House heads for exits to hit campaign trail

In a departure from their original schedule, the House plans to adjourn at the end of the day Thursday until after the midterm elections, Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) announced.

Lawmakers will now have extra time to hit the campaign trail, leaving Washington until the lame-duck session in November. 

{mosads}The House was originally set to be in session through Friday to vote on consolidated packages of so-called “jobs bills” and measures to boost domestic energy that it has already passed. Now, members will be able to head for the exits as soon as the House finishes work on the energy package.

Cancellation of Friday’s session allows members to make up a day of campaigning after House members came in Monday instead of the originally scheduled Tuesday.

In total, the House will have been in session for eight days since returning from the five-week August recess on Sept. 8. 

Members were already set to recess next week for Rosh Hashanah but were scheduled to return the week of Sept. 29. The House has already passed a stopgap funding measure to avoid a government shutdown on Oct. 1, however, and a proposal to authorize arming Syrian rebels to fight Islamic extremists, so members no longer have any must-pass items before the elections.

Cancellation of the House session during the last week of September is assuming that the Senate clears the funding bill Thursday afternoon.

The Senate has allotted up to four and a half hours of debate on the funding bill with a vote expected no later than 5:30 p.m. Afterward, the Senate is expected to adjourn until Nov. 12.