Congress is posed to adjourn today for its five-week summer recess until September 9. The Senate adjourned late yesterday, while the House plans to leave today. Lawmakers leave Washington, D.C. without making much progress on key issues such as spending measures, immigration reform, the budget, and the farm bill.
Without a deal on the sequester and to fund federal agencies in fiscal year 2014, the government will shut down on October 1, only three weeks after lawmakers return to Washington, D.C. Not much later, the U.S. Treasury could face the risk of default unless Congress can agree to raise the $16.7 trillion federal debt limit. Leaders of both parties say they want to avoid those possible outcomes, but neither party has made much headway in determining how best to deal with these pressing issues.
