Congressional Priorities in September

We are in for a busy month when Congress returns in early September. With appropriations and authorizing deadlines, as well as external factors – such as redistricting disputes, primary threats, and administrative actions – partisanship will be heightened, potentially threatening progress on some of these important legislative vehicles.

Here are some of the policies we expect will take up time and attention this September:

Appropriations: Congress has until September 30 to fund the federal government, whether through a new appropriations bill for FY26 or a continuing resolution. While an omnibus is highly unlikely, even passing a short-term spending bill is looking difficult without the support of Democrats and some fiscal hawks on the Republican side.

Farm Bill: We are now going on three years without a full Farm Bill reauthorization. It must be extended on September 30. There are conversations around a no-cost bill that would make changes to the authorizing language and rely on funding within the One Big Beautiful Bill Act and the appropriations process to fund programs within USDA. For that to happen, the House and Senate Agriculture Committees would have to move quickly to develop unified language.

Permitting Reform: Committees in both chambers are starting to get serious about drafting and passing permitting reform to address energy generation and transmission. This is a real opportunity for bipartisanship, and there is consensus on both sides of the aisle that this is an issue that needs to be addressed. However, for comprehensive permitting reform to pass, multiple committees will need to be involved, which inevitably slows down and complicates the process.

OMUFA: The Over-the-Counter Monograph User Fee Authorization also has an end-of-September deadline and is important for non-prescription drug manufacturers. Both the House and Senate health committees have passed their versions with strong bipartisan support. This could be an opportunity for other health-related bills to move alongside OMUFA reauthorization.

Nominations: In the Senate, there will be a big push for nomination confirmations given that the Senate left unresolved on this issue. While this won’t stop other policies from moving forward, it will limit floor time when so many bills need to be passed before the September 30 deadline.

These are only a handful of priorities that Congress will return with in September. It will, once again, be a busy month with a strong sense of urgency to get language right early in the process.