House Cancels July Recess

Written by FrumForum News on Friday July 8, 2011

The Hill reports:

Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) announced Friday that the House would stay in session to work on the debt talks and cancel a recess set to begin July 18.

Cantor told members to expect a vote the week of July 18 on the balanced-budget amendment, which had been planned for the week following the recess.

The Hill reported Thursday that Cantor, during a meeting of the conference, had told rank-and-file Republicans the recess would be canceled.

The decision was expected given intensified work this week on a deficit-reduction package. Congressional leaders are set to meet with President Obama at the White House on Sunday.

The Senate canceled a scheduled recess this week after President Obama used a press conference last week to urge lawmakers to act on a deal to raise the debt ceiling and cut deficits.

During Thursday's closed-door meeting, the GOP conference spent a majority of its time discussing the upcoming balanced-budget amendment.

In recent weeks, a growing number of conservative lawmakers, interest group activists and Tea Party supporters have rallied behind the "Cut, Cap and Balance" movement, which would require inclusion of a constitutional balanced-budget amendment in any deal struck between the White House and congressional leaders on increasing the debt ceiling.

The press release from Cantor's office encouraged Republican members to support the amendment, which would require the federal government to balance its annual budget "to ensure that we begin to get our fiscal house in order."

An identical constitutional amendment offered by Republicans in the Democratic-controlled Senate was unlikely to garner the needed 67 votes for passage, but Rep. Patrick Tiberi (R-Ohio) characterized the House vote as "about building momentum.”

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