The House will reconvene from its August recess at 6:30 P.M. and is scheduled to swear in three new lawmakers who won seats in Congress in recent special elections at 6:50 P.M. Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-California) will swear in former Alaska state Representative Mary Peltola, who won a special election last month to finish the late-Representative Don Young’s (R-Alaska) term in the House. Young, who was the Dean of the House, a title given to the longest-serving member of Congress, died in March at the age of 88. Peltola flipped the longtime Republican-held seat in an upset victory, beating former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin (R) and others in the ranked-choice system. The Speaker will also swear in Democrat Pat Ryan, who won a special election in New York’s 19th Congressional District last month replacing former Representative Antonio Delgado (D-N.Y.), who resigned from the House in May to become lieutenant governor of the Empire State. Ryan beat Republican Marc Molinaro in the swing-district race that many saw as a bellwether for how the midterm elections will shake out in November. Third on the swearing-in list is Joe Sempolinski, a Republican who won a special election in New York’s 23rd Congressional District last month to finish former Representative Tom Reed’s (R-New York) term, who resigned.
Also on Tuesday, the House is slated to pass a bereavement resolution to honor Queen Elizabeth II, as well as eighteen bills under suspension of the Rules from a variety of committees.
Work continues on assembling and passing a continuing resolution (CR) that will last through December 16th. It’s possible the Senate may vote on the CR as early as this week, though next week is more likely. It also is not yet clear whether a CR would include the supplemental appropriations to support Ukraine or funding for COVID and monkeypox requested by the Biden administration. Republicans remain opposed to additional funding for COVID-related expenses. It was also suggested the Senate may attach a permitting reform bill to the CR, which faces steep opposition from more than 70 House Democrats who sent a letter to Speaker Pelosi and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Maryland). The liberal House members are specifically pressing Democratic leaders to not include permitting reform in the stopgap funding measure Congress must pass by the end of the month to prevent an October 1st government shutdown.
The Senate convened at 10:00 A.M. and is expected to vote on the confirmation of Arianna J. Freeman to be United States Circuit Judge for the Third Circuit and Lara E. Montecalvo to be United States Circuit Judge for the First Circuit.
Adam S. Olsen, Washington, D.C.
