Lawmakers began their Christmas recess a day early on Thursday with a long list of unresolved issues remaining on the table.
As it departs for an early break, Congress has yet to resolve several pieces of legislation that House Republicans promised to bring to the table — including a second reconciliation package and the codification of several executive orders signed by President Donald Trump.
In addition to the one big, beautiful bill (OBBB), a handful of Republicans were hoping to pass another legislative package to address affordability concerns, including tax and regulatory reforms and healthcare measures. Speaker Mike Johnson indicated he wanted to pass another reconciliation bill in the fall of 2025, though the legislation never materialized as Congress became consumed by the government shutdown fight.
Federal spending is also still a major issue on the table. While the OBBB includes approximately $1.4 trillion in specific spending cuts, it also will add an estimated $3.4 trillion to the national deficit by the 2034 fiscal year, according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.
Lawmakers are allowing Biden-era Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies to expire by Dec. 31. Senate Republicans promised Democrats that a vote would be held on these subsidies in exchange for reopening the government, though Johnson never committed to such a vote.
Senate Democrats’ insistence on extending ACA subsidies led to longest shutdown in U.S. history — during which the vast majority of Democrats in the upper chamber refused to reopen the government for 14 consecutive times over an over-six-week period.
During a Dec. 16 exchange with reporters, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer declined to rule out another government shutdown by Jan. 30 over the subsidies.
“Look, just as I said, it’s on the Republicans that we haven’t had health care done after Jan. 1. It’s very, very hard to put it back in the bottom,” Schumer said, without giving a direct answer about a possible shutdown.
Moderate Republican Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick and Rob Bresnahan of Pennsylvania, Mike Lawler of New York and Jen Kiggans of Virginia, who all represent competitive districts in the upcoming midterms, joined the Democrats’ discharge petition calling for a floor vote on a three-year extension of the ACA tax credits.
Lawmakers are also leaving a day before the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) deadline to release unclassified files associated with deceased convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Trump signed the Epstein Files Transparency Act into law on Nov. 19 after he urged Republicans to support its release, which gives Attorney General Pam Bondi until Friday to release the unclassified documents.
Johnson also promised in February that House Republicans would codify Trump’s executive order to ensure future presidents cannot “unwind” his agenda. While dozens of orders were codified in the OBBB and National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), the vast majority of Trump’s orders have not been codified as of late.
Johnson’s office did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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