Memorial Day for Congress kicked off an election-year sprint in which serious legislation usually takes a back seat to partisan messaging bills.

The Senate started voting on bills that the Democrats in control there know will fail but want to message on. That started last week with a second failed vote on a border policy bill and will continue next week when Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer plans a vote on a bill to establish a statutory right to contraception.

The Republican-led House is more focused on bills it can pass but also wants to score points.

House GOP leaders laid out an ambitious plan to pass all 12 annual spending bills in June and July. With what will soon be a two-vote GOP majority, they don’t have much room for error.

Unity has not exactly been the GOP’s strength this Congress, as right-wing rebels deposed House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and attempted to oust his successor. Speaker Mike Johnson survived only because Democrats helped block a removal vote, but that’s where bipartisanship ended.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries had a message, too. He accused Republicans of engaging in “political stunts and gamesmanship” in the appropriations process and spoiling an opportunity for the bipartisan partnership needed to enact legislation into law.

“Extreme MAGA Republicans … are trying to jam right-wing policy changes down the throats of the American people, including stripping away reproductive freedom from military women, attacking the LGBTQ+ community, trying to eliminate programs that promote diversity, equity, and inclusion and engaging in other unnecessary and extreme efforts that are all dead on arrival,” the New York Democrat told reporters before the holiday break that last until June 3.

House Republicans primarily share the view that they should pass the most conservative spending bills possible to give their party more leverage in negotiations with the Democratic-run Senate and the White House. The deadline for enacting the annual spending bills is Sept. 30, but lawmakers likely will extend that deadline past the November election.

Last year, the House passed seven of the 12 spending bills on the floor, with Republicans lacking enough votes to advance the other five due to intraparty disagreements over abortion-related restrictions, spending on Amtrak, a new FBI headquarters and more.

The politics are trickier this year with the election approaching. Centrist Republicans, particularly those in districts President Biden carried in 2020, will not be shy about pushing back against conservative proposals.

“My concerns haven’t changed,” said Rep. Marc Molinaro, a New York Republican who led fellow party centrists in opposing some of the abortion-related restrictions written into last year’s House spending bills.

The House Armed Services Committee, meanwhile, has already advanced the annual defense policy bill, known as the National Defense Authorization Act. It cleared the committee with minimal drama in a 57-1 bipartisan vote, though its fate on the floor is less certain.

Last year the House also started with a bipartisan bill in committee but Republicans added amendments related to abortion, transgender health care and other culture war issues that sapped Democrats’ support. It’s unclear if this year will be any different. The NDAA is scheduled to hit the floor the week of June 10.

One of the most difficult measures to prepare for floor action will be the farm bill. The five-year reauthorization of agriculture and nutrition programs is a priority for lawmakers in both parties but contains political tripwires. The biggest flashpoints usually involve the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known as SNAP or food stamps.

Mr. Jeffries, addressing reporters ahead of committee action on the farm bill last week, warned that the GOP’s proposed $30 billion cut to SNAP and a rollback of agriculture-related climate initiatives would be nonstarters. The Agriculture Committee ultimately rejected Democratic amendments to address those concerns, and only four Democrats joined panel Republicans in reporting the bill to the floor.

House Agriculture Chair Glenn “GT” Thompson vowed after the committee vote to continue working with Democrats to address their concerns. Since some conservatives oppose spending on SNAP even with the proposed cut, among other provisions, Democratic support will be needed to pass the bill on the floor.

“Great things can be accomplished when you don’t surround yourself with redlines, and I am eager to continue our work with whoever wants to come to the table,” the Pennsylvania Republican said.

One issue where both parties are trying to cooperate is in crafting a legislative response to a widely panned attempt by the International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor to issue arrest warrants against top Israeli officials for their actions in the war against Hamas terrorists.

House Foreign Affairs Chairman Michael McCaul, Texas Republican, said he is drafting a bill to sanction the ICC and working to make it bipartisan.

“We want this to be signed into law. We don’t want it to be a messaging bill,” he said. “Because otherwise, you have no deterrence against the ICC.”

North Carolina Rep. Richard Hudson, who chairs House Republicans’ campaign arm, said GOP leaders are “not really” focused on election-year messaging bills.

“We just got a lot of work that needs to get done: the farm bill, the NDAA,” Mr. Hudson told The Times. “Obviously, we’d love to get all 12 [appropriation] bills done before we head out here for the election, at least on the House side.”