A bust of a week in the House

IN THIS EDITION

Congress is woefully behind on spending

Epstein mess freezes the House — again

Where could the House GOP redistrict next?

The Vault: Democrats’ uphill IRS fight

THE TOP

Congress is woefully behind on spending

Happy Tuesday morning.

This week is shaping up to be a bust in the House. Speaker Mike Johnson’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein situation has frozen the chamber. Much more on this below.

For now, we’re going to talk about another mess Republicans have on their hands – FY2026 government funding.

With the August recess around the corner, the appropriations process is badly behind schedule. The House has approved a paltry two spending bills, both on a mostly party-line vote. By this time in 2024, the House had cleared five bills.

The Senate is spending all of this week — maybe longer — passing the Military Construction-Veterans Affairs bill. It’s usually one of the easiest of the 12 annual spending packages, but there’s no guarantee it’ll pass this year. The first procedural vote is today.

GOP congressional leaders and the White House made the decision early this year to focus on reconciliation and One Big Beautiful Bill. This took all their time and attention through July 4, pushing appropriations to the back burner.

Then Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune pivoted to passing a $9 billion rescissions package despite Democratic warnings that this could sink any potential spending deal. Republicans went ahead anyway, and the White House promised more rescissions packages to come, further angering Democrats.

So now, with just 70 days until government agencies run out of money, a CR is pretty much guaranteed. A shutdown is a real possibility, although no one wants to take the blame for causing it.

The leaders. The Republican leadership has no choice but to be optimistic in these types of situations. But their demeanor is telling.

Johnson, who came into the speakership saying he wouldn’t govern by CRs, said he’s “optimistic” because the House Appropriations Committee will have passed 10 of the 12 bills by the end of this week.

But when we reminded him that only two were approved by the full House heading into the August recess, Johnson downplayed it.

“Everyone is still in a good favorable mood about it,” Johnson said, before saying, “I’ll take that.”

Thune — who promised to put funding bills on the floor during his leadership race last year — acknowledged Monday that passing all 12 bills as the basis for a government funding deal probably isn’t going to happen.

“It’d be great if we could. But it would take a high level of cooperation. So we’ll see,” Thune told us.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, hammered by his party after supporting a CR deal in March, isn’t showing his hand yet. He hit Thune on Monday for touting bipartisanship while jamming through the rescissions package over Democratic objections.

“The Republican leader is talking a bit out of both sides of his mouth,” Schumer said. “[Thune’s] words and his actions are a complete contradiction. He can’t have it both ways.”

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries has it easy. Nearly all his members will vote no on everything.

Schumer and Jeffries will huddle today with appropriations expected to be a key topic, Democratic sources said.

The appropriators. There may be no more prideful group in Congress than appropriators. Traditionally, their self worth is tied up in passing the 12 annual bills. But that “good and favorable” mood that Johnson referred to isn’t evident.

“We’re on the clock, so we have a little clock problem, a calendar problem,” said Rep. Steve Womack (R-Ark.), who chairs the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development subcommittee.

Rep. Andy Harris (R-Md.), chair of the House Freedom Caucus and the cardinal on the Agriculture subcommittee, said he would be fine with a year-long CR, although he also wants earmarks for his own projects. CR’s traditionally don’t have those.

“I have no problem with a year-long CR,” Harris said, uttering words that would make an old-school appropriator shudder. “It keeps spending at current levels, it doesn’t increase spending.” Of course, those spending levels were put in place under former President Joe Biden.

House Appropriations Committee Chair Tom Cole (R-Okla.) said his panel is “moving a lot of product” even though they “lost a week” of time in session.

The Senate. Today is an important test of Democrats’ appetite for cooperation with Republicans in the spending wars. Thanks to the filibuster, Republicans need Democratic help to pass anything.

Democrats will discuss potential strategies during their caucus lunch. Some Democrats believe it’s a mistake to block a popular bill that benefits veterans and service members. Sen. Patty Murray (Wash.), the top Democratic appropriator, told us she expects to support the procedural vote.

The MilCon-VA bill cleared the committee with bipartisan support, 26-3. But if Democrats vote no — either today or later in the process — it could foreshadow a shutdown.

“I want to pass strong bipartisan bills to provide the basis for negotiations with the House,” said Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), an appropriator. “But a lot of trust has been lost through the rescissions process.”

Some Republicans agree. Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), an appropriator, acknowledged Democrats’ concerns about trust. But he said a CR would be a worse outcome because it gives even more latitude to the White House.

