Congressman Stephen Lynch told business leaders last Wednesday (Oct. 2) that he “would not be surprised” if President Joe Biden called Congress into session before the November election, potentially breaking up the campaign activity during the October recess.

Lynch cited Hurricane Helene’s devastation along the southeastern seaboard, the escalating conflict in the Middle East, and unfinished business related to veterans health care funding, and a farm bill as items that may need to be addressed soon.

The US House and Senate kicked off their six-week pre-election recess last week, after approving a government funding extension that will last through December.

However, Lynch told attendees a New England Council breakfast in Boston that morning, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which was already strapped for funds after the bridge collapse in Baltimore Harbor earlier this year, could need an additional infusion of dollars to respond to Helene’s disastrous effect on the Southeast where the toll continues to rise into hundreds of deaths.

Lynch also pointed to rising conflict in the Middle East after Iran fired missiles at Israel the day before, as Israel escalated its ground attack into Lebanon.

“We thought we might be able to relax until January, come back in under the new Congress,” said Lynch, adding, “but the urgency has only increased in the light of what has happened in Israel and in the Middle East over the past week. So I would not be surprised if the president chose to call Congress back in for one purpose or another.”

He also pointed to policy priorities that he was “optimistic” about that he said had bipartisan support.

One thing left out of the continuing resolution that Congress agreed to last week is increased Veterans Affairs funding to cover a shortfall caused by the PACT Act, he said. The 2022 law expanded health care benefits for veterans. Under it, the VA now automatically assumes for some conditions that service caused that disability or health issue, and therefore covers that care without the veteran having to prove its cause.

“So now we have hundreds of thousands of veterans coming forward, receiving those benefits, and families receiving those benefits as well,” said Lynch. And so that put a lot of pressure onto the VA. Now we have a need for about $12 billion to fund the VA going forward.”

The congressman also brought up the farm bill, a massive $1.5 trillion spending package that funds agricultural projects, nutrition programs like SNAP, and conservation and climate programs. The last farm bill, passed in 2018, expired on Sept. 30, and farmers and lawmakers have warned that Americans will feel the impacts at the grocery store if Congress doesn’t pass another bill by Jan. 1.
Lynch said he is “really optimistic” on finding a “quick resolution” to the omnibus bill.

Though he said there’s plenty to do, and bipartisan support, the politics of an election year may be getting in the way. Lynch was not optimistic about the Democrats’ chances to win a majority in the Senate. Democrats are defending 24 seats this fall, compared to 9 for the Republicans, who are confident they’ll pick up at least one seat, as Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia retires, clearing the way for a race where most polls show Republican Gov. Jim Justice leading by a comfortable margin.

“The Senate doesn’t look good,” Lynch said. “I think at this point, it just makes the importance of winning the House and winning the White House that much more critical in terms of the direction of the country and some of the other things we talked about.”

Lynch also seemed cautious about Vice President Kamala Harris’s chances against former President Donald Trump in November. “All the experts are saying this is the closest they’ve ever seen a presidential election. And that worries me, because in the past, when you look at polling, there’s definitely a significant number — I don’t know what that is — but a significant number of people who are embarrassed to say they’re going to vote for Donald Trump,” Lynch said.