Congress: The Senate & The House

[phkrause]

Congress Clocks In

The 119th Congress resumed yesterday for the first time since last week’s wave of Democratic victories (see latest). Republicans have five scheduled legislative weeks left before losing control of both houses in January.  Chief among Republican priorities is to pass a funding bill ahead of a Dec. 11 government shutdown deadline. Garnering support for the Pentagon’s annual policy bill amid an unpopular Iran war is also a priority. It also comes as outgoing Rep. Thomas Massie (R, KY-4) reintroduced a resolution yesterday to impeach Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on eight counts, including over his handling of the Iran war; a House vote could come as soon as this week. Massie separately predicts he will amass the 218 signatures necessary to force floor action on the Justice Department’s handling of the Epstein files.  Separately, the Senate voted 73-25 yesterday to advance a measure to speed up approval of data center development. Americans voted overwhelmingly last week to restrict data center construction through dozens of ballot initiatives (see the one place that didn't).