Both chambers of Congress will have abbreviated schedules this coming week, largely due to Rosh Hashanah, which begins in the evening on Sept. 9 and ends on the evening on Tuesday, Sept. 11. 

On Monday and Tuesday, no votes are expected in either chamber. 

On Wednesday, the House returns at :noon for morning hour, and 2 p.m. for legislative business, with first votes postponed until 6:30 p.m. The Senate returns on Wednesday and is scheduled to vote at 5:30 p.m. on a motion to cut off debate on the nomination of Charles P. Rettig to be commissioner of the IRS. The Senate is also expected to consider legislation to address the opioid crisis, a vote on which could happen as soon as Thursday afternoon. 

On Thursday, the House meets at 10 a.m. for morning hour and noon for legislative business. On Friday, the chamber meets at 9 a.m. for legislative business and the last vote of the week is scheduled for no later than 3 p.m.

During the weekly colloquy between House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., and House Minority Whip Steny H. Hoyer, D-Md., on Friday, McCarthy said that next week the House is expected to consider the Save American Workers Act (HR 3798), and the conference report for the Fiscal 2019 Energy-Water, Legislative Branch, Military Construction-VA Appropriations package (HR 5895). McCarthy also noted that there was a possibility that the House could consider the Water Resources Development Act (HR 8).

Hoyer asked about the status of conference reports for appropriations packages, the possibility of a continuing resolution, and about reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act, the Farm Bill and the Federal Aviation Administration before Sept. 30.

Choosing not to address whether a continuing resolution would be needed to keep the government funded after Sept. 30, McCarthy instead said he “would like to get all of [the appropriations bills] done before we depart.”

McCarthy noted that they were still waiting on the conference report on the Farm Bill, and that other items need to be completed before the House takes a longer recess for the midterm elections, but he did not specify which bills those items might be.

Hoyer also asked if the House was still planning to be in session during the first two weeks of October. McCarthy again sidestepped the question but said “I’m always encouraged if we get our work done there won’t be a point to be here. As of now we don’t have our work done so we’ll need to finish the job.”

Lex Samuels, Paul Krawzak and Niels Lesniewski contributed to this report.