Congress will Face Multiple Hurdles when Returning from August Recess

August 24, 2015

        Congress is expected to face a difficult last few months of 2015. After returning from August recess, Congress will have twelve work days in September to avoid a government shutdown. Congress will be working on several items of key importance, leading up to the October 1^st deadline. These topics include the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) renewal, a customs bill, the closure of the Export-Import Bank, highway funding, and President Obama’s Iran nuclear deal.

        The FAA bill aims to provide funding for airports that would improve safety and efficiency, improve service to customers, and help modernize the aviation system. Although the current funding is set to expire on September 30^th, the legislative branch is still struggling to put together a new bill. Failure to compose a reauthorization bill would cause a lapse in funding, which would further devastate the current aviation system.

        The customs bill, known as the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act, also creates a hurdle for Congress. This bill aims to improve customs enforcement with specific rules of currency manipulation, environmental enforcement, and duty evasion. The House of Representatives and the Senate each passed their own version of this bill before the end of July. Yet, they were unable to arrange a conference to settle the differences between the two bills. Once Congress returns from recess, they will need to discuss these outstanding differences in order to pass the customs bill.

        The lengthy debate over the closure of the Export-Import Bank also remains an issue that could cause serious problems for other bills, as failure to revive the bank could cause problems once the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) comes to a vote. One possibility for the survival of the Export-Import Bank is to attach it to a piece of “must pass” legislation, such as highway funding. However, as time has passed, the future of the Highway Trust Fund has become unclear. There have been multiple differences over how to reauthorize and pay for this six-year, $47 billion bill that would help states repair crumbling roads and bridges. With controversy high, Congress resorted to passing a three month extension to the bill, pushing the deadline back to October 29^th.

            Even further adding to the storm of deadlines, Congress will also have to vote on Obama’s Iran nuclear deal which will take place in mid-September. “Deadline here, deadline there. But always deadlines. Management by crisis,” said Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV). It has become increasingly clear to all involved that this August recess has left many wondering how Congress will fight off a fiscal crisis in the fall.

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