The House returns from its week-long recess on Tuesday as lawmakers aim to keep the government funded beyond the September 30^th deadline. The House will vote on the minibus package containing Defense-Labor, Health and Human Services, Education (Labor-HHS) FY 2019 funding bills (H.R. 6157) (bill text; conference report; summary). The Defense-Labor-HHS package will also serve as the vehicle for a continuing resolution (CR) through December 7^th — allowing Congress to avert a shutdown and punt decisions on controversial issues until after the mid-term elections.

Following passage of the highly anticipated opioid response legislation, the Senate will reconvene this morning to check off an additional big ticket legislative item. The upper chamber is slated to vote on the Defense-Labor-HHS-Education conference report today as Congress seeks to keep the government funded beyond the September 30^th funding deadline. The report includes both a year-long funding package for the departments of Defense, Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education for FY 2019, along with a short-term continuing resolution (CR) that would keep remaining agencies funded through December 7^th while negotiations continue.

The Senate is slated to reconvene this afternoon when it will hold a vote on a highly anticipated package of bills to address the nation’s opioid crisis. The Opioid Crisis Response Act (section-by-section) comprises more than 70 bills reported out of five Senate committees and touches on nearly every aspect of the epidemic. If passed, the bill will need to be reconciled with the House-passed measure (H.R. 6) prior to becoming law. For the balance of the week, the upper chamber is also expected to vote on the Defense-Labor-HHS-Education conference report as Congress seeks to beat the September 30 government funding deadline.

The House returns to action this morning as the chamber seeks to clear two major legislative priorities. Lawmakers are expected to approve the conference report (H.R. 5895) for the minibus spending package for military construction and veterans’ affairs, legislative branch, and energy and water. The House will also vote on a measure (S. 3021) under suspension of the rules that would reauthorize the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA). Additional suspension work for the House includes: (1) a bill (S.97) that enables civilian research and development of advanced nuclear energy technologies by private and public institutions; (2) a bill (H.R. 6227) to provide for a coordinated Federal program to accelerate quantum research and development for the economic and national security of the United States; and (3) a Senate amendment to a House-passed bill (H.R. 589) that establishes Department of Energy policy for science and energy research and development programs

Congress returns for a truncated legislative work week as lawmakers look to clear crucial agenda items prior to next week’s recess. In significant appropriations news, both chambers are positioned to take up the first conference report on a package of three fiscal 2019 spending bills, which fund agencies including the departments of Energy and Veterans Affairs, as well as military construction projects and Congress itself. Congress will also hold conference committees for the next two spending packages — including FY 2019 appropriations for the Department of Defense, Health and Human Services (HHS), ‘Financial Services and General Government,’ ‘Agriculture and Rural Development,’ ‘Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies,’ and ‘Transportation, Housing, Urban Development, and Related Agencies’ — in hopes of producing final appropriations numbers for the underlying agencies.