The U.S. Senate has wrapped up its current legislative period, with senators departing Washington to campaign ahead of the November midterm elections.
Members of both the Senate and House of Representatives are scheduled to return to Washington on November 9, 2026, for the lame-duck session of the 119th Congress.
The political dynamics of that session are expected to be significant, as the balance of power in both chambers for 2027 will theoretically be known by then.
During the lame-duck period, key legislative items under watch include the Faster Labor Contracts Act and federal government funding, which will expire on December 12, 2026, absent congressional action.
On September 30, 2026, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California vacated guidance documents implementing President Donald Trump’s Proclamation 10973, which required employers to pay a $100,000 fee with each H-1B petition filed.
The court’s ruling targeted the implementing guidance issued by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the U.S. Department of State, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection, rather than the president’s underlying authority to establish the fee.
The district court found that the agencies’ guidance documents “set their own criteria for administering the fee and determining whether to grant exceptions from it,” raising serious legal concerns.
The court ruled that the agencies violated the Administrative Procedure Act because they “failed to consider *any* alternatives or the reliance interests of the regulated parties” and did not make the policies available for public comment.
Separately, the U.S. Senate confirmed Keith Sonderling as secretary of labor on September 30, 2026, by a vote of 47 to 41.
Sonderling has served as acting secretary of labor since April 2026, and previously held roles as a commissioner on the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and as acting administrator of the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division.
His confirmation is expected to accelerate the Department of Labor’s regulatory agenda, with two years remaining in the administration to finalise key rules.
Regulatory priorities include finalising joint-employer and independent-contractor tests under the Fair Labor Standards Act, heat injury and illness prevention standards, and increases to prevailing wages for certain employment-based immigrant and H-1B visa holders.