House calendar for 2020 includes presidential election year oddities
Parties’ annual policy retreats are also on the schedule
Once House members conclude their work for 2019, they will not be expected back on Capitol Hill until the evening of Tuesday, Jan. 7.
That’s according to the new House calendar for 2020 officially unveiled Thursday morning by House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer of Maryland.
The House legislative schedule features four-week work periods in Washington in both June and September, and there are some other anomalies.
Since 2020 is a presidential election year, there are a number of predictable off weeks. The House will not be in session the week of July 13, when Democrats gather in Milwaukee for their national convention.
The Republican National Convention takes place during the regularly scheduled August recess (otherwise known as district work period).
At least in theory, the House is scheduled to conclude work on Oct. 2 before the general election in November, with a lame-duck session set to begin on Nov. 16 before a break for the week of Thanksgiving.
All told, there are 25 full or partial D.C. workweeks scheduled for the House in 2020 before voters go to the polls in November.
House Democrats are scheduled to hold their annual issues retreat on Jan. 28-30.
The Republicans, meanwhile, have opted to schedule their conference huddle for April 22-24, which will follow closely after the two-week recess for Easter and Passover.
