Tom Cole looks to advance bills as Congress returns

After a month-long recess, Congress is back in session this week, facing a packed agenda, with lawmakers working to avoid a government shutdown.

House Appropriations Chair Tom Cole said his priority is finishing the last three of 12 appropriations bills in committee. Cole had hoped to clear them all before the August break, but managed to advance nine.

“We need to finish the last three bills in committee,” Cole said. “That’s really my job, to get those bills out of committee.”

Cole is hopeful that lawmakers could pass some of the smaller, less controversial funding measures before the end of September. He also said a continuing resolution would likely be necessary to give Congress more time to work on larger, contentious measures.

“We don’t want to go all the way to Christmas,” Cole said. “We’d like to do it into November, probably before Thanksgiving, and just see how far we can go.”

The bigger spending bills, including those for education and health, and human services, will require agreement on overall funding levels, which Cole said will involve difficult negotiations.

“Our leadership will have to either empower the four top appropriators … to negotiate a top line, or they’re going to have to do it themselves with the Democrats and the White House,” he said.

The White House has highlighted crime reduction as a priority, with the president praising Washington, D.C.’s mayor for efforts to lower crime following the deployment of National Guard troops. The president urged leaders in other cities to take similar steps.

In the Senate, lawmakers will focus on advancing more of the president’s nominees.

Cole said he expects “a lot of maneuvering and discussions this month, [and] a very rapid pace in September.”