Government Funding, Covid-19 Aid Top House, Senate Fall Agenda

Lawmakers returning this week to Washington face immediate pressure to cut deals to head off the lapse of government funding and critical programs only weeks before the November election.

The top item for Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is a stopgap spending bill to fund the government and prevent a shutdown Sept. 30.

Efforts this summer to respond to Covid-19 and its economic effects crowded out work on many other items, and leaders again plan to prioritize the most time-sensitive matters during the short September session.

Pelosi and McConnell are counting on the threat ...