Congress Ends Session Eight Days Early to Campaign

Members of Congress passed a stopgap spending measure Wednesday to fund the government until December, allowing them to end the current session eight days early.

Most members are heading back to their home states to campaign in a heated midterm year. Left undecided by Congress was a vote on whether to extend the Bush-era tax cuts.

In the Senate, 19 Republicans joined Democrats in approving the measure by a 69-30 vote. Democrat Russ Feingold of Wisconsin voted against the bill and Alaskan Republican Lisa Murkowski was absent for the vote. The House approved the bill by a 228-194 vote along largely partisan lines, with Democrats in favor and Republicans voting against it.

The next time Congress meets will be as a lame-duck Congress. The next session begins Nov. 15, two weeks after the general election.