Congress returns amid Venezuela operation and facing deadline to avert another government shutdown

Washington — Lawmakers return to Washington this week, staring down an end-of-month deadline to avert another government shutdown. The next funding fight comes fresh off a revolt from moderate Republicans over rising health care costs, and as the conflict with Venezuela and frustration with the Justice Department's handling of the rollout of the Epstein files come to a head. 

Funding the government is at the top of Congress' to-do list after a bruising 43-day shutdown that stretched from October through the first half of November. To end the longest shutdown in history, lawmakers approved a measure to fund parts of the government through the end of the fiscal year in September. Funding for the vast majority of agencies and programs, however, was temporarily extended until Jan. 30. 

Congress risks a partial shutdown if it does not approve new funding or another short-term patch for the remaining portions of the government before the end of the month. And it has to balance that priority alongside other legislative battles. 

Funding the government 

Sen. Susan Collins of Maine and Rep. Tom Cole of Oklahoma, the top GOP appropriators in the Senate and House, announced an agreement on top-line spending for the remaining nine funding bills just before Christmas. 

"This pathway forward aligns with President Trump's clear direction to rein in runaway, beltway-driven spending," Cole said in a statement, noting that the total funding falls below the current levels. "We will now begin expeditiously drafting the remaining nine full-year bills to ensure we are ready to complete our work in January." 

House and Senate negotiators released the text of an initial package of three bills on Monday, known as a "minibus." The legislation would provide funding related to science and the Departments of Commerce and Justice; energy and water development; and the Department of Interior and the EPA. 

Sen. Patty Murray, the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee, said that "passing these bills will help ensure that Congress, not President Trump and Russ Vought, decides how taxpayer dollars are spent-by once again providing hundreds of detailed spending directives and reasserting congressional control over these incredibly important spending decisions."

The progress inches Congress one step closer to avoiding a shutdown, though potential roadblocks remain. Buy-in from Democrats is necessary in the Senate for passage and may be needed in the House if conservatives withhold their support — a move they regularly threaten with funding bills. 

House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, is also facing a dwindling majority. GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia is vacating her seat on Monday, retiring a year before her term ends after a bitter feud with President Trump. Her departure will leave Johnson with a two-vote margin.

After weeks of debate among Senate Republicans, the upper chamber had hoped to move forward with another "minibus" ahead of the winter recess, but two Democratic senators stood in the way. 

Sens. Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper of Colorado held up the package to object to the Trump administration's dismantling of the National Center for Atmospheric Research, which is located in Boulder. The senators pledged to use "every lever available to do what is right for Colorado." The duo may be even less inclined to allow the funding bills to move forward after Mr. Trump vetoed a bipartisan bill designed to make it easier to build a water pipeline in Colorado. 

Should the process to pass the long-term measures stall, leaders could opt to pursue another short-term continuing resolution and again punt the funding issue down the line. 

Still, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, said on ABC's "This Week" Sunday that Congress isn't headed toward a shutdown at the end of the month. He said Democrats want to work on a bipartisan, bicameral basis to fund the government through September, and "the good news is our Republican appropriators are working with us and we're making good progress in that regard."

Health care

Democrats' demand to extend the Affordable Care Act's enhanced premium tax credits was at the center of last year's shutdown. Their effort to extend the tax credits as part of the agreement to reopen the government fell short and the subsidies expired last week, raising premiums for millions of Americans who purchase health insurance through the exchanges.

But the fight isn't over yet. 

After a vote on a Democratic measure to extend the tax credits for three years without reforms fell short in the Senate, four moderate House Republicans joined all Democrats to back a discharge petition to force a vote in the lower chamber. 

The moderates had criticized a straight extension without any reforms such as income caps, but argued that Democrats' proposal to extend the tax credits without any changes was better than allowing them to expire. 

The House is expected to vote on the motion to discharge the bill for a vote in the coming days. Johnson said it was "inevitable" that it would be considered on the floor when lawmakers returned after the holidays. 

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, a New York Democrat, said Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press" that "we've got to make sure that a straightforward extension of the Affordable Care Act tax credits passes out of the House upon our return next week so we can protect the health care of tens of millions of Americans who are about to experience dramatically increased health insurance premiums, copays and deductibles."

