The House returns to Washington in September, and headlines indicate they will not be bored.
In the month since congressional lawmakers left Capitol Hill to return to their home districts and states, both Democrats and Republicans have been plagued by contentious topics and social issues that threaten to cast a shadow over official business.
After passing President Donald Trump‘s major tax and spending cuts bill, Republicans left town and hit the road to promote the “big, beautiful bill.” At times, centrist lawmakers have been hit with angry constituents as Democrats continue to message that the tax legislation benefits the wealthy at the expense of the middle class.
But on their way out of Washington, Republicans were put in a tricky position, as their conservative voting base entered a civil war over whether to release all the files related to disgraced and since-deceased financier Jeffrey Epstein.
The Epstein files continue to spurn rare moments of bipartisanship, giving Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) a headache as he balances having “no daylight” between Trump and his agenda with his razor-thin majority, where hardliners and centrists don’t always get along.
But don’t expect many bipartisan moments after the Epstein drama.
The parties have already splintered over Trump’s decision to federalize the Metropolitan Police Department and deploy federal agencies such as Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the FBI, and the National Guard in a response to rising crime in the district.
Republicans are primarily on board with this federal District of Columbia takeover, arguing it is evident that the capital is being overrun by crime and Congress should therefore revoke Washington’s “home rule.” Democrats, on the other hand, are blasting this move as a sign of impending authoritarianism and call it an unprecedented overreach in presidential authority.
Redistricting efforts in Texas and California are kickstarting a gerrymandering war, with a California Republican looking to ban states from mid-decade redistricting nationally.
But the House has one important task this upcoming month: break through the noise and pass all 12 appropriations bills before the end-of-the-month deadline. So far, only two have passed, and Republicans have struggled to pass all 12 bills in recent years. Many are anticipating a continuing resolution, or CR, to the end of December or potentially into next year.
Epstein drama won’t fade into background
The House is already gearing up to handle Epstein when the lawmakers return to town for session on Sept. 2.
Due to the uproar over the Epstein files, the House canceled votes and sent lawmakers home early for the August recess. The House Rules Committee indefinitely suspended and eventually canceled its meeting over the files, as leadership and its panel members could not agree on an approach that would not force Rules Republicans to take a tough vote and conflict with the Trump administration’s steps to release all the information.
Trump, for his part, has denied any wrongdoing in relation to Epstein’s crimes and, in an attempt to divert attention away from his documented friendship with Epstein, has called out other people that the press should focus on.
Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) has warned his fellow Republicans that waiting to make a decision on the Epstein files this long could cost them politically with their MAGA base, despite Republican leadership urging them in conference meetings to focus more on “big, beautiful bill” messaging while traveling in their districts.
Massie, a consistent thorn in the side of GOP leadership, is preparing to use a discharge petition to force a vote on a bipartisan bill to release the files if Johnson does not bring it to the floor. The congressman would need 218 signatures, so only a few Republicans would need to join all Democrats in signing the petition.
Leadership has blasted discharge petitions as “tools of the minority.” But once it hits the floor, Republicans will be put on record whether they vote for or against releasing the files, which will only add fuel to Democrat messaging, putting Johnson in a tough spot.
Other Republicans are taking different approaches, as several GOP lawmakers have criticized the Biden administration for not releasing the files over the last four years. The House Oversight Committee is furthering its inquiry into the matter by subpoenaing high-profile witnesses like the Clintons, as well as members of the Department of Justice, to testify.
Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s former girlfriend and convicted sex offender in his trafficking scheme, was scheduled for a deposition on Aug. 11. However, that was delayed as her petition to appeal her criminal conviction is to be considered by the Supreme Court on Sept. 29.
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DC takeover hits close to home
Trump’s decision to federalize the MPD and increase law enforcement presence across the District of Columbia is driving a partisan wedge between Democrats and Republicans. Particularly for members from D.C., Maryland, and Virginia, this will likely be a highly discussed topic as the question grows whether Trump is overstepping or acting within his rights as commander in chief.
Democrats have been quick to argue that violent crime is on a 30-year decline. But MPD crime data is being scrutinized after the police union accused the department of rigging statistics. Video and photographic evidence of rising juvenile crimes, assaults, and carjackings have attracted the attention of Trump and Republicans, who argue the city is out of control.
Heading into the fall session, Congress will likely respond to Trump’s 30-day federalization. If Trump wants to extend his authority over the 30 days allocated to him under the D.C. Home Rule Act, the House and Senate must pass a resolution allowing him to do so.
