Today on the Hill: House Set to Clear Defense-Labor-HHS Spending Measure, FAA Reauthorization

House lawmakers will reconvene this morning as the lower chamber seeks to check off key legislative priorities. The House is set vote on the minibus package containing the 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 unresolved issues until after the mid-term elections.

The House will also tackle 16 bills under suspension of the rules, including a bill (H.R. 302) that would reauthorize the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for five years. Funding for the FAA — which expires this Sunday — will then need to be addressed by the Senate. However, a timeline for floor action remains unclear. Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune (R-SD) said that the Senate could either pass the bill this week (possibly over the weekend) or pass a short-term extension to give Senators more time to consider the sweeping reauthorization bill, followed by a final vote next week. 

Meanwhile, the Senate will reconvene this morning and continue its work on presidential nominations. The upper chamber is slated to hold a final confirmation vote on the nomination of Peter Feldman to be Commissioner of the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC).