WASHINGTON — A government shutdown deadline, a standoff over President Donald Trump’s nominees and a renewed clash over the Jeffrey Epstein files await Congress as it returns Tuesday after a month-long August recess.
The top item on the agenda is the government funding deadline of Sept. 30 to avoid a shutdown. An unusual Republican and Democratic pairing says they believe they’ll have the support they need to force a House vote requiring the Justice Department to release the Epstein files. And Republicans are hatching plans to change Senate rules to speed up confirmation of Trump’s personnel, amid drama over the firing and exodus of top public health officials from the Trump administration.
Shutdown deadline is Sept. 30
The battle over federal funding has intensified in recent days in anticipation of lawmakers’ return to town, with any bill requiring 60 votes, and thus bipartisan support, to pass the Senate.
There’s no framework or “top line” agreement on how much to spend, let alone how to allocate that funding. And with just weeks to go, the division is growing rather than narrowing.
The White House notified lawmakers Friday that it plans to bypass them and slash $4.9 billion in federal funds using a “pocket rescission,” a tactic that the top congressional watchdog calls “illegal.”
The move drew condemnation from Democrats and a top Republican.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., called it “unlawful” and said it is “further proof President Trump and Congressional Republicans are hellbent on rejecting bipartisanship and ‘going it alone’ this fall.”
“As the country stares down next month’s government funding deadline on September 30th, it is clear neither President Trump nor Congressional Republicans have any plan to avoid a painful and entirely unnecessary shutdown,” Schumer said.
Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins, R-Maine, said: “Any effort to rescind appropriated funds without congressional approval is a clear violation of the law.”
Collins has issued similar warnings in the past, which have been ignored by the White House and GOP leaders, who embraced Trump’s previous round of “rescissions” to undo funding approved by Congress.
Hard-right Republicans are also demanding to keep spending low.
“Spending has got to stay flat or go down. I mean, that’s the deal,” said Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas. “Whatever format that takes … but it needs to stay flat or go down.”
Pressure builds on Epstein files
In July, Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., a conservative Trump antagonist, rolled out a resolution to force the Justice Department to release the Epstein files, predicting pressure would build throughout the August recess and reach a boiling point by the time Congress returns this week.
But Massie and his Democratic co-author of the legislation, Rep. Ro Khanna of California, are leaving nothing to chance. On Wednesday, they plan to host a Capitol news conference featuring sexual abuse survivors of Epstein, the convicted sex offender who took his own life in 2019, and his associate, Ghislaine Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year prison sentence for her role in recruiting and trafficking minors for sex.
Khanna said he believes they’ll have the requisite 218 member signatures needed for their discharge petition — a process that would circumvent GOP leadership and force a floor vote to release the files.
“The testimonials from Epstein’s victims are going to be explosive on Sept. 3, and I am confident all 212 Democrats will sign it and we will have more than six Republicans sign,” Khanna told NBC News.
Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has opposed the discharge push. During an appearance on CNN, he called it a “moot point” and “not necessary” because the House Oversight Committee already has been reviewing a tranche of documents provided by the Justice Department.
But Massie and Khanna say the Trump administration is not moving fast enough. The Oversight panel subpoenaed the DOJ for its investigative files in the Epstein case, which total roughly 100,000 pages. The panel said it received about a third of those documents last Friday and that more would be turned over in the future.
The Oversight Committee has been conducting interviews with high-profile former government officials as part of its probe into Epstein. Former Labor Secretary Alex Acosta, a former federal prosecutor in Florida whose office reached a non-prosecution deal with Epstein in 2008, will appear voluntarily before the panel on Sept. 19.
Will a stock trading ban be successful?
Lawmakers often do not police themselves. But as they return to Washington, there will be a renewed and highly public bipartisan push to ban them from owning and trading individual stocks amid concerns over potential conflicts of interest.
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., is vowing to file a discharge petition to force a vote on a bill by Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., to ban congressional stock trading.
“Insider trading, individual stock trades by members of Congress — they’re crooked as a dog’s leg. Everybody knows it,” Burchett said. “It’s going to be hated and loved in both parties.”
And members of both parties have been signing onto the Ending Trading and Holdings in Congressional Stocks or ETHICS Act, legislation authored by Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill. The bill would bar lawmakers, their spouses and their dependent children from owning or trading individual stocks, securities, commodities or futures.
Among those who have co-sponsored the bill are GOP Reps. Michael Cloud of Texas, Jen Kiggans of Virginia, and Mike Lawler of New York, and Democratic Reps. Joe Neguse of Colorado, Josh Riley of New York and Khanna.
“Members of Congress should serve the public, not pad their stock portfolios,” said Krishnamoorthi, who is running for the Senate. “A stock trading ban is just common sense — it’s about restoring trust, preventing conflicts of interest, and making sure lawmakers put constituents ahead of their own bottom line.”
Before the summer recess, Republican Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri, a potential 2028 presidential contender, teamed with Democrats to pass a stock ban for politicians through the Homeland Security Committee, sparking anger from Trump and Hawley’s own Senate GOP colleagues. Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said he would not put the bill, which would prohibit owning or trading stocks for future presidents, vice presidents and lawmakers, on the Senate floor for a vote.
With so many lawmakers owning stocks, it would be an uphill battle to move such a ban through both chambers.
Senate eyes a ‘nuclear’ move and CDC fallout
Meanwhile, Republicans are gearing up to change the rules of the Senate using the so-called “nuclear option” in order to push Trump’s nominees for sub-Cabinet positions through faster.
They blame it on Democratic obstruction in granting speedy votes for Trump’s personnel, saying it has reached new heights as even nominees that have bipartisan support are being slowed down.
“Senate Republicans are determined to confirm Mr. Trump’s qualified nominees one way or another. Republicans are considering changes to the Senate rules to end the most egregious delay tactics,” Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso, R-Wyo, wrote in a recent opinion piece under the headline, “Chuck Schumer’s Unprecedented Blockade.”
Schumer responded on X, “Historically bad nominees deserve a historic level of scrutiny by Senate Democrats.”
He alluded to recent Trump nominees whom he fired just weeks or months into the job. That includes CDC Director Susan Monarez and IRS Commissioner Billy Long, who were fired in August after getting confirmed by the Senate in July and June, respectively.
“No matter how fast Trump hires and fires them,” Schumer wrote last week, “Senator Barrasso is always at the ready to rubber-stamp the next one!”
The Monarez firing has drawn additional scrutiny on Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., who triggered her removal and the resignations of top health officials who say the administration was manipulating data in unscientific ways to advance a political agenda.
As Democrats demand hearings into what they call Kennedy’s anti-vaccine crusade, Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., the chair of the health committee, has promised “oversight” without getting specific. Cassidy provided a pivotal vote to getting Kennedy through committee and confirmed in the Senate.
“We need to know what the data says and where it is coming from, so the CDC and HHS can make the best decisions,” Cassidy wrote on X, saying his goals align with Trump.
Cassidy, a doctor, has also feuded in recent days about the efficacy of vaccines with Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., a committee member more aligned with Kennedy on the matter.
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