House Republican Leadership Cancels Final Two Weeks of September Votes

House Republican leadership canceled the last two weeks of September votes on Thursday, meaning that after members depart the Capitol later this month, they will not return until after the November midterm election. Minority Whip Katherine Clark (D-Massachusetts) noted this change in an update. House lawmakers are now set to leave Washington on September 17 rather than October 1 for their break before the midterm elections. The official House legislative calendar, maintained by House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-Louisiana), indicates that the House was originally scheduled to be in session the weeks of September 21 and September 28. Earlier this week, when House lawmakers returned to Washington after a monthlong August recess, they passed a stopgap measure to keep federal agencies funded until mid-December, which prevents a government shutdown ahead of the midterm elections. House Speaker Mike Johnson has described the 119th Congress as 'one of the most productive Congresses in the history of the institution.' However, under Johnson’s leadership last year, Congress set a record for the least number of votes in the 21st century, with only 362 votes held, which is half as many as in 2017, the first year of President Donald Trump’s first term with a Republican majority. With only a few months left in the year and additional canceled in-session weeks anticipated, the House has held less than 300 votes in 2026.