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House Extends Christmas Recess, Will Return Jan. 8

Members will return just eight legislative days from another shutdown showdown

House members can extend their winter breaks. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call)
House members can extend their winter breaks. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call)

House members can extend their holiday vacations, but senators have no such luck.

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s office announced Friday that the House will not kick off work for the second session of the 115th Congress until Monday, Jan. 8, with a customary 6:30 p.m. vote series.

That means under the planned schedule there will be just eight legislative days for the House before the next government funding standoff, with the continuing resolution that became law Friday morning running through Friday, Jan. 19.

The original House calendar had the chamber convening on Jan. 3. The Senate is still slated to return on that Wednesday.

When Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell closed the floor Thursday night, he set up a schedule of pro forma sessions, with no business conducted, starting on Saturday and running through Jan. 2 of the new year.

The Senate will convene at noon on Jan. 3, to resume regular business, when two new senators will be joining their ranks — Democrats Doug Jones of Alabama and Tina Smith of Minnesota. 

The first roll call vote is slated for 5:30 p.m. that day, on the confirmation of President Donald Trump’s nomination of John C. Rood to a senior post at the Pentagon.

Watch: What Got Left in Our Notebooks in 2017

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