Senate Majority Leader-in-waiting John Thune plans to have the chamber in session for 10 straight weeks to start 2025.
That’s according to the Senate’s 2025 legislative calendar released by the South Dakota Republican on social media Thursday. The calendar has senators in session for five days a week for most of the year, which, if adhered to, would be a change in the chamber’s current flow of usually eschewing Friday votes.
The Senate is expected to have a busy start to the year with hearings and votes on President-elect Donald Trump’s announced nominees. Republicans have also begun to plot out their legislative agenda for two budget reconciliation packages – one to address border, defense and energy-related priorities, plus a sweeping tax package. Lawmakers will also likely have to pass a long-term spending bill in the first few months of the year, with Congress expected this month to extend government funding into March.
Both the Senate and the House, which released its calendar Wednesday, will convene on Jan. 3 as required under the Constitution, when the new Congress will be sworn in.
After the 10 straight weeks in session, with a break on Feb. 17 to observe Presidents Day, the Senate is set to take its first recess the week of March 17, when House lawmakers will also be off. But that would be the House’s third weeklong break of the year, following recesses the last week of January and the week of Presidents Day.
As usual, both chambers have scheduled a two-week recess around the Easter and Passover holidays, which fall in mid-April. Weeklong recesses are scheduled around Memorial Day and July 4, while the House is also expected to be out of session for a week around Juneteenth. Both chambers will be out for the traditional August recess.
After Labor Day, lawmakers are set to return to Washington for three work weeks in September, with a scheduled recess the week of Sept. 21 for Rosh Hashana. That would come a week before the fiscal year ends at the close of the month, when Congress faces a funding deadline. Both chambers are scheduled to be in session on Sept. 29 and 30.
In the last quarter of the year, the Senate calendar has a weeklong recess in mid-October for Columbus Day, while House lawmakers are set to return that Tuesday. Both chambers are scheduled to recess for two weeks in November, one for Veterans Day and another for Thanksgiving.
The Senate is slated to wrap up its work for next year on Dec. 19, a day after the House.
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