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Page 3 With November quickly approaching, lawmakers are turning their attention on the midterm elections. Republicans are expected to retain control of the House. The Senate is much more in flux. There, Republicans are expected to gain seats, but it remains to be seen whether or not they will take control of the chamber. The recent primary defeat of House Majority Leader Eric Cantor shocked Washington politicos and will likely have a profound effect on Capitol Hill activity for the remainder of this Congress. On June 19, House Republicans elected Representative Kevin McCarthy (R -CA) to replace Cantor. McCarthy previously served as Majority Whip, which now goes to Representative Steve Scalise (R -LA). Cantor's loss to a Tea Party- aligned candidate will likely have serious implications for legislation regarding important topics like voting rights act amendments and immigration reform, as many Republicans won't want to address such hot button issues for their districts leading up to the election. Appropriations The appropriations process for FY 2015 is well underway in both the House and Senate. To date, the full House has approved five appropriations bills (Military Construction and Veterans Affairs (Milton -VA); Legislative Branch; Commerce, Justice, and Science (CJS); Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development (THUD); and Defense). The House began debate of its Agriculture spending proposal, but the legislation was pulled from the floor before a vote on final passage could take place. The full Senate attempted to begin work on appropriations bills during the week of June 16, beginning with a "minibus" made up of the Agriculture, CJS, and THUD measures; however, progress quickly stalled after Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D -NV) failed to reach an agreement with Republicans on amendments to be considered. In light of these circumstances, the future of the passage of these bills remains unclear. Meanwhile, the House and Senate Appropriations Committees continue to craft the remainder of the 12 annual spending bills. Both House Appropriations Committee Chairman Hal Rogers (R- KY) and Senate Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Barbara Milculski (D -MD) have said that they want to return to regular order and pass all of the measures prior to the end of the fiscal year, as opposed to passing yet another omnibus. This seems like a much more achievable goal this year, given the two -year budget deal that was agreed to in late 2013. However, it is still possible that policy disagreements over issues such as the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and environmental regulations could derail appropriations progress. If progress on these bills, including the Labor -HHS- Education bill, bogs down, then we will likely see an omnibus package being put together and considered in the lameduck session. Surface Transportation Reauthorization The current law governing surface transportation (MAP -21) is set to expire on September 30, and lawmakers continue to grapple with its reauthorization. The main question involves the 25Q -5