week, the House passed the annual defense authorization package, though many Democrats opposed the historically bipartisan legislation due to the inclusion of a provision restricting gender-affirming care for troops and their children. The $883.7 billion spending authorization is within the funding caps set in last year’s debt-limit deal and will provide a 14.5% pay raise for junior enlisted troops and a 4.5% raise for the rest of the military. The Senate will begin the week by considering the package, and it is expected to pass the upper chamber and then head to the President’s desk.
Congressional leaders are still working to reach a final agreement on a short-term stopgap spending bill ahead of Friday, when federal government funding expires. The proposal, yet to be released, is expected to extend government funding until March 2025. The measure will also include funding for disaster relief efforts in the wake of a series of devastating hurricanes. The leadership also agreed to include a one-year extension of the Farm Bill, although there have been disagreements over providing additional economic assistance to farmers, which is one of the main reasons the package was not released over the weekend.
The legislation will likely also include numerous healthcare provisions, such as reauthorization of the SUPPORT Act, COVID-19 era Medicare telehealth flexibility extensions, an extension of the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act, and reforming pharmacy benefit manager practices.
If the bill is published by today, the leadership should still be able to abide by the House’s 72-hour rule. This would set a House vote on Thursday, however, giving the Senate fewer than 24 hours to approve the measure. That would require the upper chamber to receive unanimous consent to expedite consideration.
Separately this week, the House will consider over 50 bills under suspension of the rules. The House will also consider legislation subject to a rule that would permit Congress to pass a single resolution overturning multiple regulations issued in the last year of a President’s term. The Senate is scheduled to approve the Water Resources Development Act and a measure that would repeal rules that reduce Social Security benefits for people who receive additional federal pension benefits.
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