Next Week on the Hill: House Seeks to Clear Defense-Labor-HHS Spending Measures; Senate Returns to Nominations

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.

House lawmakers are also expected to consider a bill (H.R. 3798) that would amend the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) employer mandate to adjust the definition of “full-time employees” from a 30-hour threshold up to a 40-hour threshold. Previous versions of the bill stalled in the House during the 113th and 114th Congresses. However, the GOP-controlled 115th Congress and a Republican President may be the bill’s best chance of enactment.

Meanwhile, the Senate will reconvene on Monday and turn its attention to the presidential nominations queue. As of now, Senators are expected to consider the nominations of Jackie Walcott to be a Representative of the United States to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and Peter Feldman to be Commissioner of the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC).