It’s Too Late to Stop Now: Getting the 116th Going

04 Feb It’s Too Late to Stop Now: Getting the 116th Going

With the federal government fully functioning for the moment, Congress appears to be pointing towards “go.” But even though last week’s polar vortex has retreated, we still face the productivity-freezing prospect that a week from Friday portions of the federal government could again be forced to close their doors. As work continues to avoid that scenario, we will see the President give his rescheduled State of the Union speech tomorrow night, and Congress will be in town for a fairly limited February run. With a recess week scheduled after Presidents’ Day, there aren’t many days available for hearings, at least in the House. While the Senate will be in for most of the month except Presidents’ Day week, we still expect the majority of time on the Floor to be devoted to judicial nominees, with still some discussion of limiting the debate on those efforts. We highlight these and other issues below as we preview what we believe will be the focus in Washington in the shortest month of the year, subject as always to external or unexpected events that could disrupt the schedule.