Neither chamber of Congress held a vote this week. The House and Senate are on a midterm-election recess, and the Senate is meeting only in brief pro forma sessions. This digest covers what Capitol Hill produced just before leaving, what happened off the floor, and what is queued for the lame-duck session that begins November 9.
1. Both chambers are out until November 9
The Senate Daily Press page shows the chamber held a pro forma session on Monday, October 19, with Sen. Shelley Moore Capito presiding and no business conducted and no votes taken. Further pro forma sessions are scheduled for October 22, October 26, October 29, November 2 and November 5. Such sessions are typically procedural placeholders, and none is expected to take up legislation.
The Senate is then scheduled to return Monday, November 9, at 3:00 p.m. According to the same Senate page, it will resume consideration of the motion to proceed to H.R. 2347, titled the Survivor Justice Tax Prevention Act. That bill is serving as the legislative vehicle for a permitting reform measure. A cloture vote on the motion is expected at about 5:30 p.m.
The House, for its part, was sent home early on September 16, when Speaker Mike Johnson canceled the next day’s votes so members could campaign. The House also returns November 9, according to the National Low Income Housing Coalition. The official House calendar and the House legislative activity page list no floor action this week.
2. Ways and Means subpoena deadline arrives for three Singham-linked nonprofits
The one live oversight deadline this week fell on Tuesday, October 20. According to a press release from Chairman Jason Smith (R-Mo.), the House Ways and Means Committee subpoenaed three tax-exempt organizations in July: The People’s Forum, BreakThrough News and Tricontinental. The committee says the groups are tied to Neville Roy Singham. The subpoenas seek documents, and deposition subpoenas name 21 officials and staff across the three groups: eight at The People’s Forum, seven at BreakThrough News and six at Tricontinental.
The committee’s stated purpose is to examine whether tax-exempt law adequately guards against foreign influence. In May it narrowed its requests to three areas: fiscal sponsorships involving foreign nationals or entities, communications with Singham or other foreign principals about finance and governance, and donor information on contributions from foreign nationals and organizations. The committee’s release says The People’s Forum alone received more than $20 million from Singham’s network; that figure is the committee’s own and the release does not cite a source for it.
These are allegations and a document demand, not findings. The committee has not reported any conclusion that the organizations or individuals violated the law. According to reporting by Political.org, the groups say the probe targets First Amendment-protected activity and is overbroad, and attorneys for two of them called it a “witch-hunt.” BreakThrough News says it receives no outside editorial direction. The same report says it is unclear what follows the deadline: compliance, a negotiated narrower production, a contempt vote or litigation are all possible. We have sought no comment from the organizations for this digest, and TIJ notes their right of reply remains open.
3. Funding runs out December 11, and a rescission fight is brewing
A continuing resolution passed in September extends current funding through December 11, according to a policy summary from NEFI. None of the 12 FY2027 appropriations bills has been completed. A lobbying-firm preview from Harbinger Strategies expects another CR pushing funding into 2027 and says a December shutdown is possible given partisan tensions. That is a forecast, not a scheduled action.
A separate dispute concerns the White House’s September 25 request for $810 million in rescissions. NEFI’s summary reports that Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins (R-Maine) called the move “a usurpation of Congress’s appropriations powers.” The dispute is notable because it is a public disagreement between a Republican appropriator and the executive branch over the spending power, a recurring institutional question regardless of administration.
4. The FY2027 NDAA heads into a crowded lame duck
Harbinger’s preview reports that both chambers’ versions of the National Defense Authorization Act total $1.15 trillion in discretionary funding, though the topline is unresolved. It lists disputes over Iran operations, a Senate corporate governance provision (Sec. 815), right to repair, China policy and the expired FISA Section 702 authority. Its key dates: November 6 is the deadline for non-armed-services committees to finish proposals to attach to the bill; “Big Four” negotiating meetings begin the week of November 9; and floor consideration of the final bill is targeted for the week of December 7. Committee text and amendments will be posted on Congress.gov as they advance.
5. FISA Section 702 remains lapsed
Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act was set to expire at midnight on June 12, 2026. The Electronic Frontier Foundation, an advocacy group that opposes the program without reform, reported that it had expired after Congress repeatedly postponed the deadline. EFF’s account says the Senate Democrats declined to advance their reauthorization bill and the House refused even a short-term renewal after a leadership change at the Director of National Intelligence post. Harbinger’s October preview still describes the authority as expired. Readers should treat EFF’s characterization of the politics as advocacy; the underlying lapse is corroborated by the later preview. Any reauthorization would be a major national-security and civil-liberties decision for the lame duck.
6. Farm bill clears committee 12-11, stalls on the floor
On September 16 the Senate Agriculture Committee advanced the Agriculture Act of 2026 on a 12-11 party-line vote, with Sen. Mitch McConnell’s vote needed, according to AgWeb. The bill includes year-round E15 fuel, mandatory country-of-origin labeling for beef and a permanent transfer of the Food for Peace program. The unresolved sticking point is a state cost-share for SNAP: Democrats want a two-year delay. NEFI notes the prior farm bill extension expired September 30 and the Senate bill needs 60 votes. A floor vote is unlikely before the new Congress or the lame duck, and Sen. Amy Klobuchar has stressed the need to finish by year-end.
7. Bipartisan energy-cost bill: strong House vote, Senate objection
One of the few clearly cross-party results this fall: the House passed Sen. Jon Husted’s bill to shield households from energy-cost increases tied to data centers by a 417-3 vote, according to the Washington Examiner. The Senate blocked it by unanimous consent because Democrats raised concerns that it lacks enforcement mechanisms. Majority Leader John Thune called the idea “very worthwhile.” That report also describes Sen. Susan Collins’s push for a vote on a $35 monthly insulin out-of-pocket cap. Neither measure had a scheduled floor vote as of the latest reporting.
8. Nominations backlog
Harbinger reports that leaders plan an en bloc package of nominees, but that Sen. Kevin Cramer’s hold on most Trump nominees must be resolved first, and that November 20 is the committee deadline for nominees to be eligible for such a package. Judicial nominees are expected to be handled separately. Holds are a routine Senate tool, and the preview does not detail Sen. Cramer’s stated reasons.
Upcoming schedule
- October 22, 26, 29; November 2, 5: Senate pro forma sessions, no business expected (Senate Daily Press).
- November 3: Midterm elections.
- November 6: Committee deadline for NDAA add-on proposals (per Harbinger).
- November 9: Both chambers return; Senate cloture vote on the H.R. 2347 motion to proceed, about 5:30 p.m.
- November 20: Committee deadline for en bloc nominees (per Harbinger).
- Week of December 7: Target for NDAA floor action.
- December 11: Current continuing resolution expires.
Relevant to TIJ’s beats
Three threads merit follow-up. First, the Ways and Means subpoena fight will test how far a House tax-writing committee can go in seeking donor and communications records from nonprofits, and TIJ will watch for any contempt referral, court filing or negotiated production. Second, the rescission dispute and December 11 funding deadline bear on congressional control of federal spending. Third, the unresolved status of FISA Section 702 touches both national security and civil liberties. We will update this coverage as filings, committee notices and records appear.
Methodology note: this digest relies on official Senate and House pages, a committee press release, and secondary reporting and policy summaries, each attributed above. Items drawn from lobbying-firm or advocacy summaries are labeled as such. Readers can verify floor activity at Congress.gov. Comments or corrections: tij.news.