“Are [Democrats] willing to give up an appropriations process as a protest knowing full well that a continuing resolution works to the advantage of an administration because there’s less congressional input available?” Rounds said.

We have a new House Homeland Security chair. Rep. Andrew Garbarino (R-N.Y.) bested Reps. Clay Higgins (R-La.), Carlos Gimenez (R-Fla.) and Michael Guest (R-Miss.) to win the nod of the House Republican Steering Committee to be the next Homeland Security chair.

— Jake Sherman, Samantha Handler, Andrew Desiderio, Max Cohen and John Bresnahan

TODAY! We’re sitting down with Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) at 9:30 a.m. ET. Join Punchbowl News Technology Reporter Ben Brody and Markey as they discuss the news of the day and online safety for kids. There’s still time to RSVP!

THE SPEAKER

Epstein mess freezes the House — again

Speaker Mike Johnson may as well send the House home today. In fact, they probably should’ve taken the week off.

The House Rules Committee, the speaker-controlled panel charged with shaping legislation for the floor, is completely frozen after hardline Republicans refused to vote for any rules this week.

The crux of the issue is this: Democrats on the House Rules Committee keep putting up amendments to force the Trump administration to release whatever information it has on disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, including his ties to President Donald Trump.

Trump and Epstein were close for years but had a falling out in 2004, four years before Epstein pleaded guilty to state prostitution charges, including soliciting minors. The Wall Street Journal recently reported that Trump sent Epstein a “bawdy” birthday card in 2003. Trump denies that and is suing the WSJ for $10 billion over the report.

The House GOP leadership expects Rules Republicans to hold the line and vote against these amendments to prevent them from reaching the House floor. But Republicans on the panel — and the House at large — don’t want to vote no because they’re then accused of helping hide the truth about Epstein.

Last week, Johnson had the same problem. His solution was to push a non-binding resolution through the committee and then never put it for a vote on the House floor. We said this was a bit of a confounding move at the time because it actually gave an opening for the Epstein saga to continue, not shut it down or provide an off-ramp for nervous GOP lawmakers.

Johnson said Monday that he had no plans to put the resolution up for a vote before the August recess. This only made things worse.

Rules Republicans refused to pass a rule through the committee. And if they had advanced the rule, it would’ve failed on the House floor, according to multiple GOP lawmakers familiar with the conference dynamics.

“It’s just grandstanding with [Democrats],” said Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.), a member of Rules who voted for an Epstein amendment last week.

Norman added: “We voted down the amendments last week. … They’re going to try to demagogue this thing just because they hate Trump. … The time has passed for that. … We’re just not prepared to give [Democrats] an endless microphone when they know what they’re doing is just grandstanding.”

In many ways, this is a direct rebuke of Johnson’s handling of the Epstein situation. He’s caught between a House Republican Conference that wants to see the Epstein materials released and a vengeful president who seems to want nothing to do with revisiting the sordid episode after stoking related conspiracies for years.

Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) has drafted a discharge petition with Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna (Calif.) calling on the Justice Department to release all its Epstein-related materials. Ten House Republicans have signed on as co-sponsors of the measure. While it hasn’t formally “ripened” as a discharge petition — meaning Massie and Khanna can’t force a floor vote yet on the issue — Massie guarantees that it will pass if and when it does get taken up.

Massie also had harsh words for Johnson’s handling of the Epstein scandal.

“I think this is the referendum on [Johnson’s] leadership,” said Massie, who has been a frequent critic of the speaker.

The GOP conference meeting should be interesting this morning.

– Jake Sherman and John Bresnahan

REDISTRICTING WARS

Where could the House GOP redistrict next?

The redistricting wars are ramping up.

Texas is expected to release its proposed new congressional map imminently. Ohio is required by law to redistrict before 2026. And President Donald Trump teased last week that “three or four or five” other states could redraw.

Republicans left seats on the table during the last redistricting. GOP-controlled legislatures can attempt new maps now, but it will be easier in some states than in others.

Here are the top places to watch.

Missouri. This is perhaps the easiest place for the GOP to gain a seat. Republicans in Jefferson City are already discussing a new map that would give them seven of the state’s eight districts — and the White House is on board, according to sources familiar with the process. In 2022, Missouri lawmakers drew a map that elected six Republicans and two Democrats over the vehement objections of some in the GOP.

The Kansas City-based seat of Democratic Rep. Emanuel Cleaver isn’t protected by the Voting Rights Act. Republicans could end Cleaver’s congressional tenure by cracking Kansas City.

