The House hasn’t adjourned before Sept. 30 in an election year since 1960. House may adjourn by end of week

House leaders are considering adjourning as early as the end of this week, which would give lawmakers five and a half weeks to campaign before the Nov. 2 election but could also leave them exposed to allegations that they didn't finish their work in Washington.

The House hasn’t adjourned before Sept. 30 in an election year since 1960.


There's been no decision made yet, and insiders caution that the scenario is dependent upon the Senate and House completing action on a stopgap spending bill to keep government agencies running through the election. But a House leadership aide said they are working with the Senate to pass the spending measure, known as a continuing resolution, “as soon as possible, so we’ll see if Republicans expose how extreme they are to the American people by standing in the way (of the measure) and risking shutting down the government.”

"Members want to finish business and get back to their districts as soon as possible," another House Democratic leadership aide told POLITICO. "If the Senate can finish a [continuing resolution] this week and get it to the House in a timely fashion, we'll take it up."

The other major item on the docket is a renewal of tax cuts for earners in most or all tax brackets. The president and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) have called on lawmakers to extend the 2001 Bush tax cuts for 97 percent of workers, while allowing breaks for the top 3 percent to expire at the end of this year.

Republicans say an early adjournment would surely mean that Democrats would go home without extending tax cuts for the middle and lower classes — leaving the majority party open to accusations that they won't act to stop taxes from going up on all Americans.

"If Democrats get out of town and send the message that they are prepared to raise taxes on small business people, family farms and investors, they do so at their own peril,” said Brad Dayspring, a spokesman for House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.). “It would be the latest signal that they haven’t got a clue when it comes to creating jobs and getting Americans back to work.”

But Democrats are still holding out hope that they will be able to finish both a continuing resolution and a tax bill before the House shuts down for election season, whether that date is at the end of this week or the end of next week, as has been the plan.

House Democratic leaders are scheduled to meet tomorrow among themselves and, separately, with Senate leaders. It should become more clear after those meetings whether they intend to go home earlier than anticipated.

The continuing resolution, colloquially known as a "CR," keeps the government in operation when Congress has failed to complete the annual spending bills that fund various government departments and agencies for the new fiscal year beginning on Oct. 1. This Congress has not only failed to pass annual appropriations bills, it did not approve an annual budget blueprint either.

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