Ahead of an August recess, the U.S. Senate has plenty piled up.
“We have lots on our plate,” Senator Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., said in a briefing with West Virginia reporters.
That has included a heavy slate of legislation, nominations, and policy packages.
The Senate’s top priority is passing a continuing resolution to extend government funding through the middle of December, taking a shutdown off the table before a Sept. 30 deadline.
The Senate is working to pass a massive, bipartisan package of more than 75 executive branch nominations. And the the Senate plans to vote on confirming Todd Blanche as Attorney General, although some Republican holdouts have cast doubt on the likelihood.
The Senate is advancing a bipartisan sanctions bill targeting Russia and Iran, specifically focusing on economic penalties around oil and gas to force them to the negotiating table.
The Senate is pushing for a pre-recess vote on a bipartisan cryptocurrency bill to establish regulatory guardrails for the industry.
The Senate is trying to pass the Protects College Sports Act before leaving.
Capito predicated the most important items on the to-do list would get done.
“I think the continuing resolution is number one,” she said. “The leader has said this, and I think we we are on the pathway now legislatively to do that.”
The senator described the nominations as the next highest priority.
She added, “We could get to all of that if we have cooperation from the Democrats to say ‘These are good. These are good bipartisan bills we need to pass quickly.’ So while it looks like it’s too much, and some of them may fall off, I think the core ones will get done, or you know we’re going to stay here till we get them done.”