As Republican lawmakers eye Trump’s entrance into the White House, Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy announced Wednesday that the GOP-led House of Representatives will be working three additional legislative weeks during the 2017 calendar.
In total, the House will be in session for 145 days next year. That’s more than the 132-day average of non-election year sessions enacted by recent GOP calendars. This amounts to 13 more days of work spread out over a few weeks.
The announcement comes as Republican lawmakers gear for a friendlier White House administration in January. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Speaker Paul Ryan have already huddled with president-elect Trump on their policy agenda for the first 100 days.
House Democrats adjusted the calendar similarly when Obama was elected to the presidency in 2008.
McCarthy explained the uptick in work days Wednesday. "To ensure that we have ample time to enact our conservative agenda, I have increased the average number of days we will be in session by the equivalent of more than three legislative weeks," said the Majority Leader in the emailed schedule. "With an incoming Trump Administration, I have added these extra session days primarily during the first part of the year.”
Republicans are expected to dive right into Obamacare repeal and tax reform once they control Congress and the White House in January.