Senate Takes Up Bill to Avoid Gov’t Shutdown, House Returns for Last Scheduled Work Week Before the Election

What’s happening in Congress?

• The Senate is set to take up a bill to fund the government through December 11th to avoid a partial government shutdown on Wednesday, while the House returns for its last scheduled pre-election work week.
• Off the floor, negotiators are continuing talks about another coronavirus relief package, although it’s unclear whether they’ll be able to break the impasse that has prevailed for months. Additionally, Judge Amy Coney Barrett will start one-on-one meetings with senators fresh off her nomination to the Supreme Court ahead of her mid-October confirmation hearings.

SENATE SCHEDULE

• The Senate starts its week on Tuesday with a procedural vote on a bill to fund the government through December 11th to avoid a partial government shutdown on Wednesday, September 30th. 
• The procedural vote is on a cloture motion to limit further debate to 30 hours and requires 60 votes to succeed, which it likely will given the Senate’s 93-2 vote in favor of a motion to proceed to considering the package last week. Assuming the cloture motion vote succeeds, a vote on final passage of the short-term funding package will occur Wednesday in advance of midnight deadline. 
• If a bipartisan deal is reached on coronavirus relief legislation, the Senate could quickly move to consider the bill before the end of the week if senators grant unanimous consent to bring it to the floor without the usual procedural hurdles. 
• Committees will hold hearings on oversight of the Crossfire Hurricane investigation with testimony from former FBI Director James Comey, an update about NASA missions and programs, and authorizing subpoenas for testimony by Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, Google CEO Sundar Pichai, and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. 

HOUSE SCHEDULE 

• The House’s week will begin on Tuesday with the consideration of 27 bills under the fast-track suspension of the rules process. Among the most notable is a resolution calling for the peaceful transfer of power following the presidential election.
• The rest of the week will include consideration of an additional 23 suspension bills, plus a bill to prevent publicly-traded companies in the U.S. from using forced labor from Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang, China, as part of their supply chains.
• Additional legislation, including a coronavirus relief package, could be added to this week’s schedule before the House’s planned departure on Friday.
• Committees will hold hearings on environmental justice, to receive testimony from HHS Secretary Alex Azar about COVID-19, and the impact of COVID-19 on small businesses in the food system.

Check below throughout the week to see the vote results and updates to the schedule.

Schedule subject to change. All times Eastern.

SENATE

Tuesday after 5:30pm

• Cloture motion on H.R. 8337: Continuing Appropriations Act, 2021 Invoked 82-6.

Wednesday

• H.R. 8337: Continuing Appropriations Act, 2021 Passed 84-10.
• Motion to proceed to S. 178: Shell Bill for Compromise Coronavirus Relief Legislation Agreed to 48-46.
• Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) Pre-Existing Conditions Protection Amendment to S. 178: Shell Bill for Compromise Coronavirus Relief Legislation Not agreed to 47-47.

Thursday

• Cloture motion on the motion to proceed to S. 4653: Prohibiting DOJ Efforts to Strike Down the Affordable Care Act Not invoked 51-43.

HOUSE

Tuesday after 6:30pm (under suspension of the rules)

