Congress has once again left Washington for an extended recess, this time to campaign ahead of the November elections. Before they could leave though, lawmakers needed to attend to the small matter of making sure that the government would not shut down for lack of funding in their absence. With the current budget set to expire at the end of September and the failure to pass even a single appropriations package earlier this year, Congress seemingly had no choice but to pass a Continuing Resolution (CR), funding government agencies at current levels through the end of the year. As usual, politics got in the way as Republicans and Democrats clashed on flood relief, aid for Flint, Michigan, and funding to combat the Zika virus. Eventually, calmer heads prevailed and an agreement was struck to fund the government through December 9, leaving Congress four weeks after they return to Washington to pass a more permanent budget.
The biggest impediment to the CR's passage, aid for Flint, was not addressed in the CR, but instead through House passage of a Water Resources Development Act. An amendment offered by Rep. Dan Kildee (MI-5th) included aid in WRDA and was accepted by the House, before passage of the complete package. Recall that the Senate passed its own WRDA package earlier, and also included aid for Flint. While there are similarities in the two bills, there are significant differences to iron out in conference during the lame duck session after elections. Leaders remain confident though, since both House and Senate WRDA bills enjoyed heavy bipartisan support in their respective chambers. A bevy of amendments were added to the House bill before its passage, but none addressing projects on the Mississippi River.
