HOUSE BACKLOG: The House has a flurry of business to conduct after having been out of session for nearly two months amid the government shutdown.
The next few weeks will be critical as lawmakers race to make up for lost time on issues beyond the Epstein vote, The Hill's Sudiksha Kochi reports.
Another potential showdown over funding is around the corner, with Congress facing a Jan. 30 deadline to fund most of the government. Lawmakers will need to move quickly to pass remaining appropriations bills or another stopgap bill to prevent a partial government shutdown.
House Republicans are also moving to repeal a provision added at the last minute to the bill reopening the government last week that allows senators to sue the federal government for up to $500,000 if their data was sought or obtained without their knowledge. It would allow eight senators whose cell phone data was seized as part of former special counsel Jack Smith's investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack to sue over it.
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said he will move to pass the measure's repeal under a suspension of House rules to fast-track it, which requires a two-thirds vote. But it's expected to get bipartisan support as both Democrats and hardline conservatives have denounced the litigation measure as "self-serving" and "blatantly corrupt."
Members of both parties are also trying to reach a deal on the annual defense policy bill that must be passed. The House and Senate have approved different versions of the bill with different spending levels for fiscal 2026, requiring a compromise.
Democrats are pushing for a vote on extending the Affordable Care Act subsidies that are set to expire at the end of the year. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) promised Democrats a vote in the Senate in exchange for voting to reopen the government, but Johnson hasn't made that commitment in the House.
That has led Democrats to introduce a discharge petition to force a vote on it. But that would require some moderate Republicans to cross party lines to sign it, and some have said they want the subsidies to be reformed in any extension.
And discussions on a ban on stock trading for members of Congress will likely pick up in the coming week, as a House committee will hold a hearing on a 2012 law that prohibits congressional members and federal employees from using nonpublic information for private profit.
All will amount to a particularly busy end to the year for the House, while navigating scheduled breaks for Thanksgiving and end-of-the-year holidays.
▪ The Hill: Republicans clash over phone records provision.
▪ NPR: House members say they were gone 'far too long' during shutdown.
DEMS' PRIMARY FURY: Democrats appear set to concentrate their frustrations with the deal to end the 43-day government shutdown on key Senate primaries taking place next year.
The eight Senate Democratic caucus members who voted for the deal aren't up for reelection in 2026, but the anger seems likely to add to proxy battles between establishment-leaning and progressive candidates, The Hill's Al Weaver reports.
Two of the major Senate races where this may take place are in Maine and Michigan, with Maine Gov. Janet Mills (D) and Rep. Haley Stevens (D-Mich.) viewed as supportive of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), who has also been criticized for not keeping his caucus in line to oppose the funding bill. Schumer has endorsed Mills in her primary against other candidates including progressive Graham Platner, who is backed by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).
Schumer hasn't endorsed in Michigan, but Stevens has spoken well of him, while her opponent, Michigan state Sen. Mallory McMorrow (D), has called for him to be replaced.
The battle over the shutdown and its conclusion have exposed the growing divide within the Democratic Party, with moderates and progressives battling over the party's direction, The Hill's Alexander Bolton reports. That's taking place in the Senate, in primary races in both chambers in 2026 and likely in the next presidential field in 2028.
▪ The Hill: Sanders elevating progressive Senate candidates amid Dem divide.
MBS VISIT: Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is set to visit the White House on Tuesday, marking a full rehabilitation of relations with the U.S. since the 2018 killing of a Saudi journalist allegedly at the crown prince's direction.
Also known as MBS, the crown prince made his last visit to the White House in March 2018, months before the killing of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi in a Saudi consulate in Istanbul. The U.S. intelligence community has concluded that the crown prince ordered an operation to capture or kill Khashoggi, who had been critical of the Saudi government.
But The Hill's Laura Kelly reports that Crown Prince Mohammed's visit will mark a turning point in shifting the U.S. focus to deepening military, economic and diplomatic cooperation with a key regional power. Former President Biden once declared that crown prince had "pariah" status but still kept the door open for improving U.S.-Saudi relations.
The crown prince is seeking to increase commitments between the two countries on military, technology and business partnerships. He will be joined by a delegation of about 1,000 government, military and business officials.
▪ CNN: Trump pulling out all the stops to welcome MBS.
▪ Axios: Israel wants Trump to condition F-35 sale on Saudi normalization deal.
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