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Hurricane Recess: House Republicans Cancel Friday Session as Florence Approaches

House was already scheduled to be out next week

A high-definition video image captured from the International Space Station shows the eye of Hurricane Florence on Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2018. (ESA/NASA/Alexander Gerst)
A high-definition video image captured from the International Space Station shows the eye of Hurricane Florence on Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2018. (ESA/NASA/Alexander Gerst)

The House will leave the Capitol a day early, as Hurricane Florence approaches the East Coast on Thursday.

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy made the announcement to members during a closed-door meeting of the House Republican Conference Thursday morning. The news became official with a scheduling update from the California Republican’s office sent shortly after 10 a.m.

“I have informed the members that we will be departing today … so that members can catch their flights back to their districts,” McCarthy said, noting some members remained in their districts this week.

Before leaving Thursday afternoon, the House intends to adopt the conference report accompanying the package of three spending bills that includes funding for the Departments of Energy and Veterans Affairs, as well as the Army Corps of Engineers and the internal budget of the legislative branch.

Clearing the package, which already passed the Senate, for President Donald Trump would make it the first time multiple individual spending bills have cleared ahead of the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30th in more than a decade.

Last votes are now expected at around 4 p.m. The House has a previously scheduled recess next week, with the next roll call votes expected on Tuesday, Sept. 25.

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