Senate and House of Representatives Reconvene in 2nd Week of July Following July 4th Recess
The Senate took a recess for the Fourth of July celebration, delaying several legislative agendas which include the voting on President Donald J. Trump's health bill and tax reform laws. Meanwhile, Republican senators seek to postpone their upcoming August recess to work on the health bill.
According to the 2017 Congressional House Calendar, the Congress has been on recess since July 1st for the Fourth of July celebration. The Senate will reconvene this Monday, July 10. However, the return of the House of Representatives will be on Tuesday, July 12, Heavy reported.
Congress will have another long vacation this August. Both House and Senate members will be off work beginning July 28 until September 5 for the summer vacation. Because of this long break coming up, many of the Republican senators are pushing to have Trump's new health bill approved before the 28th.
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CNN reports that several Republican senators are seeking to have their August recess at least shortened, if not cancelled, to focus on the health bill, Affordable Care Act.
Senators David Perdue of Georgia, Steve Daines of Montana, John Kennedy of Louisiana, Joni Ernst of Iowa, Mike Lee of Utah, James Lankford of Oklahoma, Luther Strange of Alabama, Mike Rounds of South Dakota, Dan Sullivan of Alaska, and Thom Tillis of North Carolina wrote to Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to shorten the August recess to focus on five priorities – health care, government funding, budget resolution, debt ceiling, and tax code reforms.
"Our current Senate calendar shows only 33 potential working days remaining before the end of the fiscal year. This does not appear to give us enough time to adequately address the issues that demand immediate attention. Therefore, we respectfully request that you consider truncating, if not completely forgoing, the scheduled August state work period, allowing us more time to complete our work," the letter reads.
McConnell has not yet given a response.
The Majority Leader initially delayed the vote on the Affordable Care Act because there are a lot that he wants to change in the bill. He also wants to have a new Congressional Budget Office score.
McConnell said that the health bill is still "an ongoing discussion," and that it's a "big complicated subject." However, he is positive that they are "going to get to a result that's better than the status quo."
