House unveils 2026 calendar as election year nears

Niels Lesniewski, CQ-Roll Call on Nov 18, 2025

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WASHINGTON — The House calendar for 2026 sets up a potential reprise of the chamber’s extended departure during the recent partial government shutdown.

According to the calendar circulated by House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., and obtained by CQ Roll Call, the chamber is scheduled to be in session for the first three weeks of January, before departing on Jan. 23 for a weeklong district work period.

The current stopgap spending law, under which the bulk of federal departments and agencies are operating, is set to expire on Jan. 30, meaning the House could find itself again attempting to jam the Senate and leave town on any remaining fiscal 2026 spending bills.

With 2026 being a midterm election year, there are a handful of scheduled three-week stretches when the House will be in session. Beyond the January work period, there’s one in May, another at the end of the fiscal year in September and one in December.

The last day in session before the traditional pre-election break will be Oct. 1. House lawmakers are scheduled to then be out for a little over five weeks before Election Day on Nov. 3, returning on Nov. 9.

In an apparent scheduling anomaly, the House is expected to be in session the week after the election, according to the calendar, despite Veterans Day falling on Nov. 11.

The calendar also includes a single week of scheduled session at the end of August recess, running from Aug. 31 through Sept. 3, before the chamber then breaks for the week of Labor Day. Labor Day and Rosh Hashana fall during the same week in 2026.

The Senate calendar for next year has not yet been released.

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—Aidan Quigley contributed to this report.