KEY CONGRESSIONAL VOTES: Both chambers of Congress will hold major votes Thursday testing GOP unity and Republicans' willingness to break with the president:
The House will vote on the expired enhanced health care subsidies under the Affordable Care Act, with the chamber poised to pass a Democratic-backed proposal to reinstate the funding for three years.
The tax credits expired at the end of 2025 without Congress passing an extension, but this effort is seen as the best chance for a way forward.
Four Republicans bucked GOP leadership and sided with Democrats to force this vote on the House floor. Nine Republicans, including the initial four, voted with Democrats on Wednesday to advance the bill, teeing up Thursday's final vote and expected passage.
The bill would then head to the Senate, where members of both parties are working on a compromise measure to reimplement the subsidies with some reforms. Moderate Republicans are hoping its passage will eventually lead to a bipartisan compromise, The Hill's Emily Brooks and Mike Lillis report.
Nine House Republicans voted for a procedural vote to tee up the Thursday vote, an indication they will support the bill.
The House is also set to vote on a possible veto override for two pieces of legislation that Trump nixed last month, the first two of his second term.
This will mark a loyalty test for congressional Republicans as they balance their support for Trump and the considerations of their constituents, The Hill's Sudiksha Kochi and Emily Brooks report.
One bill would fund a pipeline delivering clean water to southeastern Colorado, while the other would grant the Miccosukee Tribe the authority to manage part of the Everglades in Florida.
Both were considered noncontroversial legislation when they passed Congress, advancing by voice vote. But Kochi and Brooks report that they intersect with political grudges held by Trump.
Trump has sparred with Colorado leaders over the imprisonment of his political ally, former Mesa County elections clerk Tina Peters. And he clashed with the Miccosukee Tribe over the "Alligator Alcatraz" immigration detention facility in Florida.
Both vetoes have led to accusations of Trump opposing the bills for political reasons.
Veto override votes are standard procedure, though successful ones are rare. But this may be one of the more likely instances of success.
The House is also set to vote on a minibus funding package that would fund the Department of Justice, Department of Commerce, key science agencies and other related entities; the Department of Energy and water development; and the Department of Interior, Environmental Protection Agency and other related agencies.
That bill was able to reach the House floor after Johnson convinced some hardline conservative holdouts to vote to advance the package. If it passes the House and Senate, it will leave six appropriations bills left to pass before government funding runs out on Jan. 30.
The controversial issue of funding for DHS, among other thorny funding debates, notably remains unresolved.
Meanwhile, the Senate is set to vote on a war powers resolution to block Trump from continuing military action in Venezuela. The vote took on heightened importance following the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
The resolution only needs a simple majority to pass, giving it a chance of success. Libertarian-minded Republican Sen. Rand Paul (Ky.) is a sponsor of the resolution and is expected to vote in favor.
That would mean Democrats would need three additional Republican votes, presuming all of them vote for it.
The vote is likely symbolic, as it would need to pass the House and be signed by Trump to go into effect, but it will signal where the party stands on the issue following the surprise raid in Caracas over the weekend.
▪ The Hill: Abortion, minimum premiums emerge as sticking points in talks.
▪ The Hill: Republican senators cold on Trump's call for abortion 'flexibility.'
OIL ULTIMATUM: The U.S. has issued a series of demands to Venezuela for the South American country to resume oil production, multiple outlets reported Wednesday.
Three people familiar with the administration's plan told ABC News that the administration has told Venezuelan interim President Delcy Rodríguez that the country must cut ties with China, Russia, Iran and Cuba and agree to partner exclusively with the U.S. on oil production.
Rodríguez also must favor the U.S. when selling heavy crude oil.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters that the U.S. is close to carrying out a deal to claim 30 to 50 million barrels of Venezuelan oil and sell it on the open market, using the proceeds to direct Venezuela's transition to a new government. Trump had announced Tuesday evening that Venezuela would turn over the oil.
Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told senators in a classified briefing Wednesday that U.S. control of Venezuelan oil sales will give it leverage over the country and reduce the chances of needing to send troops in, The Hill's Alexander Bolton reports.
Energy Secretary Chris Wright said the U.S. plans to sell Venezuelan oil "indefinitely," signaling U.S. control will go well beyond what Trump and Rubio have laid out.
▪ The Hill: Trump's oil-centric Venezuela vision divides Congress.
INVERTED PYRAMID: The White House has released new dietary guidelines redefining nutrition recommendations for the public, creating an upside-down pyramid for guidance.
The pyramid places vegetables, fruits, proteins, dairy and healthy fats at the top and whole grains at the bottom.
"The new guidelines recognize that whole, nutrient-dense food is the most effective path to better health and lower health care costs," Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said at a Wednesday briefing.
The initial food pyramid was introduced in the 1990s, with small amounts of sugars at the top; dairy, meat, fruits and vegetables in the middle; and grains at the bottom. It was replaced by "My Plate" during the Obama administration.
Officials called the change the "most significant reset of federal nutrition policy" in history, though The Hill's Joseph Choi reports many core recommendations stayed the same. Notably, the guidelines stuck to the long-held recommendation of limiting saturated fat consumption to 10 percent of daily intake, despite Kennedy's repeated calls to end the "war on saturated fats."
Read more from Choi about the new guidelines here.
▪ Business Insider: Five big changes to the guidance.
MINNESOTA HEARING: A congressional hearing became heated as two House members quarreled over the social services fraud scandal in Minnesota.
House Oversight and Government Reform Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) and Rep. Summer Lee (D-Pa.) engaged in a back-and-forth that descended into shouting. Lee accused Republicans of having "cherry-picked a blue state and an immigrant population" to "demonize."
"This hearing is not an effort by Republicans to improve social service programs. It's an excuse to end them and to punish Democratic-led states," Lee said.
Comer responded that inspectors general hired to identify fraud have "failed," leading he and Lee to accuse each other's party of having failed.
▪ MPR News: Accusations fly at Oversight hearing.
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