The House and Senate headed back to their home states and districts for the Congressional recess, allowing lawmakers to campaign for the November elections. Congress will return from the recess on November 14 for the lame duck session.
At that time, Congress will have a number of legislative priorities to address, including enacting another Continuing Resolution (CR) or a full Fiscal Year (FY) 2017 spending bill before the current CR expires on December 9.
“This short time frame will allow Congress to complete our annual appropriations work without jeopardizing important government functions,” said House Appropriations Chairman Harold Rogers (R-KY).
NLIHC and the Campaign for Housing and Community Development (CHCDF) have urged Congress to pass clean full-year spending bills for FY17 as soon as possible.
House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) has also indicated that he hopes to take up criminal justice reform when Congress returns, although it is unclear if other members of the Republican caucus are supportive of that effort.
“I’m trying to get criminal justice reform done this session of Congress,” Speaker Ryan said during a speech. “That train is on the tracks, and I’m hoping we can get that done sooner rather than later.”