Both the US Senate and House reconvened this week after their five-week recess they normally take during the month of August. The most pressing piece of legislation on their docket is a stopgap spending bill, or continuing resolution, to maintain funding for the federal government when the current fiscal year ends on September 30, 2014. Some of the requests for spending in the continuing resolution include:
- Additional funding flexibility for immigration-related agencies to help them respond to the child migrant crisis,
- Extra funding to respond to the Ebola outbreak in Africa, and
- A short-term extension of the Export-Import bank set to expire at the end of this month.
The continuing resolution is expected to fund the federal government at current 2014 levels through mid-December. Assuming both parties agree to a short-term budget figure, the lame-duck Congress will come back after the November elections to negotiate a full-year omnibus appropriation bill or pass another continuing resolution.