House GOP leader lays out fall agenda

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) released an outline Wednesday of the chamber’s upcoming agenda that has a notable omission: a vote on a resolution to impeach the IRS commissioner.

Members of the hard-line House Freedom Caucus introduced a motion right before the House departed Washington for its summer recess that would have forced action on impeaching IRS Commissioner John Koskinen within two days.

{mosads}Since the House subsequently left town for two months, the Freedom Caucus may have to re-file its resolution when they return next week. 

GOP leaders have been wary of allowing a vote to impeach the IRS commissioner, given that the House has only voted one other time in history — in 1876 — to impeach a Cabinet-level official.

McCarthy’s memo listed imminent action on a variety of bills to reform the regulatory process and modify financial regulations, as well as a stopgap spending measure to avoid a government shutdown on Oct. 1.

House Republicans will also discuss “a path forward” for a $1.1 billion emergency funding package to mitigate the spread of the Zika virus, McCarthy noted. The legislation has been stalled since July, when Congress adjourned for the party conventions without a final compromise. 

In addition, McCarthy said the House is expected to consider a legislative response to the Obama administration’s $400 million cash payment to Iran that was used as leverage to release American prisoners.

The House also plans to vote on a bill authored by House Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Jeff Miller (R-Fla.) to ensure Department of Veterans Affairs employees can be fired or demoted for misconduct.