Originally published on August 2, 2023, by Aquiles Suarez for NAIOP.
August has arrived, which for Capitol Hill means that Congress is in recess until sometime in September. Senators, congressional representatives and staff members scatter across the world on congressional delegation trips (so-called “codels”), and back to their home districts to meet with constituents, host fundraisers and boast about their legislative achievements. Well, perhaps all of those things are true with the exception of the last bit.
The reality is that Congress left town last Friday with little agreement on a path forward for must-pass appropriations bills to keep the federal government operating past the start of the new fiscal year on Oct. 1. While congressional Democrats have been given their talking points on the economy by the White House, House Republicans had hoped to be much further along on their agenda to limit government spending by the time of the August recess. But only one of 12 appropriations bills that need to be passed and signed into law by the start of the new fiscal year has advanced in the House. And disagreement among Republicans on a proposed tax package has clouded the outlook for any tax legislation made into law this year.