ENDLESS SUMMER COMES TO CAPITOL HILL

No, the Beach Boys aren’t staging a comeback, at least not as far as we know.  Congress, however, is giving itself a substantial amount of time off this summer, a move that could push off final work on appropriations measures and the FY25 Defense Authorization Act.  The House will be in session for only about 21 days between now and Labor Day, with over half of that time coming in June.  The Senate will be in session for a similar number of days, but not necessarily the same days as the House.  July brings both the 4th of July recess and, this year, the Republican National Convention.  Congress is also traditionally out of session in August, which will include the Democratic convention this year.  While contractors should expect to see a flurry of activity on spending bills in June, anything that doesn’t get finalized may have to wait until September, or later.  This is a two-edged sword for contractors.  On one hand, they will be free from having to keep a watchful eye on Congressional actions during most of the federal fourth quarter.  That allows time to concentrate on closing as much business as possible.  On the other hand, there will be very little time to address FY’25 spending and DOD policy issues.  While it may seem as if Congress is ahead of schedule on such issues now, the significant breaks will likely result in delays that have become traditionally associated with “must pass” legislation.  Congress is expected to leave Washington again in early October, with the current Senate calendar indicating that their last day of pre-election work will be September 27th.  While this may very well slip one week, the bottom line is that there is not much time to attend to the business of the people until after election day in November.  Contractors should prepare for both appropriations and DOD policy delays.  Whether or not a “surfin safari” is the cards is up to you.