The House and Senate will each reconvene on Tuesday, September 8, 2015 following a month-long recess. The two bodies will need to agree on a Continuing Resolution (CR) to fund the federal government by the end of September in order to prevent a government shutdown.
While the House of Representatives has passed several appropriations bills for Fiscal Year 2016, Senate Democrats have vowed to block consideration of any appropriations bills that maintain sequester-level spending on domestic programs. Republicans have pushed to increase defense spending while maintaining current spending levels on the domestic side. The last federal government shutdown took place in October 2013 and lasted sixteen days.