House returns with shutdown deadline topping agenda

The House returns to Washington on Monday after a five-week summer recess with a short-term government funding bill at the center of its agenda and only weeks left before the midterm elections.

Lawmakers are trying to prevent a shutdown before federal funding lapses at the end of Sept. 30. The House is scheduled to be in session for four days this week, then return Sept. 14 after Labor Day, when the Senate also comes back from its break. From there, the House has three weeks left in session before Election Day on Nov. 3.

House Republican leaders are expected to bring up a Senate-passed stopgap funding bill this week, according to NBC News. The measure would keep the government funded through Dec. 11, buying time for broader negotiations that have stalled. CBS News reported that House GOP leaders plan to fast-track the bill under a process requiring a two-thirds majority, meaning significant Democratic support would be needed.

The Senate approved the measure in early August in a 90-6 vote. It continues funding largely at current levels and includes provisions negotiated by both parties. NBC News reported that those add-ons include restrictions on President Donald Trump’s power to cut off federal grants to blue states that did not vote for him, protections for food assistance programs such as SNAP and WIC, and disaster relief. CBS News reported that the bill also includes a provision aimed at closing a loophole Democrats said allowed the Trump administration to transfer funds to Border Patrol, along with language temporarily preventing political appointees from canceling federal grants.

The House had passed a GOP-led funding bill in July that would have extended funding through Dec. 4, but the measure met resistance in the Senate. Only six Democrats crossed party lines on that bill, CBS News reported, after it failed to zero out funding for Border Patrol. Rep. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, argued that without such a provision, the Trump administration could shift money from the rest of Customs and Border Protection to Border Patrol. Democrats have opposed more funding for the agency, citing the administration’s deportation and immigration policies.

Ethics matters could also command attention. The bipartisan House Ethics Committee recommended during the recess that the full House censure Rep. Chuck Edwards, R-N.C., after an investigation found he engaged in “persistent unprofessional and inappropriate conduct towards two young female staffers.” The panel said it found no evidence Edwards “engaged in sexual activity with or explicitly propositioned any individual under his employ.”

Edwards ended his reelection bid days after the recommendation but has disputed the findings. NBC News reported that he sent colleagues a 22-page letter defending his conduct and arguing that nothing in the report amounted to “sexual misconduct.” “An affectionate friendship is not a sexual proposition,” he wrote. A censure vote could come as soon as this week.

The House also may vote on contempt of Congress resolutions tied to the Ethics Committee investigation of former Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, D-Fla. The panel recommended finding North Miami Beach Mayor Michael Joseph and Florida political operative Hector Roos in contempt for refusing to comply with subpoenas. Cherfilus-McCormick resigned in April after the committee found she committed 25 ethics violations and as it prepared to consider expulsion.

Republicans are also planning a vote on a resolution condemning socialism “in all its forms,” CBS News reported. Speaker Mike Johnson said while campaigning in Texas last week that “socialism is a road to ruin” and added, “They don’t understand that socialism is a step to get to communism.”

A Senate-passed sanctions bill targeting Russia and Iran remains a possible future item, though the House has no plans to vote on it this week, NBC News reported. The Senate approved the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026 in an 86-11 vote in early August. The bill would target major buyers of Russian oil and gas and allow sanctions against Russian leaders, family members and oligarchs.

The House’s partisan margin is also expected to narrow. Democrats are set to add Aisha Wahab of California and Everton Blair of Georgia after special election wins, bringing their caucus to 214 seats against 219 held by Republicans, CBS News reported.