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Jimmy William
Lawmakers are back in Washington after a six-week summer recess, facing a critical deadline to avert a government shutdown by September 30. At the same time, Republicans in the House are intensifying investigations into Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, while Democrats counter with their own inquiries into former President Donald Trump.
Funding Fight and Shutdown Threat
The top priority for Congress is funding the government to avoid a shutdown. With the fiscal year ending in just three weeks, the Republican-led House is proposing a stopgap bill that would fund the government through March 28. However, the bill is tied to the controversial SAVE Act, which would require proof of citizenship to vote—a measure Democrats argue could suppress voter turnout. “House Republicans are taking a critically important step to secure our federal election process,” said House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.). However, Senate Democrats have made it clear that the bill stands little chance of passing in their chamber.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Senator Patty Murray (D-Wash.), chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, issued a joint statement saying, “The odds of a shutdown go way up if Speaker Johnson drives House Republicans down this highly partisan path.” Both parties are bracing for blame if the shutdown occurs just weeks before the 2024 election.
GOP Investigations Target Harris, Walz
Beyond the budget, House Republicans are taking aim at Democrats’ new presidential ticket, focusing on investigations into Kamala Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz. Last week, the House Education Committee issued a subpoena to Walz regarding his administration’s handling of a pandemic-related fraud case in Minnesota. At the same time, the House Oversight Committee launched a probe into Walz’s connections with Chinese Communist Party officials dating back to his time as a teacher leading educational trips to China in the 1990s.
The investigations come as Republicans hold multiple hearings designed to highlight what they call the failures of the “Biden-Harris administration.” One hearing, titled “The Biden-Harris Border Crisis: Victim Perspectives,” targets the administration’s handling of immigration. Another, by the Energy and Commerce subcommittee, is focused on “Americans Paying the Price of the Biden-Harris Energy Agenda.”
“We’re holding them accountable for failed policies that have left Americans worse off,” said Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.). Republicans are also expected to continue their focus on the Afghanistan withdrawal, an issue the Trump campaign has seized upon to criticize Harris.
Democratic Response and Counterinvestigations
Meanwhile, House Democrats are pushing back with their own investigations into Donald Trump. Representatives Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) and Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) have requested that Trump provide proof he did not receive a $10 million cash bribe from Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi during his 2016 campaign. “Surely you would agree that the American people deserve to know whether a former president— and a current candidate for president—took an illegal campaign contribution from a brutal foreign dictator,” the Democrats wrote. Trump’s team quickly dismissed the allegations as “fake news.”
With the election looming, these investigations signal a fierce political battle ahead as both parties prepare for November. As Schumer emphasized, the Senate will also focus on confirming President Biden’s federal judicial nominees through the remainder of the year.
In this charged political atmosphere, lawmakers have just weeks to find common ground on government funding while also navigating the complex web of investigations and campaign pressures that will define the coming election.
