WASHINGTON — After July Fourth fireworks and parades, members of Congress return to work Tuesday facing a daunting summer workload and a pending deadline to fund the government or risk a shutdown in the fall.
The funding fight is shaping up as a major partisan brawl against the backdrop of an intensifying campaign season.
The funding deadline does not even arrive until Sept. 30, but lawmakers face more immediate tests. Near the top of the list is renewing highway funding before the government loses authority July 31 to send much-needed transportation money to the states right in the middle of summer driving season.
The highway bill probably also will be the way lawmakers try to renew the disputed federal Export-Import Bank, which makes and underwrites loans to help foreign companies buy U.S. products. The bank’s charter expired June 30 due to congressional inaction, a defeat for business and a victory for conservative activists who turned killing the obscure agency into an anti-government cause celebre.
Depending on the progress of the Obama administration’s nuclear negotiations with Iran, lawmakers could also face debate on that issue.
The Senate opens its legislative session with consideration of a major bipartisan education overhaul bill that rewrites the No Child Left Behind law by shifting responsibility from the federal government to the states for public school standards.
The House also is moving forward with its own, Republican-written education overhaul bill, revived after leadership had to pull it earlier this year when conservatives revolted.
Even if both bills pass, though, it’s uncertain whether Congress will be able to agree on a combined version to send to President Obama.
But all issues are likely to be overshadowed by the government funding fight and suspense over how – or if – a shutdown can be avoided.
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