This legislative activity is significant because it sets up the possibility that each of these bills could receive floor consideration and perhaps pass in advance of the end of the fiscal year, which is September 30^th. Indeed, Senate leaders have agreed to bundle the Labor, HHS, Education spending bill with the Defense spending bill and will attempt to pass them together in August. Should that occur, it would force the House into a choice between debating and passing the Senate’s higher spending Labor, HHS, Education and Defense package, which would move to the President’s desk once the House votes to approve; or debating and passing its own version of Labor, HHS, Education funding, which would lead to a possibly contentious negotiation with the Senate on a final bill. Should the latter occur, it seems very likely that Congress would not complete its work before September 30th​ and would have to pass a temporary spending measure to keep the government open through the November election.

Coming up…
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August: The Senate is in session for most of August and may attempt to pass the combined Labor, HHS, Education spending bill. The House is not in recess until mid-September.

September: Unless the House passes the Senate’s version of Labor, HHS, Education bill, a final bill is unlikely in September. If there is no final bill ready for the President by September 30th, the most likely scenario is that Congress passes a temporary spending bill, called a Continuing Resolution, that funds the government past the election. However, President Trump has threatened to shut down the government if his proposed border wall is not funded. It remains unclear whether any shut down would occur through a veto of a Continuing Resolution or the veto of some or all spending bills.