• H.R. 360: Cyber Sense Act of 2020, as amended Passed by voice vote.
• H.R. 359: Enhancing Grid Security through Public-Private Partnerships Act, as amended Passed by voice vote.
• H.R. 362: Energy Emergency Leadership Act, as amended Passed by voice vote.
• H.R. 1603: Alain Reinstein Ban Asbestos Now Act of 2020, as amended Vote postponed.
• H.R. 1289: PHONE Act of 2020 Passed by voice vote.
• H.R. 8134: Consumer Product Safety Inspection Enhancement Act, as amended Passed by voice vote.
• H.R. 8128: Consumer Safety Technology Act Passed by voice vote.
• H.R. 1754: Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act of 2020 Passed by voice vote.
• H.R. 8132: American COMPETE Act Passed by voice vote.
• H.R. 4764: TRANSPLANT Act of 2019 Vote postponed.
• H.R. 5373: United States Anti-Doping Agency Reauthorization Act of 2020 Passed by voice vote.
• H.R. 4439: Creating Hope Reauthorization Act Passed by voice vote.
• H.R. 4078: EARLY Act Reauthorization of 2019 Passed by voice vote.
• H.R. 2468: School-Based Allergies and Asthma Management Program Act Passed by voice vote.
• H.R. 3131: South Asian Heart Health Awareness and Research Act of 2020 Passed by voice vote.
• H.R. 5572: Family Support Services for Addiction Act of 2020 Vote postponed.
• H.R. 2075: School-Based Health Centers Reauthorization Act of 2019 Passed by voice vote.
• H.R. 7948: Tribal Health Data Improvement Act of 2020 Passed by voice vote.
• H.R. 5469: Pursuing Equity in Mental Health Act Passed by voice vote.
• H.R. 1109: Mental Health Services for Students Act of 2020 Passed by voice vote.
• H.R. 2519: Improving Mental Health Access from the Emergency Department Act of 2020 Passed by voice vote.
• H.R. 4861: Effective Suicide Screening and Assessment in the Emergency Department Act of 2019 Passed by voice vote.
• H.R. 4996: Helping MOMS Act of 2020, as amended Passed by voice vote.
• H.R. 7293: STANDUP Act of 2020 Passed by voice vote.
• H.R. 3539: Behavioral Intervention Guidelines Act of 2020 Passed by voice vote.
• H.R. 5760: Grid Security Research and Development Act Passed by voice vote.
• H.Res. 1155: Reaffirming the House of Representative’s commitment to the orderly and peaceful transfer of power called for in the Constitution of the United States, and for other purposes Adopted 397-5.
• Motion to table H.Res. 1148: Removing items naming, symbolizing, or mentioning political organizations or parties that supported slavery or the Confederacy from the Capitol and House office spaces and donating such items to the Library of Congress Tabled 223-176.

Wednesday after 11am

• H.R. 6270: Uyghur Forced Labor Disclosure Act Passed 253-163.
• H.R. 4764: TRANSPLANT Act of 2019 Passed 414-0.
• H.R. 5901: Technology Modernization Centers of Excellence Program Act, as amended Passed by voice vote.
• H.R. 7340: Chai Suthammanont Remembrance Act of 2020, as amended Passed by voice vote.
• H.R. 7496: COVID PREPARE Act of 2020, as amended Passed by voice vote.
• H.R. 5736: Transnational White Supremacist Extremism Review Act, as amended Passed by voice vote.
• H.R. 5780: Safe Communities Act of 2020, as amended Passed by voice vote.
• H.R. 5823: State and Local Cybersecurity Improvement Act, as amended Passed by voice vote.
• H.R. 5822: Homeland Security Acquisition Professional Career Program Act, as amended Passed by voice vote.
• H.R. 5811: TSA Personnel Workplace Improvement Act of 2020, as amended Passed by voice vote.
• H.R. 5804: DHS Blue Campaign Enhancement Act, as amended Passed by voice vote.

Thursday after 11am

• House Amendment to the Senate Amendments to H.R. 925: Updated Heroes Act Passed 214-207.
• H.R. 8124: Criminal Judicial Administration Act of 2020, as amended Passed by voice vote.
• H.R. 7718: Protecting the Health and Wellness of Babies and Pregnant Women in Custody Act, as amended Passed by voice vote.
• H.R. 8225: Fight Notario Fraud Act of 2020, as amended Passed by voice vote.
• S. 2330: Empowering Olympic, Paralympic, and Amateur Athletes Act of 2020 Passed by voice vote.
• H.R. 6813: Promoting Alzheimer’s Awareness to Prevent Elder Abuse Act Passed by voice vote.
• S. 3051: America's Conservation Enhancement Act Passed by voice vote.
• H.R. 5126: DESCEND Act of 2020, as amended Passed by voice vote.
• H.R. 5068: Women Who Worked on the Home Front World War II Memorial Act Passed by voice vote.
• S. 3758: A bill to amend the Klamath Basin Water Supply Enhancement Act of 2000 to make certain technical corrections Passed by voice vote.
• H.R. 5139: Stop Sexual Assault and Harassment in Transportation Act, as amended Passed by voice vote.
• S. 2638: Friendly Airports for Mothers Improvement Act Passed by voice vote.
• S. 4075: RLF Act Passed by voice vote.
• H.R. 5912: Expedited Delivery of Airport Infrastructure Act of 2020, as amended Passed by voice vote.
• H.R. 4470: To rename the Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation the Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation, as amended Passed by voice vote.

Friday between 9am and 3pm

• H.Res. 1153: Condemning unwanted, unnecessary medical procedures on individuals without their full, informed consent Adopted 232-156, 4 present.
• H.Res. 1154: Condemning QAnon and rejecting the conspiracy theories it promotes Adopted 371-18, 1 present.

Tell your reps how to vote on this week's bills and share your thoughts below!

— Eric Revell