Congress returns to deadline crunch threatening Trump agenda, GOP unity
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As the midterm elections approach, Congress faces looming deadlines, unfinished business, and divisions within the Republican Party.
Lawmakers left Washington ahead of Memorial Day on the verge of passing a massive immigration enforcement funding package. Doing so would allow Republicans to address other important priorities.
Instead, the budget reconciliation process that Republicans planned to use to transfer nearly $72 billion to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol stalled after a surprise move by the Trump administration that exposed deep divisions within the GOP.
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Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) are pushing rival housing bills as President Donald Trump seeks a legislative victory on affordability. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images; Kent Nishimura/Getty Images; Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
Now, the breakdown in the reconciliation process threatens to push back even further other key agenda items, including a fast-approaching deadline for reauthorization of a critical spying bill, a massive defense policy bill and a potentially affordable package of legislation.
The Senate is currently stuck on the compromise package after the Justice Department announced a nearly $2 billion “anti-proliferation” fund aimed at paying those who feel wronged by the government.
Senate Republicans revolted over the funding during a closed-door meeting with Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, demanding answers about whether people convicted of assaulting police officers during the Jan. 6, 2021 riots should be allowed access to taxpayer-funded money.
Little has changed between the Senate GOP and the administration since then; Republicans put the onus on the White House to address the issue.
“The administration appreciated last week’s conversation and feedback,” a White House official told Fox News Digital. “We look forward to additional discussions as necessary.”
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The House is expected to consider the budget reconciliation bill once it is passed by the Senate.
But with no clear path forward, other pressing issues are beginning to fill the congressional calendar.
Congress will soon have to address the looming June 12 deadline to reauthorize Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). It’s a battle that lawmakers have twice waged over bipartisan demands for reform of the program, even as the Trump administration has pushed for a clean reauthorization.
The spy law fight is one of several horseshoe issues in Congress that has brought Democrats and conservatives together to push for stronger privacy protections. While Section 702 allows the government to spy on foreign nationals abroad, there is nothing in the law to prevent it from collecting data on Americans if they have fallen into this communications trap.
House conservatives are seeking reforms that would require warrants to spy on Americans’ communications, close loopholes that allow the government to buy sensitive data from brokers without permission and restrict overly broad powers that allow incidental collection of information, according to a source familiar with the discussions.
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As the midterm elections approach, Congress faces looming deadlines, unfinished business, and divisions within the Republican Party. (Heather Diehl/Getty Images)
Sens. Mike Lee, R-Utah, and Rick Scott, R-Fla. GOP privacy hawks in the Senate, including Republicans, are expected to push for similar priorities in the upper chamber.
Meanwhile, Democrats in the House of Representatives are expected to hold a vote to rein in the president’s Iran war powers, which could pass with modest support from the Republican Party. House GOP leadership shelved a war powers vote last week due to low Republican turnout.
Democrats are also expected to initiate a vote on legislation authorizing $1.3 billion in military aid to Ukraine and impose new sanctions on Russia’s war effort. The measure faces an uphill battle to become law due to expected opposition from Republican leadership and the Trump administration.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) also faces pressure from a segment of House Republicans to begin work on a third budget reconciliation package ahead of the midterm elections.
Rep. August Pfluger, R-Texas, told Fox News Digital that GOP lawmakers are having “great meetings” and expects the conference to pass another budget reconciliation package by the end of July.
Pfluger’s Republican Study Committee has consistently advocated for a package focused on affordability issues in housing, energy and healthcare. Enthusiasm for the third compromise bill was less expressed in the Senate.
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Congress is also beginning to make moves with the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), the massive package that will provide $1.15 trillion in funding for the Pentagon. This is a bill that must be passed annually, which could be slowed by more pressing fights on the Hill.
Many of the problems facing Congress arise as the time to complete work before midterm elections dwindles. MPs will have their typical August holidays, but will also be off to campaign for almost the entire month of October.
That means the next few weeks will be crucial, especially for Republicans trying to pass highlights of President Donald Trump’s agenda.
