WASHINGTON (AP) – Congress returns to work Monday with a basic task – act fast to keep the government open and then race home to campaign.
After a five-week summer break, lawmakers face a shortened September session with a tight must-do list: pass a temporary spending bill to fund federal departments and agencies through mid-December and extend the freeze on taxing access to the Internet.
Votes also are set on largely futile measures designed to pack a political punch eight weeks before an election that will determine control of Congress.
Wasting no time, the House is scheduled to vote Thursday on the spending bill.
Several lawmakers have clamored for giving President Barack Obama new authority to use military force against Islamic State militants who have seized parts of Iraq, terrorizing religious minorities and threatening the central government in Baghdad.