The House’s abbreviated schedule will punt a host of legislative items to the post-election period.
House lawmakers are only set to be in town for one more week before the midterms; the Senate is scheduled to be in town for another three weeks.
This means that time-sensitive legislation like the annual defense policy bill, the reauthorization of lapsed warrantless surveillance programs, and the farm bill will be left for later.
Action on college sports-related legislation and Russia sanctions will also likely be delayed.
Some House Republicans expect a last-ditch effort to pass another filibuster-circumventing budget bill if they lose the House, though it’s not clear whether there’s an appetite for that much post-election legislative work.
“It all depends on what the election outcome is and what people’s desires are to be here and work their way through,” said Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D.