Lawmakers return to Washington facing Venezuela concerns, shutdown threat

WASHINGTON— Lawmakers are returning to Washington this week to confront the fallout from the surprising capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and familiar complaints about the Trump administration’s decision to bypass Congress in the military operations that led to this moment.

Democratic leaders are demanding the administration immediately notify Congress. Republican leaders had indicated over the weekend that those plans were being planned, but some lawmakers expressed frustration Sunday with the slow arrival of details.

President Trump told the nation on Saturday that the United States plans to “govern” Venezuela and take control of the country’s oil operations after Maduro is captured and brought to New York to stand trial in a criminal case based on narco-terrorism charges.

The administration’s failure to notify Congress of the actions led to public disappointment among Democrats and some Republicans over the decision to sideline Congress.

“Congress should have been informed about the operation earlier and should have been involved as the situation developed,” Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) said in a social media post Saturday.

Appearing on Sunday’s newscasts, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, both from New York, took a look at a growing list of unknowns and drew up plans for their parties to try to reassert Congress’ authority over acts of war.

“The problem here is there are so many unanswered questions,” Schumer said on ABC’s “This Week.” “How long do they plan to stay there? How many troops do we need after a day? After a week? After a year? How much will it cost and what are the limits?”

In his statement to NBC’s “Meet the Press” program, Jeffries said that he was concerned about Trump’s management of Venezuela, that he “did a terrible job running the United States” and that he should focus on his work at home.

In the coming days, Jeffries said Democrats will prioritize legislative action to try to control the administration “to ensure that no further military action is taken without the express approval of Congress.”

As debates about Venezuela approach, lawmakers are faced with important decisions about how to solve this problem. rising costs of healthcareto prevent Another government was shut down and deal with Trump administration problems Processing of the Epstein files.

Much of the unfinished business reflects Congress choosing to push some of its toughest and most politically divisive resolutions into the new year; It’s a move that could slow negotiations as lawmakers may be reluctant to give the other side high-profile policy wins ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.

After all, Congress faces the monumental task of preventing another government shutdown just two months after the longest shutdown in U.S. history ended. Lawmakers have until Jan. 30 to pass the spending bill needed to keep the federal government open. Both chambers are scheduled to be in session for three weeks before the shutdown deadline; The Parliament is scheduled to be out of session the week before.

Lawmakers managed to resolve key funding disputes late last year, including for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, also known as food stamps, and other government programs. But disagreements over health care spending remain a key sticking point in budget negotiations, exacerbated by millions of Americans facing higher health care costs after lawmakers allowed Affordable Care Act tax credits to expire on Thursday.

“We can still find a solution to this,” said Rep. Kevin Kiley (R-Rocklin). Proposal to extend tax credits for two years. “We need to find ways to integrate people. That needs to be our top priority when we come back.”

Despite this urgency, Republicans’ efforts to author sweeping healthcare reforms have received little attention.

Underscoring the political pressure on the issue, four moderate Republicans challenged party leadership late last year and joined House Democrats to force a floor vote on a three-year extension of the subsidies. That vote is expected to take place in the coming weeks. Even if the House effort is successful, its prospects remain slim in the Senate, where Republicans blocked a three-year extension last month.

Meanwhile, President Trump is proposing giving more money for health care directly to people rather than through insurance companies. A White House official said the administration is also making reforms aimed at lowering the cost of prescription drugs.

Trump said last month that he planned to call a group of health care executives to Washington early in the year to pressure them to cut costs.

“I’m going to call the insurance companies that are making so much money, and they need to be making less, much less,” Trump said in the Oval Office announcement. “Quite frankly, I’m going to see if they lower the prices. And I think that’s a huge statement.”

There is an expectation that Trump’s growing hostility toward insurance companies will play a role in any Republican healthcare reform proposals. Nick Iarossi, one of Trump’s fundraisers, said that if Congress doesn’t act, the president is expected to use his “bully pulpit” to pressure drug and insurance companies to lower health care prices for consumers through executive action.

“The President is latched onto the affordability message, and I believe that whatever he can accomplish unilaterally without Congress, he will do to provide relief to consumers,” Iarossi said.

The ongoing Epstein saga is expected to take up a significant amount of bandwidth as lawmakers debate government finances and health policy.

Democrats and a few Republicans are unhappy with the Justice Department’s decision to largely redact or withhold documents from legally mandated files related to its investigation of sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, who died in a Manhattan jail while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.

Some are weighing options to hold Av. General Pam Bondi is in charge.

Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Fremont), who co-sponsored legislation mandating the release along with Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), said he and Massie will file defamation charges against Bondi in an effort to force her to comply with the law.

“Survivors and the public demand transparency and justice,” Khanna said in a statement.

According to the law passed by Congress and signed by Trump, the Justice Department was required to release all the Epstein files by December 19, and approximately 100,000 pages were released that day. In the days that followed, the Ministry of Justice said that more than 5.2 million documents had been found and needed to be reviewed.

“We have lawyers working day and night to investigate and make legally necessary corrections to protect victims, and we will release the documents as soon as possible,” the Justice Department said in a statement on social media on December 24. “Due to the density of the material, this process may take several more weeks.”

Rep. Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, told MS NOW last week that pressure to address the issue will peak in the new year as lawmakers return to work.

“When we get back to Congress next week, we’re going to find out really quickly whether Republicans are serious about removing and taking down pedophiles and some of the worst human and human traffickers in modern history, or whether they’re going to kneel down to Donald Trump,” Garcia, of Long Beach, said.