The House is back in session Monday for the first time in five weeks. It\u2019s not clear how long members will stick around.<\/p>\n

Speaker Mike Johnson<\/a> is hoping to tick the lone essential item off the chamber\u2019s to-do list in lawmakers\u2019 first days back: sending a shutdown-averting spending bill to President Donald Trump\u2019s desk. Otherwise, the Capitol Hill agenda is devoid of must-pass legislation until later in the year.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the thin GOP majority has had trouble opening the House floor for debate on any number of legislative priorities, and many Republicans lawmakers are simply eager to get back home ahead of the November midterms rather than endure more headaches in Washington.<\/p>\n

Together that has fueled open speculation among members and aides that House leaders will call it quits until mid-November much sooner than the currently scheduled Oct. 1 exit date.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo many people are having to run back and forth to campaign,\u201d Rep. Morgan Griffith<\/a> (R-Va.) told reporters Thursday. \u201cI think we can get some other things done [beyond the spending stopgap], but the big bills will probably have to wait until after the election.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another House Republican, who was granted anonymity to speak candidly, was more blunt: \u201cI think we have very little to do.\u201d A third member, running for reelection in a competitive district, said in a text message, \u201cI\u2019d be happy to be sent home early!\u201d<\/p>\n

The agitation for an early exit is likely to grow louder if Johnson can win approval as planned this week for the Senate-passed government funding bill<\/a>, which would postpone a possible shutdown from midnight Sept. 30 to Dec. 11. The funding patch also would extend the deadline to reauthorize lapsing surface transportation authorities.<\/p>\n

GOP leaders plan to put the bill on the floor Tuesday under a fast-track method requiring a two-thirds majority vote, and there are reasons to believe it will pass without much drama. Trump and key congressional Democrats have endorsed the 10-week punt.<\/p>\n

That bipartisan support is expected to overcome Republicans concerns over a Senate-inserted provision backed by the White House to delay the start of an intoxicating hemp product ban<\/a>, as well as a provision favored by Democrats to temporarily hold up a Trump administration proposal to put political appointees in charge of federal grant approvals.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would say that we’re going to avoid any kind of shutdown, and we’ll be in good shape going into the elections,\u201d Rep. Riley Moore<\/a> of West Virginia, a GOP appropriator, told reporters earlier this month.<\/p>\n

Lawmakers have already punted other major deadlines, leaving members eyeing the post-election \u201clame duck\u201d session for substantive legislating. But there are also lingering questions about whether House Republican leaders can move forward with a partisan agenda in any case.<\/p>\n

Rebel factions upset over matters ranging from ethanol fuel regulations to immigration policy votes have frustrated Johnson\u2019s attempts all summer to pass procedural measures necessary to bring GOP bills to the floor. Many Republicans believe those dynamics will continue into September, leaving the fast-tracked bills passed under \u201csuspension of the rules\u201d as leaders\u2019 only legislative option.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think many things are going to pass except for suspension bills,\u201d said another House Republican granted anonymity to speak candidly about the GOP\u2019s expectations for the pre-election session.<\/p>\n

While leaders and their top aides acknowledge no current plans to send members home early, a frozen floor could quickly lead them to determine otherwise. At the same time, some Republicans are wary of beating an early retreat after many of them hammered the Senate for leaving town earlier this month without taking up key House-passed bills.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to campaign, but it\u2019s not a great look for us to not come into town and work,\u201d a fifth House Republican granted anonymity said. The member, representing a safe red district, acknowledged that others in more competitive districts likely feel differently.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople already think we are on vacation when we\u2019re home,\u201d the lawmaker added. \u201cWhat kind of damage does it do if we leave D.C. again?\u201d<\/p>\n

Both chambers will be out of session next week following the Labor Day holiday, and many Republican lawmakers are expected to travel to Dallas at the end of that week for the GOP\u2019s midterm convention. Republicans are looking to amp up one of their top campaign messages beforehand \u2014 that Democrats are left-wing extremists \u2014 by forcing a vote this week on a resolution condemning socialism \u201cin all its forms.\u201d<\/p>\n

The House could also vote this week to censure Rep. Chuck Edwards<\/a> (R-N.C.) for inappropriate conduct toward two female staffers following an Ethics Committee recommendation. Edwards, who dropped his bid for reelection two days after the panel issued a lengthy report, attempted to clear his name<\/a> to his colleagues last week ahead of the expected vote.<\/p>\n

House GOP leaders could also put a Senate-passed Russian sanctions bill on the floor before the end of the month, though it is unclear whether it can pass. Many House Democrats \u2014 including Rep. Gregory Meeks<\/a> of New York, the party\u2019s leader on the Foreign Affairs Committee \u2014 believe the bill would give too much authority to Trump.<\/p>\n

But with many other House priorities currently in Senate limbo, there could be little incentive for members to hang around to wait to see if the Senate will act once it returns Sept. 14 for a brief three-week session.<\/p>\n

House Republicans rushed before their summer recess to adopt a budget blueprint for a fresh party-line spending package, but it\u2019s currently stuck across the Capitol amid competing demands from defense hawks, fiscal conservatives and some GOP senators who aren\u2019t convinced another such bill is needed at all.<\/p>\n

Senate Republicans don\u2019t expect the budget measure to be brought to the floor before the election, according to five people granted anonymity to disclose private discussions.<\/p>\n

House Republicans appear to be acknowledging that reality. When asked if he was confident the Senate would take up a third reconciliation bill, Rep. Jay Obernolte<\/a> (R-Calif.) told reporters this month that \u201c\u2018confident\u2019 is probably the wrong word.\u201d<\/p>\n

Instead, the Senate is expected to focus in September on confirming Trump\u2019s nominees and holding a vote on cryptocurrency legislation, as well as trying to advance a bill to overhaul college athletics and the Senate version of the farm bill.<\/p>\n

Some House Republicans, including Majority Whip Tom Emmer<\/a>, have been trying to build public pressure on the Senate to pass the crypto bill known as the Clarity Act for months. But a mid-September vote on that measure is likely to fail. And while negotiations continue over the Senate\u2019s college sports bill, a bill on the same topic in the House has stalled out, giving lawmakers little reason to stay to see if a Senate deal comes together.<\/p>\n

As for the farm bill, the House passed its version earlier this year largely along party lines, while the Senate version failed to advance in committee<\/a> earlier this month due to GOP absences and Democratic opposition. Senate Agriculture Chair John Boozman<\/a> (R-Ark.)said he plans to try again in September.<\/p>\n

Senate Majority Leader John Thune<\/a> is eager to advance the farm bill before the election, but doing so will require Sen. Mitch McConnell<\/a> (R-Ky.) to return from a monthslong absence \u2014 or Democrats to agree to a deal.<\/p>\n

While Republicans are hopeful that McConnell could come back in September, any final agreement on the major agriculture package is expected to wait until after Election Day.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think our Democrat colleagues are probably saying we want to wait until after the election to find out what the House of Representatives is going to look like, the Senate is going to look like,\u201d Sen. Mike Rounds<\/a> (R-S.D.) said at an agricultural conference in South Dakota earlier this month.<\/p>\n

Riley Rogerson contributed to this report.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"