Congress returns, with a long science to-do list and not much time

Congress returns today from a 7-week summer break with a lengthy list of unfinished business, some of great interest to the U.S. research community—and just a few weeks to tackle it. Lawmakers aren’t likely to pare that list by much before they return to the campaign trail for a final push before Election Day on 8 November. But they will have a second shot when they return for a lame-duck session after voters have chosen a successor to President Barack Obama and a new Congress.

The one big responsibility Congress can’t shirk is passing some kind of spending bill to keep the government running for the 2017 fiscal year, which begins on 1 October (see table, below). But Republicans, who control both the House of Representatives and the Senate, don’t agree on whether to abide by an existing spending pact made with Obama, or to modify it to increase the defense budget and cut domestic programs. As a result, legislators this month are expected to put off a decision by temporarily extending 2016 spending levels into 2017 with a so-called continuing resolution (CR). Its duration is uncertain, but the most likely scenario is one that funds the government through late December. That would allow lawmakers to know whether they will be dealing with Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump before adopting a final 2017 spending plan....
http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2016/09/congress-returns-long-science-do-list-and-not-much-time