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Senate’s 2015 Calendar Features Fuller Weeks, Fewer Breaks

(Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)
(Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)

In addition to longer workweeks, it appears the Senate will be in session more frequently in 2015.  

As expected, the Senate will kick off work in the 114th Congress on Jan. 6, and the chamber isn’t expected to take a full week break until Presidents Day. That’s according to a draft calendar obtained by CQ Roll Call that shows the Senate in recess the third week in February, for the two weeks around Easter Sunday (which falls on April 5), and the weeks of Memorial Day and the Fourth of July.  

The aggressive schedule would be a change from recent years that have featured more frequent recess weeks, and Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., the majority leader next year, has pledged to have senators in town and voting on Fridays.  

Some of the increase in workweeks is to be expected, because 2015 is an odd year and thus no senators have elections looming in the fall. It could nonetheless prove challenging for the number of Senate Republicans who are mulling bids for the presidency.  

The August recess would kick off on Aug. 10, according to the calendar, and run through Sept. 7, which is Labor Day. After that, the chamber would break for the whole week at Columbus Day, but only for the Veterans Day holiday itself. In 2015, Nov. 11 falls on a Wednesday. Like most years, the draft schedule calls for a full week recess for Thanksgiving, with target adjournment for the first session on Dec. 18.  

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