WASHINGTON, July 11 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday that August recess would be delayed for two weeks to allow more time for discussing issues including healthcare reform.
"The Senate will delay the start of August recess until the third week of August," McConnell said in a statement.
The delay is "to provide more time to complete action on important legislative items and process nominees that have been stalled by a lack of cooperation from our friends across the aisle," the Kentucky Republican said.
McConnell said the Senate would use the additional time to tackle issues such as healthcare, defense budget, debt ceiling and nominations for high-level government posts.
The White House has openly blamed Congress for lagging behind on several major actions, including repealing and replacing Obamacare, a major promise of the Trump campaign, and voting on nominations for high-level government positions.
"I cannot imagine that Congress would dare to leave Washington without a beautiful new HealthCare bill fully approved and ready to go!" Trump tweeted recently.
Senators normally were given a break from legislative affairs for the entire month of August.
