Republicans are hoping to win back the majority in the House, while Democrats are hoping to limit their losses — and both parties will be eager to allow their most vulnerable lawmakers time to get back on the campaign trail before the election.
The major legislative to-do item for the House and Senate will be to take up a stop-gap bill to extend government funding past a September 30 deadline and avert a shutdown.
This week, the House will also take up a resolution to honor the late Queen Elizabeth II, and the work of the select committee investigating the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol will increasingly be under a microscope as the midterms approach.
When the House comes back into session, the chamber will pay tribute to the late Queen Elizabeth II, the British monarch whose rule spanned seven decades, who died on Thursday at the age of 96.
Congressional leaders from both parties have paid tribute to the queen and offered their condolences following her passing.
Pelosi said in a statement the queen “was a pillar of leadership in the global arena and a devoted friend of freedom” and “capably shepherded the United Kingdom through great turbulence and transition.”
House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy said that Queen Elizabeth II “represented what it means to lead with conviction, selflessness, and faith in God and in her people. She led her people with grace, showing what servant-leadership means in principle and in practice.”
Government funding sprint
With government funding set to expire at the end of the month, both chambers are expected to pass a stop-gap funding extension to avert a shutdown. Stop-gap funding bills are known on Capitol Hill as a continuing resolution. The deadline to extend funding is September 30 at midnight.
So far, legislative text for a continuing resolution has not yet been publicly released, but it is expected to extend until sometime in mid-December, setting up another funding deadline close to the end of the calendar year and just before the holiday season.
January 6 committee
All eyes will be on the House January 6 committee when the chamber returns as it has yet to formally announce whether it will hold any additional public hearings in September. Committee members have given recent updates, however, on the status of a report the panel is working on and the potential for further witness testimony.
Raskin also said that he hopes its members are able to hear testimony from several key people, including former Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Virginia “Ginni” Thomas, the wife of Justice Clarence Thomas.
CNN’s Daniella Diaz, Betsy Klein and Ivana Kottasová contributed to this report.
