Congress is back from its two-week recess, facing several important issues that were left pending. 

Both chambers are expected to vote again on an Iran war powers resolution this week, which would require Congressional approval for continued military activity in Iran. Previous votes on the resolution for both Iran and the Trump administration’s operations in Venezuela have narrowly failed. 

The Department of Homeland Security shutdown has now reached 67 days, the longest partial shutdown in U.S. history. The Senate has passed a funding bill that excluded funding for ICE and border protection but funded the rest of the agencies, but House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) has not brought the bill to the House floor after it failed once. Johnson is instead likely to attempt to pass a narrow reconciliation bill to avoid the threat of the filibuster from House Democrats, but the process would potentially take months longer, ABC News reported. 

Military Budget Season Starts 

It’s also the beginning of the Capitol Hill budget season, with Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought and other officials set to testify on the administration’s fiscal year 2027 budget request.  

The House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee will hear from Army Secretary Dan Driscoll and Acting Army Chief of Staff Gen. Christopher LaNeve at a Thursday session.  

The House Military Construction/Veterans Affairs Subcommittee will mark up its spending bill at a Friday session, the committee said in a statement that also announced June hearings for the defense appropriations markup. 

Army National Guard photo by Sgt. Christian Brown