US Senate postpones recess to focus on healthcare reform

US Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has said 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," Xinhua quoted McConnell as saying in a statement on Tuesday.

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", he added.

McConnell said the Senate would use the additional time to deal with issues such as healthcare, defense budget, debt ceiling and nominations for high-level government posts.

The White House has blamed the Congress for lagging behind on several major actions, including repealing and replacing Obamacare - a major promise of the Donald Trump campaign - and voting on nominations for high-level government positions.

Senators normally were given a break from legislative affairs for the entire month of August, the report said.

--IANS

amit/vt