Congress Adjourns Until After Elections, But Passes Water Resource Legislation First

Congress will be out of session until after the midterm elections, wrapping up business and heading home to hit the campaign trail. When it returns, the Congressional forecast may look very different. Scheduled to be in session until October 26, the Senate adjourned on October 11 after Senate Democrats agreed to a deal with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to adjourn early in exchange for not prolonging consideration of 15 of President Trump’s judicial nominees.

The day before adjourning, the Senate approved 99-1 the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA), legislation reauthorizing Army Corps of Engineers heavy infrastructure projects. This legislation was approved by the House of Representatives in September and awaits President Trump’s signature. The passage of WRDA marks the second infrastructure-related reauthorization in the past weeks, following the Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization, which also included the Disaster Recovery Reform Act.

With the confirmation of 15 additional Trump judicial nominees, the Senate has now confirmed 84 of the President’s nominees to the federal bench, including two U.S. Supreme Court justices. These nominees underscore the critical importance of maintaining and growing a strong pro-business majority in the U.S. Senate in the upcoming midterm elections.

For more information, contact Andrew Tyrrell at atyrrell@nrmca.org.