McCarthy says he has no plans to cancel August recess

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said Tuesday he doesn’t see a reason for the lower chamber to cancel August recess, arguing the House hasn’t had the same challenges in completing its work as the Senate. 

His comments come in the wake of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s (R-Ky.) announcement that the upper chamber would spend the majority of August in Washington. McCarthy said the 115th Congress has had “the most productive House of Representatives in modern times,” and called on the Senate to follow suit. 

{mosads}

“We have 500 bills sitting in the Senate and take it up. And Democrats have had a hundred cloture votes and with the last six presidents had 24 those first two years,” he said. “So I understand why the Senate needs to finish their work. We’ve been doing our work.”

The California Republican, who is in charge of scheduling the floor calendar, said he believes it’s best to get the work they need to complete done now rather than pushing legislative priorities further down the road. 

“So, I mean if the Senate isn’t able to get that work done then they could stay in August, get it done — that’s fantastic,” he said. “Just like in school, if you don’t do your work you have to stay after school and finish your work.”

McConnell cited as his reason for canceling the recess the Democratic filibusters he says are stifling the Senate’s ability to get its work done. 

“Due to the historic obstruction by Senate Democrats of the president’s nominees, and the goal of passing appropriations bills prior to the end of the fiscal year, the August recess has been canceled,” he said in a statement. “Senators should expect to remain in session in August to pass legislation, including appropriations bills, and to make additional progress on the president’s nominees.”