House GOP cuts 2 weeks from its schedule

House Republican leaders announced Thursday that the final two weeks of their September session are canceled, cutting the legislative calendar short ahead of the November midterm elections.

Lawmakers are expected to reconvene on Sept. 14 after next week’s Labor Day break and remain in session through Sept. 17. They will then be expected to leave Washington and remain out of session until mid-November.

The House had previously been scheduled to remain in session through the end of September, but now it will no longer be expected to during the weeks of Sept. 21 and Sept. 28, according to a notice from the House Republican whip’s office.

The schedule change comes after the House voted Tuesday to send a short-term extension of government funding until December to President Trump’s desk, avoiding a politically risky shutdown before the midterm elections.

According to the whip’s office, members could still be called back to Washington during those two weeks if the Senate adopts a party-line budget reconciliation package , for which they will be given 48 hours’ notice.

The schedule change will allow lawmakers to spend more time in their districts as they enter the final stretch of campaigning ahead of November and Republicans fight to maintain their narrow House majority.