Following a truncated August recess, the House and the Senate
returned to Washington after Labor Day with a full plate of
legislative items to address prior to the end of the fiscal year on
September 30. That list includes funding the federal government,
reauthorizing the Federal Aviation Administration, approving the
Water Infrastructure Act and wrapping up negotiations over the Farm
Bill, which is currently in a conference committee (see Farm Bill
section for more information).
The Senate Judiciary Committee spent the first week of September
on hearings on the nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to be an
Associate Justice of the Supreme Court. A committee vote is
expected in the next two weeks, followed by a vote on the Senate
floor prior to the commencement of the Supreme Court's next
term, which begins on October 1.