WASHINGTON — Members of Congress left Capitol Hill last week to turn their attention to the campaign trail in the six weeks leading up to Election Day, leaving much of their work unfinished.
The Republican House and Democratic Senate are expected to remain in recess until November 12, but urgent needs resulting from Hurricane Helene and currently fully funded could result in the chambers reconvening before then.
When lawmakers actually return to Washington, D.C., they will have to deal with the mandatory legislation that left them on autopilot instead of negotiating modern bipartisan compromises.
So far this year, lawmakers have refused to agree on mandatory measures like the agricultural bill as well as this year’s government funding bills and annual defense policy legislation.
Online safety for children, radiation exposure
There are also a handful of measures that passed in one chamber with broad bipartisan support but have not been implemented on the other side of the Capitol, so leadership could decide to move forward with them in November or December.
For example, an fascinating combination of senators, led by Democrat Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and Republican Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, are advocating for a vote on House Republican leaders a pair of online security bills Designed to better protect children from the shadowy side of the Internet.
The Railway Safety Bill The bill was written by a bipartisan group of senators from Ohio and Pennsylvania in the wake of the train derailment in East Palestine and remains unaddressed after more than a year of intransigence.
And legislation reauthorizing the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA), the passes the Senate in a largely bipartisan vote earlier this year sits on a shelf gathering dust in the House of Representatives.
Cancer victims, Indigenous communities And many others have urged House Republican leadership to hold a vote on reauthorizing the program after it expires this summer, but have avoided doing so because of costs.
Five weeks of lame duck
Lawmakers and congressional leaders interviewed by the state’s newsroom all said the outcome of November’s election will have a significant impact on what Congress decides during the five-week lame-duck session that spans November and December.
All interviews took place before Hurricane Helene hit the country and Israel was directly attacked by Iran. Both events are likely high on congressmen’s to-do lists.
Senate Minority Leader John Thune said it was “hard to say” what, if anything, Congress would approve during the lame-duck session.
“I think a lot will depend on what happens in November,” the South Dakota Republican said.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., said just a day before Hurricane Helene that Democrats would work to pass natural disaster relief funding previously requested by the Biden administration.
“Extreme weather events are increasing and affecting everyone – in blue states, purple states and red states,” Jeffries said. “This is not a partisan issue, it is an American issue when it comes to being there in times of need for everyday Americans whose lives and livelihoods have been upended.”
Other priorities for House Democrats during the lame-duck period include passing the dozen year-round government funding bills that were supposed to be completed before Oct. 1, the defense policy bill that had the same deadline, and the farm bill that had more is more than a year overdue.
Republican Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri said he “very much hopes” the bill to reauthorize the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act reaches the president’s desk before the end of the year.
He didn’t rule out lobbying to tie it to a must-pass government funding bill, but said the real hurdle was House Republican leaders.
“It doesn’t need help in the Senate. It just needs the House,” Hawley said. “I have had good, productive conversations with Speaker (Mike) Johnson over the past few weeks, and I appreciate his personal commitment to this matter and hope it leads to action.”
Haley said it was “outrageous” that the House allowed RECA to expire and people who qualify for the program not receive benefits.
Defense priorities, agricultural law
Senate Armed Services Chairman Jack Reed, a Rhode Island Democrat, said staff would work in October to bridge differences between the two chambers over the annual defense policy bill, known as the National Defense Authorization Act.
These staff-level discussions will lay the groundwork for a meeting between Republicans and Democrats once they return to Capitol Hill after the election.
“We have to be ready when we come back to go straight to the Big Four meeting,” he said, referring to the leaders of both chambers. “That is our goal.”
Reed said many of the differences between the House and Senate are not typical Defense Department policy issues per se, but are “more political, cultural and social in nature.”
Congress could begin debating additional military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine later this year, but said it is more likely to happen next year, Reed said.
Senate Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., said she is making a “big push” for the House and Senate to reach an agreement on the farm bill in the coming months, but warned that the talks are actually did not constitute a conference.
“I wouldn’t call it a conference; In order to hold a conference, technically a bill must be passed by the House and a bill must be passed by the Senate, which is not going to happen,” Stabenow said.
“But I believe there is a way,” Stabenow added. “I believe there is a way to get a bipartisan bill.”
Arkansas Sen. John Boozman, the top Republican on the agriculture panel, said lawmakers didn’t need the election results to “resolve our differences” over the farm bill, adding that talks had modern momentum.
“I think what has changed is that there is a recognition among members, all members, of how difficult it is to be a farmer right now,” Boozman said. “So that’s really what’s changed in the last three or four months. It develops a real sense of urgency in these people.”
Iowa Republican Sen. Joni Ernst said the election result could impact what lawmakers want to accomplish during the lame-duck session.
“There are a variety of scenarios, whether it’s NDAA, whether it’s a farm bill, whether it’s anything else,” she said. “But it depends on Leader Schumer.” New York Democrat Chuck Schumer is Senate Majority Leader.
Virginia Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine said he expects Congress to negotiate a deal on federal funding legislation and the NDAA, but not necessarily anything else.
“Strangely enough, the better the Democrats do on November 5th, the more we’ll get done,” Kaine said. “Because I think if the House goes back to Dem, I think the R’s are going to say, ‘Well, let’s get a whole bunch of things done before the House goes down.’ So I think the better we do, the more we’ll get done in the lame duck.”
Kaine said if Democrats do well in the elections, they may not need to approve additional aid to Ukraine this Congress because that funding could extend into next year.
“If we don’t do well in the (elections), we might have to do the lame duck thing,” Kaine said. “So it will all depend on that.”
