Both chambers return to work next Monday, November 9, after an extended recess that let members of Congress campaign.

Midterms Are Today:

Republicans currently hold a 53 to 47 majority in the Senate and a narrow majority in the House, so control of both chambers is at stake. Results in close races may take several days to finalize.

Whatever the outcome, the 120th Congress will look very different when it’s sworn in on January 3. Sixty House members and 11 senators chose not to seek reelection this cycle, which means new faces across the board and likely new leadership on key committees. We’ll be reaching out to incoming offices early to introduce them to our industry and the issues that matter most.

We’ll have a full rundown of the results in next week’s issue.

On the Horizon:

Government funding is set to expire on December 11. To keep the government open, Congress needs to pass either the 12 annual appropriations bills or another continuing resolution (CR), the stopgap that carries current funding levels forward to a new date. Federal highway and transit programs are extended only through the same date, so they, too, will expire unless Congress acts.

Members of Congress have also been calling for supplemental funding for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP). On October 15, a bipartisan group of 73 House members asked appropriators for an additional $3 billion in emergency LIHEAP funding for fiscal year 2027. If that money moves this year, the December funding deadline is the most likely place for it.

The farm bill is also waiting for the lame duck session. The House passed its version in April, and on September 16 the Senate Agriculture Committee approved its bill 12 to 11 on a party line vote. The Senate bill would allow year-round sales of E15, gasoline blended with 15 percent ethanol, and would change how the Renewable Fuel Standard’s small refinery exemptions are granted. No Senate floor vote has been scheduled, and the two chambers will still need to reconcile their bills.

Separately, NEFI President & CEO Jim Collura will be testifying at an EPA virtual public hearing tomorrow, November 4, on its proposal to reallocate the roughly 770 million Renewable Identification Numbers (RIN) that were exempted beyond what the agency had projected.