Republican leaders announced Thursday that the final two weeks of the pre-election House session are canceled, severely curtailing what had been a full legislative calendar for September.
That means members are set to depart Washington no later than Sept. 17 and not return until mid-November. The House will reconvene for one additional week of business after next week’s Labor Day break.
Leaders would recall House members for those canceled weeks if the Senate moves forward with a party-line budget reconciliation package in the meantime, GOP leaders indicated, though that is not anticipated.
The decision comes as candidates agitate to get back on the campaign trail and as GOP leaders continue to struggle to maintain control of the House floor. Earlier this week, a procedural measure setting up votes on several Republican bills was poised to fail until two Democrats voted in favor, rescuing Speaker Mike Johnson’s agenda for the week.
Johnson has claimed the GOP-led House has been unusually productive this Congress despite the floor challenges and his decision to keep the chamber out of session for nearly two months last year during a government shutdown.
Speaking to reporters Thursday, he cited a lack of action in the Senate as a reason he was comfortable curtailing the pre-election calendar, as well as pre-midterm political pressures.
“I’ll point out that there’s almost 600 pieces of that landmark legislation that are still sitting over in the other chamber in the Senate, and so we need to get more and more of that done,” he said. “Of course, we’re in the middle of a critical midterm election. Many [members] want and need to be in their districts, working with their constituents, and running their campaigns. And so we’re trying to balance all those interests and needs right now.”
Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries cast the curtailed schedule as proof of the GOP’s “failure.”
“House Republicans have nothing to do as it relates to advancing the health, the safety, and the economic well-being of the American people,” he said. “These aren’t commonsense Republicans. These are individuals who have unleashed chaos, confusion and corruption on the American people, and so it should come as no surprise that Republicans have canceled votes.”
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