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John:
Good Morning from Capitol Hill.
The House and Senate are back in session for the next three weeks before leaving town until January 6, 2026. The House and Senate calendars for 2026 have come out, front loaded with a lot of time in Washington. One notable difference between the two calendars is that the Senate is slated to be in session the final week of January and the House is not. This is notable because the most recent government funding deal, signed by President Trump on November 11, 2026, had an extension of government funding to January 30th. While these calendars can change, at least for the time being, this is setting up yet another interesting government funding debate.
This week the House is focusing on a bill to set a national framework for how colleges can proceed with Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) agreements while the Senate continues to process executive branch nominations. Next week, it is possible that the House will take up the National Defense Authorization Act, or the NDAA, that sets spending limits and initiates new programs for the Pentagon. There is some controversy surrounding the NDAA, namely a federal preemption of state AI laws and a provision that would require the FBI to notify Congress when investigations into federal candidates are opened by the agency. Lastly, the Senate is currently working through their version of a “minibus” appropriations package that consists of 5 appropriations bills, all under the shadow of Senate Majority Leader John Thune saying the Senate might not have enough time to pass before Christmas departure.
While these issues are currently occupying the bandwidth of the Members, conservatives are still hoping for action on a key set of issues. One of the major issues, healthcare, remains a concern for conservatives. Liberals in the House are pushing a “discharge petition” that would extend the premium Obamacare credits, which expire at the end of December. As conservative Congressman Byron Donalds recently posted on X, “Obamacare is not affordable. Obamacare has never worked. The reality is: Obamacare was ALWAYS designed to create Single-Payer, Government-Run Healthcare…”
Conservative Congressman Andy Harris, who is the Chairman of the House Freedom Caucus, went on “Mornings with Maria” to further this point. Chairman Harris said, “...we go into the new year and then really deal with the problem of how the healthcare system does not work and is unaffordable for Americans and to a large extent because of Obamacare and resulting policies.”
ICYMI…
Sincerely,
Hugh Fike
Senior Director, CP Academy
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