The president has also said he would request a “relatively small amount of money” from Congress as part of his efforts to clean up the district.
“We’re going to make Washington beautiful,” Trump said earlier in the week. “We’re going to redo roads. We’re going to redo the medians, the pavers and the medians all throughout the city. We’re going to take all the graffiti off. We’re going to have to remove the tents and the people that are living in our parks. We’re going to be redoing the parks, the grasses, and all.”
Eyes will be on Rep. Andy Ogles (R-TN) and Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) to see if they renew pushes for a vote on their bill that repeals the D.C. Home Rule Act, though the odds of that bill passing the Senate may be slim due to the 60-vote filibuster threshold.
A resolution offered by House and Senate Democrats on Friday would end the federalization of D.C., with lead sponsors arguing the takeover is “part of a broader plan to militarize and federalize the streets of cities around America whose citizens voted against him.” The Democratic-led bill will likely not get a slot on the House voting schedule, making it a long-shot bid for Democrats with virtually no political power in Congress.
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States’ redistricting war
Texas and California’s “race to the bottom” over mid-decade redistricting threatens to spill into other states and Washington, D.C.
With Texas looking to add five GOP seats to its congressional delegation, and California vowing to offset those additions with redistricting of their own, Rep. Kevin Kiley (R-CA) introduced a bill to ban mid-decade redistricting across the board.
Kiley challenged Johnson to “show some leadership” during this war. Kiley is among several centrist GOP lawmakers whose districts could be altered or written off altogether if California successfully redraws congressional maps this fall.
Democrats only need a net gain of three seats to win back the House majority in 2026, based off the current congressional maps. Illinois and New York are considering their options on redistricting, as well. But strategists warn that Democrats do not have enough seats to counter redistricting if other red states such as Indiana, Florida, and Missouri decide to alter their maps.
Texas shows no sign of slowing down. On Friday, state House Republicans adjourned the first special session called for redistricting and immediately launched a second special session. Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX) has vowed to hold as many sessions as necessary to pass the new maps.
State Democrats are expected to return to the House on Monday after denying the GOP a quorum for nearly two weeks, during which they said they “successfully mobilized the nation.”
In the meantime, California has called for a special session Nov. 4 to vote on circumventing the independent redistricting commission and allowing the state legislature to draw new maps.
Government funding expires Sept. 30
With Johnson already likely up to his ears in agenda items spawned from the August recess work period, the daunting task of passing appropriations bills looms again.
In March, the House voted on a short-term spending deal with a deadline of Sept. 30, when government funding will run out. If all 12 fiscal 2026 appropriations bills, or a CR, are not passed by Congress, the government will shut down, threatening thousands of jobs and federal programs.
Fiscal hawks are typically against CRs, but members of the conservative Freedom Caucus have since warmed to the strategy as a way to slowly chip away at the federal budget, particularly after Trump took the White House.
House Freedom Caucus Chairman Andy Harris (R-MD) endorsed a yearlong CR ahead of recess, and other HFC members said they were open to that path. Other Republicans, like Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), have rejected a CR as of now. Massie, who hardly ever votes for CRs, opposes the idea.
Leadership ahead of August recess sidestepped talk of a short-term spending deal, arguing that they are still striving for a “normal” appropriations process. But they don’t have an excellent track record: Only five appropriations bills for fiscal 2025 were passed. In fiscal 2024, six bills were passed individually, and the remaining six were combined into the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2024.
Earmarks are making a resurgence after being stripped from the March CR. House lawmakers requested $23,394,859,447 in community funding projects. Of that total, Republicans requested the most, just over $14 billion, while Democrats requested just over $9.3 billion. Earmarks make up just 0.5% of the overall House topline, per the Appropriations Committee.
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Trump has said he plans to talk with Minority Leaders Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) and Chuck Schumer (D-NY) about the upcoming spending battle. But it is unlikely that Democrats will join on a CR unless something crucial, such as disaster aid funding for wildfires in California and other states, is attached.
But gaining Democratic favor is a double-edged sword for Johnson, whose predecessor was ousted for “cutting deals” with the Democrats to pass spending legislation, among other reasons. Johnson will likely seek to pass a CR without Democratic approval, and that path is likely to involve eleventh-hour negotiations with the Freedom Caucus and its like-minded allies, as it was during budget reconciliation.
