The House of Representatives plans to consider the Senate-passed budget resolution, which tees up the reconciliation process in order to pass a bill focused on social program spending, next week in a brief pause in the Congressional August recess.
“For your scheduling purposes,” House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) said in a Dear Colleague letter to House members on August 10, “assuming that the Senate does, in fact, complete work on a budget resolution,” the House will return to session on the evening of August 23 to consider that budget resolution and will remain in session until our business for the week is concluded.”
The Senate on August 10 passed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021 – a bill focused on hard infrastructure like roads and bridges – and immediately proceeded to an amendment voting session on the budget resolution that triggered the reconciliation process. Following the amendment session, the Senate passed the budget resolution by a party-line vote.
Each of the eleven committees of jurisdiction now have until September 15 to finish their individual bills according to the instructions from the budget resolution to build the final reconciliation bill.
In addition to annual appropriations bills and the other spending including infrastructure and reconciliation, Congress must also address the debt ceiling, which expired on July 31, 2021. There is currently no indication that the reconciliation budget resolution includes any reference to addressing the debt ceiling.
