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House GOP leaders are staring down a politically fraught and legislatively jam-packed September as lawmakers return to Washington — all while their tiny majority is set to get even slimmer.
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) must contend with a Sept. 30 government funding deadline amid disputes among Republicans on the structure and length of a stopgap and as Democrats have the power to force a shutdown.
Calls for more disclosures about convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, which thwarted leadership’s plans ahead of the August recess, are set to come back to the forefront. And GOP lawmakers are planning to press their leaders on hot-button issues like stock trading, while contending with demands from President Trump on crime and beyond.
Adding to the pressure are two special elections in September that almost certainly will add two Democrats to the chamber in seats open due to the deaths of Reps. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) and Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.). Virginia’s special election is Sept. 9, and Arizona’s is Sept. 23.
That will give Republicans less breathing room on party-line votes, being able to afford just two GOP defections rather than three, assuming all members are present and voting.
In a majority that includes lawmakers who routinely oppose continuing resolutions (CRs) to extend government funding when there is no time left for the regular appropriations process — like Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) — having even one fewer vote could complicate the GOP strategy on a funding stopgap.
The last GOP-designed CR in March was sent to the Senate after every Democrat and Massie voted no, leaving Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) to make the call on whether to force a government shutdown, which he ultimately opted against. Putting that kind of pressure on Senate Democrats only works, though, if House Republicans are unified.
“Time is ticking, and I think that’s the biggest challenge,” said Rep. Stephanie Bice (R-Okla.), who sits on the House Appropriations Committee. “We spent the first seven months of this Congress focused on the ‘big, beautiful bill,’ which is necessary and incredibly important, and glad we were able to get that done. But now we’ve put ourselves in a position where we’re racing against the clock to get an appropriations package done. … It’s going to be a very busy four weeks.”
Republicans will also need near-unanimous support on a vote to authorize a subcommittee to investigate the Jan. 6 Capitol attack and the previous Democratic-led investigation into Jan. 6. That panel, set to be led by Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-Ga.), was announced more than seven months ago but was never formally established as Republicans hashed out disputes about its legislative jurisdictions.
A slimmer majority could also have implications for Trump’s authority over Washington’s police force. His takeover of the Metropolitan Police Department, initiated in mid-August, needs Congressional approval to last beyond 30 days, though it is unclear whether Republicans will move to do so.
Lawmakers will also contend with Trump saying he wants $2 billion from Congress to fund his plan to “beautify” Washington — a sum that could invite scorn from fiscal hawks. The city is facing a shortfall after Congress effectively cut its budget by $1 billion earlier this year in a federal spending bill.
It’s not just pressures from Trump that leaders will face. A slimmer majority also helps Republicans willing to team up with Democrats in hopes of forcing votes on other hot-button issues through discharge petitions. The rarely-successful procedural gambit lets members circumvent leadership to force floor consideration of legislation if 218 members — a majority of the House — sign on.
Massie and Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) are planning a discharge petition to force consideration of their bill requiring the Trump administration to publicly release the so-called Epstein files. They have enough Republican cosponsors on the measure to reach the 218-signaure threshold if every Democrat signs on.
The duo will bring the Epstein issue to the forefront in the first days of Congress’ return with a press conference featuring Epstein survivors — though the environment on the GOP side may not be as tumultuous as in July in wake of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee issuing subpoenas for Epstein-related documents and testimony.
But Massie told The Hill of the Epstein issue this month: “I don’t think this is going to go away.”
Stock trading is another issue set to see a discharge petition and bipartisan pressure. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.), who brought a successful discharge petition on proxy voting for new parents earlier this year before the effort was later quashed by leadership, has also pledged to bring another one to ban individual stock trading by members of Congress.
Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) is among those pushing for another stock trading ban bill — but as of now, he is seeking to have it go through the committee process rather than force it straight to the floor.
“There’s a group of us on a bipartisan basis who are saying, look, time is now,” Roy said Thursday on CNBC. “I told Republican leadership I was going to give them the benefit of the doubt to get through the ‘big, beautiful bill’ and to make sure we can move forward and advance the president’s agenda.”
Luna also told Joe Rogan on his podcast this month she was planning a discharge petition to bring a vote on term limits for members of Congress, an idea that is less likely to get majority support.
All of those hot-button issues will come as the House also presses forward this month on the annual National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), a piece of must-pass legislation that is not only one of the biggest legislative exercises of the year, but also a target for those looking to attach other priorities.
Republicans earlier this year cut a deal to add a bill to block the creation of a central bank digital currency to the NDAA or must-pass legislation. And Tea Party Patriots Action has been pushing to attach a bill to require proof of citizenship to register to vote to a must-pass measure like the NDAA.
