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The Senate is in session this week, delaying its originally scheduled holiday recess this week to attempt to complete several year-end legislative items. When returning in the new year, Congress will have a lengthy to-do list of legislative items, including emergency supplemental aid to Ukraine and Israel, increased border security funding and policy changes, and passing federal government FY 2024 funding past the January 19 and February 2, 2024, deadlines. After this week, the House is scheduled to return to Washington on January 9 while the Senate is scheduled to return on January 8.
While the House is on recess, the Senate is back in Washington to attempt to agree and pass a deal on border funding/policy changes and supplemental aid to Ukraine and Israel. The move by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) is unpopular among Senate Republicans who believe the upper chamber should return in the new year to work on the package. On “Meet the Press,” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said of the negotiations that “we’re not anywhere close to a deal. It’ll go into next year.” The negotiations center around border-related provisions and the Biden Administration’s $111 billion supplemental spending package request originally made in October, which includes aid to Ukraine, Israel, and the Indo-Pacific, amongst other items. The Senate this week will also consider the House-passed Airport and Airway Extension Act of 2023, Part II (H.R. 6503), which extends various Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) authorizations from December 31 to March 8, 2024.
This week, the Senate will vote on the nominations of former Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley to be Commissioner of the Social Security Administration and Sara Hill to be a U.S. District Court Judge for the Northern District of Oklahoma. The Senate will also likely vote on approving roughly a dozen military nominations for four-star generals and flag officers whose promotions have been blocked by individual senators.
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