Tom Cole looks to advance bills as Congress returns

After a month-long recess, Congress is back in session this week, facing a packed agenda, with lawmakers working to avoid a government shutdown.

House Appropriations Chair Tom Cole said his priority is finishing the last three of 12 appropriations bills in committee. Cole had hoped to clear them all before the August break, but managed to advance nine.

“We need to finish the last three bills in committee,” Cole said. “That’s really my job, to get those bills out of committee.”

Cole is hopeful that lawmakers could pass some of the smaller, less controversial funding measures before the end of September. He also said a continuing resolution would likely be necessary to give Congress more time to work on larger, contentious measures.

“We don’t want to go all the way to Christmas,” Cole sa