Congress to-do list: Confirm Kavanaugh, keep lights on

Keep the government running and confirm Brett Kavanaugh as the next Supreme Court justice. Those are the bigticket items Republican leaders in Congress hope to accomplish as lawmakers look to wrap up their work and head home to campaign for the November elections.

Democrats want to keep the government open, but they also are fighting to derail the nomination of Kavanaugh, the second Supreme Court pick from President Donald Trump.

Other items on the agenda when Congress returns Tuesday: passing a farm bill, renewing federal aviation programs, and grilling social media executives about foreign interference in their operations and whether they are biased against conservatives.

Republican leaders are expected at the White House on Tuesday for a meeting with Trump on their goals.

A look at what’s coming up on Capitol Hill:

Replacing Kennedy

The Senate Judiciary Committee begins confirmation hearings for Kavanaugh, a federal appeals court judge, on Tuesday with his introduction and opening statements from lawmakers. Questioning of the nominee will begin the next day and testimony from the American Bar Association, outside legal experts and those who know him best will follow.

Trump nominated Kavanaugh to succeed Justice Anthony Kennedy, considered the swing vote on some of the most important issues decided in recent years. Democrats are worried that Kavanaugh’s confirmation will cement a right-leaning court for many years to come.

With liberal advocacy groups adamantly opposed to Kavanaugh and Democrats wanting to fire up their base for the coming election, Senate questioning will be aggressive and opening statements forceful. But Republicans with their 50-49 majority have the edge.

Keeping the lights on

Lawmakers face a Sept. 30 deadline to pass spending bills to keep the government open.

The House and Senate have both approved a series of measures, but have not agreed on a unified bill that could go the president’s desk.

Lawmakers hope to approve at least three compromise bills that fund a large portion of the government, including the military and most civilian agencies, before the new budget year begin Oct. 1.

In a shift from previous years, the Senate has approved nine of 12 mandatory spending bills, enough to fund nearly 90 percent of the government. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., called that “an important step forward” and evidence that “Congress is in good hands” under GOP majorities in the House and Senate.

Still, lawmakers from both parties remain wary of a government shutdown, which Trump has said he wants unless he gets a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. Democrats have resisted his plan to spend $25 billion.

A shutdown just weeks before the November elections would be the third under unified Republican control of Washington, following stoppages in January and February. That prospect has provoked widespread anxiety among Republicans facing tough re-election fights.

Trump has called a possible shutdown “a great political thing, because people want border security.”

Grilling social media

Executives at some of the biggest social media companies will be on the hot seat in separate hearings this month.

Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and Facebook’s COO Sheryl Sandberg are scheduled to testify Wednesday before the Senate intelligence committee. Lawmakers want to know how their companies are dealing with efforts by Russia and other countries to influence social media platforms and interfere in U.S. elections.

Dorsey is set to testify later Wednesday before the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which wants to know how Twitter monitors and polices content. Conservatives say Twitter is limiting their reach on the web.

The first hearing is part of the Senate committee’s Russia investigation. The committee has so far delayed a report on whether Trump’s campaign colluded with Russia; that report could come by the end of the year.

Funding the FAA

Congress has until Sept. 30 to extend FAA programs that fund airport and air traffic system improvements.

If the FAA’s authority were to expire, it would continue to operate the nation’s air traffic system and controllers would work without pay. But some other agency work would come to a halt.

Forging a farm bill

Congress has until Sept. 30 to reauthorize farm programs that, among other things, provide payments to farmers when prices for crops decline. Pleas from farm groups for action come as they deal with the United States’ decision to use tariffs as leverage in trade disputes; major trading partners have responded with tariffs on farm products from the U.S.