Congress just returned from a five week break on Sept. 8 and they are now ready to pack up again.
The House and Senate are poised to potentially wrap up business this week, lawmakers say, and if they do, they’ll leave town to campaign and won’t return until after the November election.
The Senate was initially scheduled to be in session until Sept. 23 while the House was supposed to be in for business until Oct. 2.
Nothing has been publicly announced, but congressional leaders have sent the word out to lawmakers that they can start packing for a nearly two month recess.
“I think the goal is to finish by the end of the week,” one GOP lawmaker said after a closed-door House Republican meeting Tuesday morning. “That is what the leaders said.”
In the Senate, the word is also out that legislative business will soon conclude, though business could stretch into next Monday, a GOP aide told the Washington Examiner.
Before adjourning, both the House and Senate must pass a stopgap government funding bill that includes a provision authorizing President Obama to arm and equip Syrian rebels to fight the terrorist organization known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.
The House is expected to pass the measure as soon as Wednesday and will then send it to the Senate.
As will be the case in the House, a coalition of Republican and Democratic lawmakers are expected to provide enough support to pass the measure in the Senate, Democratic leaders said.
The bill also includes a short-term reauthorization of the Export-Import Bank, which is another measure lawmakers said needed to pass before leaving town to campaign.
Not everyone is pleased with the shortened schedule, which has become a tradition in election years.
The minority parties are complaining that Congress should remain in session to tackle important legislation.
In the Senate, the GOP wants Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., to take up Republican-supported measures aimed at creating jobs and reducing the burden of the new healthcare law.
“It’s outrageous,” Sen. John Barasso, R-Wyo., said when asked about adjourning this week. “Under Harry Reid, the Senate is meeting a total of two weeks over three months to send his Democratic incumbents out to campaign and raise money. We should be here working.”
In the House, where Republicans are in charge of the short schedule, Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., has frequently criticized the GOP for too many days out of session.