"That's completely and totally unacceptable, and Republicans have a responsibility to partner with us as Democrats to stop it," Jeffries added.

Ahead of the winter break, the discharge petition seemed to add momentum to a bipartisan effort to reach a health care compromise. A number of moderate Democrats and Republicans in both chambers have been seeking a solution on health care costs, and were expected to continue their conversations over the holidays. The discharge petition could serve as a vehicle for an extension of the tax credits with some reforms, should the lawmakers reach a compromise.

Lawmakers to apply pressure on Epstein files release

Congress' return is also expected to be marked by new pressure on the Justice Department over its piecemeal approach to releasing the files related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. 

The Epstein Files Transparency Act — which Congress passed and Mr. Trump signed into law in November — dictated that the Justice Department release the files by Dec. 19. However, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said the Justice Department will release them on a rolling basis due to the volume of materials and the need to redact some information.

Rep. Ro Khanna, a California Democrat, and Rep. Thomas Massie, a Kentucky Republican, spearheaded the legislation and the effort to force a vote on the issue. They have both criticized the Justice Department's handling of the release. 

So far, the Justice Department has released thousands of documents that are believed to represent only a small fraction of the Epstein files. The first release came on Dec. 19, followed by the release of additional materials a day later, along with a massive tranche of files on Dec. 23. The Justice Department also said on Dec. 24 that "over a million more documents potentially related to the Jeffrey Epstein case" had been uncovered, adding that the process of releasing the files may take "a few more weeks."

Khanna and Massie said last month that they are drafting a resolution to hold Attorney General Pam Bondi in "inherent contempt" of Congress over the release of the files. The lawmakers said they were building support for the resolution, which would likely be offered as a privileged motion, requiring leadership to schedule a vote within two legislative days.

Schumer also announced last month that he had introduced a resolution that would direct the upper chamber to "initiate legal actions" against the Justice Department to demand that it comply with the law. The New York Democrat is expected to force a vote on the measure when the Senate reconvenes this week. 

A group of senators, including one Republican, has also requested that the Justice Department's inspector general conduct an audit of the department's compliance with the new law. The senators said the investigation is "essential" given the Trump administration's "historic hostility to releasing the files" and "politicization of the Epstein case more broadly." 

Conflict with Venezuela 

Another war powers vote is also on the horizon after Mr. Trump announced early Saturday that the U.S. had carried out a "large scale strike against Venezuela" and captured President Nicolás Maduro and his wife. Mr. Trump also said the U.S. will "run the country" and threatened a "much larger attack" if needed. The development marks a major escalation in the monthslong military campaign against the South American nation. 

Congress has not authorized military force against Venezuela, and the Trump administration did not notify lawmakers of the plan ahead of time. 

Most Democrats and a few Republicans have sought to limit Mr. Trump's authority to strike Venezuela and suspected drug-trafficking boats in the region as the U.S. leader says the South American country's role in drug smuggling poses a threat to national security. But the Senate and House have each failed twice to limit Mr. Trump's authority to continue the military campaign. 

Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia said the Senate will vote this week on his latest war powers resolution. He introduced the measure in early December, days after the revelation that the U.S. killed two people who survived the initial blast of a Sept. 2 strike in the Caribbean Sea. 

Kaine's measure would require "the removal of United States Armed Forces from hostilities within or against Venezuela that have not been authorized by Congress." 

In a call with reporters on Saturday he called the military action in Venezuela "an illegal war." 

"There is no legal justification in the Constitution, in the history of the Constitution, or an American law that would authorize the president to wage war, to depose President Maduro and seize its oil and run the country of Venezuela without coming to Congress," Kaine said. "It's time for Congress to get its ass off the couch and do what the Constitution mandates that we do."

Besides the war powers resolution, Kaine said he's also looking at the defense appropriations process as a mechanism to prohibit military action in Venezuela. 

Before they left for the year, House Democrats forced votes on two war powers resolutions as Mr. Trump warned that land strikes against Venezuela could commence "soon." Since then, the U.S. carried out several more boat strikes and, according to Mr. Trump, "knocked out" a "big facility" linked to the alleged drug smuggling operations.