The Congress update provides a look at the latest congressional activity. The Congressional Calendars collection includes the calendars of the House of Representatives and the Senate.
As the congressional recess begins, a battle over government funding is heating up with the fate of Trump’s megabill in the balance. While the House is pushing a different strategy, Senate leaders are struggling to pass a package of bills that would fund the Justice, Commerce, Agriculture and Veteran’s Affairs departments, plus the FBI, FDA and military construction projects.
The standard rhythm for members of Congress is to fly into Washington on Monday evening and leave on Thursday afternoon, which can cause legislative and oversight work to be jammed into a short timeframe. To reach its full potential, Congress must adopt changes that allow it to do more in the districts while also optimizing its time when it is in Washington.
One of the most important ways to do this is by reducing the number of committee scheduling conflicts that arise during each Congress. The current system allows many members to be double- or triple-booked and are forced to “ping pong” from hearing to hearing, which limits their ability to fully participate in committee business. As part of its efforts to modernize, the House has developed a deconflict tool that can help reduce these conflicts. At the request of chamber leadership, HDS is now rolling out a new platform, HouseCal, to expand this deconflict functionality.