Majority Leader McConnell Accepts Senator Lankford’s Request to Delay August Recess

WASHINGTON, DC – Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) today delayed the start of the August state work period, after a group of Senators, including Senator James Lankford (R-OK), asked him to cancel or shorten the recess. Specifically, McConnell announced that he will delay the August recess until the third week of August if meaningful progress has not been made on several pressing issues in Congress, including health care, defense authorization, and budget issues. 

“I’m pleased that Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has accepted my request to delay the August state work period to make progress on major legislative initiatives and confirm key executive branch officials,” said Lankford. “The people of Oklahoma have elected a Congress and a President to get things done on their behalf. There is still much to accomplish this year.”

Leader McConnell made the following statement on his announcement:

“Once the Senate completes its work on health care reform, we will turn to other important issues including the National Defense Authorization Act and the backlog of critical nominations that have been mindlessly stalled by Democrats. In order to provide more time to complete action on important legislative items and process nominees that have been stalled by a lack of cooperation from our friends across the aisle, the Senate will delay the start of the August recess until the third week of August.”

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