WHAT HAPPENED: With the House already gone, the Senate is the only chamber still in Washington. Speaker Mike Johnson sent House lawmakers home on September 16, canceling votes scheduled for the following day, so members could campaign. The Senate is scheduled to remain in session until October 2, as of now, and both chambers will return from the midterm recess on November 9. In its final days before the break, senators are expected to work on judicial nominations and other legislative issues but are not expected to release the chamber’s long-delayed fiscal year 2027 spending bills. With the government already funded through December 11, there is no must-pass deadline forcing action before the Senate leaves.
WHY IT MATTERS: Several items of interest to agriculture are unlikely to reach the Senate floor before October 2, if at all. Senate Agriculture Chairman John Boozman anticipates a floor vote on the farm bill after the midterm elections in November, and the bill will need enough bipartisan support to clear the 60-vote threshold. Meanwhile, the current farm bill extension expires September 30, and it remains unclear whether the Senate will act on another extension before leaving town.
WHAT’S NEXT: The post-election calendar is short. The Senate is set to return for two days the week after the election, before the Nov. 11 observation of Veterans Day. After that, the chamber returns a total of seven days prior to Thanksgiving and works three weeks in December ahead of the Christmas recess, with a target adjournment of Dec. 18. That leaves roughly four weeks of floor time to address government funding ahead of the December 11 deadline, the farm bill, defense authorization, pending nominations and any reconciliation package before the 119th Congress ends.
