Julie Jacobson / AP
From left, Arizona Department of Transportation Director John Halikowski, Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer, Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval, Steven Horsford, D-Nev., and Nevada Department of Transportation Director Rudy Malfabon unveil a sign marking the corridor for the future Interstate 11 between Phoenix and Las Vegas, Friday, March 21, 2014, at the Hoover Dam in Arizona. It was a symbolic effort meant to keep up momentum on the project, which is coming of age in an era of scarce highway funding.
Monday, Sept. 8, 2014 | 2 a.m.
Congress returns today after a five-week summer break, but lawmakers’ focus will be on politics over policy as they look ahead to the Nov. 4 midterm elections.
Here’s what to expect from Washington for the next few weeks.
The Senate
Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., will likely keep the Senate in session for about two weeks before he lets lawmakers go home to campaign.
Reid will spend much of those two weeks negotiating a short-term spending bill to fund the government through the end of the year. Congress needs to approve some kind of budget by the end of September to keep the government running.
But that’s about the only legislation expected to pass the pre-election Senate. Reid’s also lining up sure-to-fail votes to rally his party’s base for November, such as proposing a constitutional amendment to reform campaign finance laws.
The House
The House isn’t any less political. Leaders are spending their short time in Washington on votes to hold President Obama in contempt for not notifying Congress before making a Taliban prisoner swap earlier this year.
Nevada’s House lawmakers will continue to push bills they say will help the state, such as a land bill for Lyon County and transportation funding. But it’s not clear if there’s momentum to get it all done in the next few weeks.
What could change things
Violence in the Middle East is one. If President Obama asks Congress for approval to continue airstrikes in Iraq and Syria, the debate could consume lawmakers’ time.
Immigration would have been another. But White House leaders said Saturday that Obama would delay any action until after the election.
Reid’s backing last week of a proposal to stop the U.S. Postal Service from closing processing centers could also set up a fight in Congress about the financially beleaguered agency.
But the main gist of lawmakers’ return to Washington is that just about everything they do here will be geared toward pleasing voters back home. Yes, even more so than usual.
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