A hectic, controversial few weeks face Congress ahead of the end of the fiscal year

The House of Representatives returns to work this week after a super-long August/Labor Day recess, but not until Tuesday, when it will do some legislative business and then adjourn briefly in honor of Queen Elizabeth II. Both the House and Senate will pass a bereavement resolution at some point this week. Beyond that, officially not a lot of import will be happening legislatively. But behind the scenes, there will be a great deal of negotiating among themselves and likely with the Senate over the government funding bill they have to pass before the end of the month.

Democrats are working on a continuing resolution proposal that would last until December 16. As of now, Republicans leaders in the Senate are not opposing that, but could balk in favor of a 2023 expiration date in hopes that one or both of the chambers of Congress flips to them in the midterm elections, giving them spending control. There’s not a whiff of shutdown talk from any Republicans this time around—even from the worst of the worst in the House—but there’s plenty of controversy.

That deal Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) made with Majority Leader Chuck Schumer that helped get the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) done is the main problem right now. The agreement made between the two, which the White House supports, would set time limits on agency review and litigation timelines for permits on energy projects. It would designate some projects for fast-track review and require that a pet project of Manchin’s, the Mountain Valley Pipeline, be completed.

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