In the News

The Senate will have less time off in August so the lawmakers can work longer on priorities such as health care and tax reform, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced Tuesday after repeated calls to do so from conservatives.

McConnell pointedly blamed Democrats for the lack of accomplishments since the new Republican-controlled Congress adjourned in January with President Donald Trump in the White House.

WASHINGTON – Senate leaders said Tuesday that they will delay their traditional August recess by two weeks, a move that has some Arizona congressmen wondering if the House should do the same.

Rep. Andy Biggs, R- Gilbert, has been pushing since June to do away with the August recess, a call he repeated Tuesday in a Twitter video in which he said "we still have to deal with … issues we promised the American people we'd work on."

PHOENIX — Some congressmen may have already been preparing for the annual August recess, but if one lawmaker from Arizona gets his way, everyone's plans will change.

U.S. Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) said Tuesday he has called on House leadership to match the actions of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who canceled the first two weeks of the usually sacrosanct August recess.

While the GOP mulls delaying its August recess to deal with the handful of unfinished legislative agenda items, President Trump is now being pressed to make good on a campaign promise to hold Congress in Washington until they deliver an Obamacare repeal bill to his desk.

The Association of Mature American Citizens on Tuesday called on Trump to propose a special session of Congress to debate Obamacare should the Senate fail to move on it by the end of the month.

Momentum is building for Congress to skip its August vacation and work on repealing Obamacare and approving a budget.

Bolstered by a Monday morning tweet of support from President Trump, those pushing to work through the month believe they have a rare chance to move on critical issues and deliver on key campaign promises that will help the Republican Party keep control of Congress.

So far the GOP leadership has dismissed calls to skip the summer vacation, and most are betting against a change.

Three Arizona Congressmen are asking Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke to consider "total rescission" of four national monuments in Arizona.

Republican Reps. Trent Franks, Andy Biggs, and Paul Gosar joined 11 other congressmen in signing a June 30 letter responding to Zinke's request for congressional input on 27 monuments the Department of the Interior is reviewing for President Donald Trump.

PHOENIX — Three Arizona congressmen joined a list of a politicians who want some of their states' national monuments removed from protected status.

Republicans Andy Biggs, Trent Franks and Paul Gosar signed the June 30 letter to Ryan Zinke, secretary of the Department of the Interior.

Rep. Andy Biggs on Sunday said Congress should work through its scheduled August recess and focus on passing critical legislation.

Biggs, R-Ariz., a member of the House Freedom Caucus, said it's time for his fellow Republicans to use the recess time to do meaningful work and not rush the legislative process.

"We are trying to build up the avalanche of people who feel this way, not just in the Congress, but around the country," said Biggs, in an interview with Maria Bartiromo on "Sunday Morning Futures."