IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
“The month-long battle to replace Speaker Boehner will not only mean that House Republicans emerge more conservative and splintered, but it will take away precious time that would be much better spent negotiating a bipartisan budget, avoiding default and addressing other fast-approaching fiscal deadlines.” – Meredith Kelly of the DCCC.
ICYMI: Shutdown countdown: Here’s how long Congress has to get its act together
Washington Post
By Amber Phillips
October 6, 2015
Congress has less than a month worth of legislative days to keep the government open; pass a bill that funds repairs to our highways, bridges and rails; find a new speaker for the House of Representatives; raise the debt ceiling to allow us to pay our existing obligations; and pass a spending bill to keep our government open.
The deadline for that last task on Congress’s to-do list is Dec. 11. Even though that’s more than two months away, the graphic below makes clear the actual number of days that Congress has to work on this are considerably less.
That’s because lawmakers are usually back in their districts Friday afternoon through Monday, as well as the week around holidays.
That schedule could change if leaders decide to hold weekend sessions or stay in town for Thanksgiving. But as of right now, Congress has a lot to do and frankly not much time to do it. This chart, made by The Washington Post’s Darla Cameron, will count down exactly how many days lawmakers have left, so be sure to bookmark it.
As of today, Oct. 6, Congress has:
12 legislative days
until the National Highway Trust Fund runs out of money on Oct. 29
12 legislative days
until House Speaker John Boehner retires on Oct. 30, a day with no votes scheduled
16 legislative days
until the government runs out of money to pay its debts on Nov. 5
28 legislative days
until the federal budget expires and the government shuts down at midnight on Dec. 11, a day with no votes scheduled