Florida. Twenty of the state’s 28 districts are GOP-held. Some Republicans believe they could squeeze even more out of a new map, thanks to the rapid political transformation in South Florida since 2020. Democratic Reps. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Jared Moskowitz and Lois Frankel could be in the danger zone there.

Other possible targets: Rep. Kathy Castor in Tampa and Darren Soto in the Orlando area. GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis has already proven aggressive when it comes to redistricting. His decision to doom former Democratic Rep. Al Lawson in 2022 was just upheld by the Florida Supreme Court.

New Hampshire. Former GOP Gov. Chris Sununu vetoed a map passed by Republican majorities in the state’s legislature that would have made Democratic Rep. Chris Pappas’ district more winnable.

Sununu’s successor, Republican Gov. Kelly Ayotte, sounded skeptical about mid-decade redistricting in late 2024. But if Ayotte gets on board, there are Republicans in the legislature who would love to push their preferred map. It doesn’t hurt that Pappas is leaving the House.

Beyond these states, it gets much more difficult, but not impossible, for Republicans to push new maps.

Kansas. The state constitution has no explicit ban on mid-decade redistricting for congressional maps. Republicans could split up Kansas City to complicate reelection for Democratic Rep. Sharice Davids.

Republicans have the ability to override a veto of a map from Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly. But the state legislature isn’t in session again until 2026, and Kelly isn’t likely to call a special session for redistricting.

Kentucky. Republicans declined to crack Louisville in 2022 even though the GOP majorities could override a veto from Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear. It’d be tough to do so now. Kentucky’s legislature also isn’t in session. Plus, the Kentucky Supreme Court court could very well side with Democrats on a legal challenge.

Indiana. The GOP left Democratic Rep. Frank Mrvan’s district in the northwest corner of the state intact during the last redistricting. Republicans could carve it up now but it would look gnarly. It’s not clear if Republican Gov. Mike Braun or the legislature have the appetite.

Nebraska. Republicans could shore up retiring GOP Rep. Don Bacon’s Omaha-based seat. They control the unicameral legislature and technically have the votes to overcome a Democratic filibuster. The problem here is that some moderate Republicans might not go along with it.

– Ally Mutnick and Jake Sherman

The Vault: Democrats’ uphill IRS fight

Democrats are facing yet another bruising battle over IRS funding this fall, pushing back against Republicans who are dug in on slashing the tax-collecting agency’s budget.

With funding cuts to fight on many fronts, Democrats say the IRS remains a priority. But ever since Democrats gave the IRS an extra $80 billion to go after tax evaders three years ago, Republicans have pushed back by slashing the agency’s budget and workforce.

The FY2026 FSGG spending bill House Republicans marked up Monday night underscores the scale of the fight ahead. It would cut the IRS budget by $2.8 billion.

Plus, IRS funding isn’t the most straightforward of Democrats’ budget fights. Rep. Steny Hoyer (Md.), the top Democrat on the House Appropriations panel that oversees the IRS, said it’s “not something that everybody wants to go home and sell.” But Hoyer added that members want to spend the revenue that the IRS brings in thanks to its budget.

“It’s not a sexy subcommittee,” Hoyer said. “The Treasury Department — who stays awake at night dreaming about the Treasury Department? But it’s critical.”

IRS messaging. To make the case for IRS funds, Democrats are putting a new spin on their arguments amid the GOP campaign to cut government spending.

“[Republican] colleagues who are talking about spending — this is a revenue problem. We’re leaving that money on the table,” House Appropriations Committee Ranking Member Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) said.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) framed efforts to cut the IRS budget as aligned with Republicans’ focus in the One Big Beautiful Bill, which slashed spending on Medicaid and SNAP. Democrats are making those cuts a focus of their campaign strategy ahead of the midterms.

On how the IRS funding issue can be a winning one for his party, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) said that Americans “understand the implications of following the money.”

— Laura Weiss, Brendan Pedersen and Samantha Handler

THE MONEY GAME

News: Jasmeet Bains, a Democratic state assemblywoman running against Rep. David Valadao (R-Calif.), has raised $175,000 since launching her campaign last week. The DCCC has long tried to knock off Valadao in his Central Valley swing district.

Arizona news: Jonathan Nez, the former Navajo Nation president, is launching a rematch against GOP Rep. Eli Crane in Arizona’s 2nd District.

Democrats have made Crane a target for the 2026 cycle, although Nez lost to Crane by nine points in November.

Crane’s district favors Republicans, but Democrats hope to attack the incumbent as too extreme. Crane is a member of the House Freedom Caucus and was targeted by former Speaker Kevin McCarthy last cycle.

– Max Cohen and Mica Soellner

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