Election year politics have taken over the Congressional agenda. With the two parties fighting for control of the U.S. Senate in this year’s election, and with various key House races, many of the items that Congress and the administration had planned on completing this session are falling off the legislative agenda or are being postponed until next year.

These include immigration reform, tax reform, highway trust fund, etc. The Senate leaders have not been able to reach an agreement on how to deal with amendments to appropriation bills, thus no appropriations bills have passed the Senate. The House Republican leadership plans to pass a resolution to sue the President before the August recess which could mean even more election year politics.