A Long December

02 Dec A Long December

The House and Senate return today to begin the process of wrapping up 2019 in a nice bow and setting the stage for the second part of the 116^th Congress. If only it was that easy. Before we get to 2020, there are several items that will occupy much of the time and energy of Members in December, including impeachment proceedings, funding the government past December 20^th and potentially ratifying USMCA. While these large ticket items will continue to dominate Washington as they did most of November, Congress will still have a full schedule of hearings and mark-ups over the next few weeks along with year-end activity at the regulatory level. And as we are just two months away from the Iowa caucuses, the Democrats who have qualified for the sixth debate will meet on stage in California in a few weeks. We cover these and other issues below in a brief preview of what we believe will be the focus in Washington this month, subject as always to external or unexpected events that could disrupt the schedule.