WASHINGTON — Lawmakers return to Washington this week to confront the fallout from the stunning capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, as well as familiar complaints that the Trump administration chose to bypass Congress on the military operations that led to this moment.
Democratic leaders are demanding that the administration immediately inform Congress. Republican leaders said over the weekend that the plans were planned, but some lawmakers expressed frustration Sunday that details have been slow to emerge.
On Saturday, President Trump told the nation that the United States intends to “rule” Venezuela and take control of the country's oil operations now that Maduro has been captured and brought to New York to face criminal charges related to narco-terrorism charges.
The administration failed to brief Congress ahead of these actions, leading Democrats and some Republicans to express public disappointment at the decision to sideline Congress.
“Congress should have been informed of the operation earlier and should have been involved as the situation evolved,” Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) said in a social media post Saturday.
Appearing on Sunday news programs, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, both of New York, went through a growing list of unknowns – and laid out their party's plans to try to restore Congress's authority over the war effort.
“The problem here is that there are so many unanswered questions,” Schumer said on ABC's “This Week.” “How long are they going to be there? How many troops will we need in a day? In a week? In a year? How much will it cost and what are the boundaries?”
Jeffries told NBC's “Meet the Press” that he was concerned about Trump running Venezuela, saying he has “done a terrible job running the United States of America” and should focus on work at home.
In the coming days, Jeffries said, Democrats will prioritize legislative action to try to rein in the administration “to ensure that no further military steps are taken without clear congressional approval.”
As debate over Venezuela approaches, lawmakers also face important decisions about how to address the issue. rising health care costsprevent another government shutdown and deal with the Trump administration Epstein file processing.
Much of the unfinished business reflects that Congress has decided to push some of its toughest and most politically divisive decisions into the new year, a move that could slow down negotiations as lawmakers may be reluctant to hand the other side high-profile policy victories ahead of Congress. 2026 midterm elections.
Above all, Congress faces the monumental task of preventing another government shutdown—just two months after the end of the longest shutdown in U.S. history. Lawmakers have until Jan. 30 to pass spending bills needed to keep the federal government open. Both houses are scheduled to sit for three weeks before the adjournment deadline, with the House of Representatives scheduled to adjourn a week before.
Lawmakers were able to resolve key funding disputes late last year, including funding Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, also known as food stamps, and other government programs. But disagreements over health care costs remain a major sticking point in budget negotiations, which have intensified now that millions of Americans face higher health care costs after lawmakers allowed Affordable Care Act tax breaks to expire on Thursday.
“We can still find a solution to this problem,” said Rep. Kevin Kiely (R-Rocklin), who a law has been proposed to extend tax breaks for two years. “We need to find ways to make people whole. That has to be a top priority once we get back.”
Despite this urgency, Republican efforts to author sweeping health care reforms have met with little success.
Underscoring the political pressure on the issue, late last year four moderate House Republicans defied party leadership and joined House Democrats to push for a floor vote to extend the subsidies for three years. The vote is expected to take place in the coming weeks. Even if the House effort succeeds, its prospects remain dim in the Senate, where Republicans last month blocked a three-year extension.
Meanwhile, President Trump is proposing to give more money directly to people for their healthcareand not to insurance companies. A White House official said the administration is also pursuing reforms to lower prescription drug costs.
Last month, Trump said he plans to summon a group of health care executives to Washington early this year to pressure them to cut costs.
“I'm going to address the insurance companies that make so much money and they have to make less, a lot less,” Trump said during an Oval Office announcement. “I'm going to see if they lower their price, to put it very bluntly. And I think that's a very strong statement.”
There is an expectation that Trump's growing hostility toward insurance companies will play a role in any Republican health care reform proposal. If Congress doesn't act, the president is expected to use the “bully pulpit” to pressure pharmaceutical and insurance companies to lower health care prices for consumers through executive action, said Nick Iarossi, a Trump fundraiser.
“The President is focused on the idea of affordability, and I believe that anything he can do unilaterally without Congress, he will do to make life easier for consumers,” Iarossi said.
As lawmakers negotiate government funding and health care policy, the ongoing Epstein saga is expected to take up much of the time.
Democrats and some Republicans were unhappy with the Justice Department's decision heavily edit or hide documents from legally required release of files related to the investigation into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, who died in a Manhattan prison are awaiting trial on charges of sex trafficking.
Some of them weighing options for holding Atty. General Pam Bondi is responsible.
Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Fremont), who co-sponsored the legislation with Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) to provide for the release, said he and Massie will file contempt charges against Bondi in an attempt to force her to comply with the law.
“Survivors and the public are demanding transparency and justice,” Khanna said in a statement.
Under the law passed by Congress and signed by Trump, the Justice Department was required to release all of Epstein's files by Dec. 19, and about 100,000 pages were released that day. In the days that followed, the Justice Department said it had found more than 5.2 million documents that needed to be reviewed.
“We have lawyers working around the clock to review and make legally required changes to protect victims, and we will release the documents as soon as possible,” the Justice Department said in a social media post on Dec. 24. “Due to the volume of materials, 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 resolve the issue will reach a fever pitch in the new year when lawmakers return to work.
“When we return to Congress here next week, we'll find out very quickly whether Republicans are serious about actually rounding up and fighting pedophiles and some of the worst people and traffickers in modern history, or whether they're going to bend the knee to Donald Trump,” Garcia said from Long Beach.
