Senate-passed bills to cut farm subsidies and food stamps and overhaul the financially teetering Postal Service have been put on hold by House Republican leaders.
Top GOP lawmakers are wary of igniting internal party fights or risking voters' ire three months before the election.
The House is taking up bills in the coming week on offshore drilling and reducing government red tape.
The final week before Congress leaves for its August break will focus on a GOP measure to extend Bush-era tax cuts, also going nowhere in the Senate.
That doesn't leave much time for the farm and postal bills that could affect the futures of food production and mail delivery but generate controversies that politicians would prefer to avoid in an election year.
