As of the writing of this update, the House of Representatives still has not elected a new Speaker to lead them. As we reported last week, Former Speaker Kevin McCarthy was voted out of the position following his successful bipartisan agreement to avoid a government shutdown.
The Continuing Resolution that is currently funding the government expires on November 17th, just about one month from now. The Senate has been in recess for the past two weeks, but they are expected to start voting on their Appropriations bills this week, starting with a “minibus” package of three bills. Progress in the House is on hold, but last week House Rules Committee Chairman Tom Cole (R-OK) stated that the deep cuts that Former Speaker McCarthy negotiated with far-right members are no longer in play, since McCarthy isn’t the Speaker anymore. This means there’s a possibility of higher funding levels in the House bills, pending any deals that the new Speaker makes.
