Summary
Through some recent discussions with lead staff, we have gotten a clearer picture of the likely congressional activities during the September and post-election lame duck work periods that we wanted to pass along.
According to Senate Republican leadership, the September work period is likely to focus on the “messes” left over from July: Puerto Rico pension issues, Zika, and the CR. As expected, the CR will likely run through mid-December, at which point leadership will push very hard for funding for the full fiscal year (rather than to March as some House Republicans have insisted). They will also push for a clean CR, limited to a small number of must-pass items, which will probably be the only meaningful vehicle that moves during a (likely short) lame duck session after the election.
Also, with regard to the 21st Century Cures/Innovations package, despite the renewed engagement by Vice President Biden’s office and some positive signals from those involved in the discussions, the ongoing stand-off over offsets remains. Inclusion of the Cancer Moonshot proposal would increase the offsets required. For now, key staff see little opportunity for a breakthrough in the negotiations, though it is possible some elements of the legislation could attach to the CR at the end of the year.