House loads up end-of-year votes

The House is slated for a jam-packed workweek when it returns into session on Monday ahead of an imminent deadline to keep the government funded.

Congress must pass a spending bill by next Friday, Dec. 11, to avoid a government shutdown.

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) laid out the remaining legislative items on Congress’s docket for the rest of the year, all of which he said could come up for floor votes next week.

{mosads}One of the first items — likely Tuesday — will be a bill to tighten the visa waiver program in the wake of last month’s terrorist attacks in Paris. Unlike a measure last month to enhance security requirements for allowing refugees fleeing ISIS in Syria and Iraq to enter the U.S., the bill is expected to gain wide bipartisan support.

House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) asked McCarthy during a Thursday floor colloquy about the likelihood of the House needing to pass a short-term spending bill lasting a few days if lawmakers can’t pass a catch-all measure known as an omnibus in time.

“Only if necessary. I’d rather get it done by the 11th,” McCarthy replied.

Still, even if the House passes an omnibus spending bill by midweek, the Senate will likely need at least a few days to clear all of the procedural hurdles.

The House would not be able to vote on the omnibus until Wednesday at the earliest if appropriators negotiating the package release the text on Monday. GOP leaders prefer to adhere to a rule requiring legislation to be public for three calendar days before voting on it.

“Knowing that the [omnibus] is a larger bill, we want to give plenty of time for members to be able to read it and see it,” McCarthy said.

McCarthy further ticked off items on Congress’s end-of-year to-do list for possible votes next week: a conference report to the trade customs bill, a measure renewing expiring tax credits and the Senate’s budget reconciliation bill to repeal ObamaCare.

If the House can get to everything next week, it could open the possibility of allowing members eager to return back to their districts early for the holidays. The House is currently scheduled to be in session until Friday, Dec. 18.

But the first votes of the week won’t be until mid-afternoon Tuesday. McCarthy explained that the House will not have votes Monday evening as usual so that lawmakers can attend the annual White House holiday party.

Still, he warned members to keep flexible schedules amid the approaching deadlines.

“Wrapping up legislative business in December is always unpredictable,” McCarthy said.