The main order of congressional business for the remainder of September is to enact a continuing resolution (CR) – an extension of current government funding – before funding expires at the end of this fiscal year on September 30th. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Maryland) said he would like the House of Representatives to pass a CR next week, giving the U.S. Senate up to a full week to vote on the bill. House Democratic leadership and the Trump Administration have agreed to keep the CR clean of controversial policy provisions – a “clean CR” - including pandemic relief. Funding for most programs will be frozen at current levels, but the big decision remaining is how long the extension will last. It is largely believed that the extension will likely last until around December 18th, but some Democrats are pushing to have the extension last until Spring, leaving it to a new Congress and possibly a new Administration to finalize fiscal year 2021 funding levels.
