President Donald Trump, right, shakes hands with House Speaker Mike Johnson after signing his signature bill of tax breaks and spending cuts at the White House on Friday, July 4, 2025 in Washington, D.C. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
But we’ll focus on a few that are important to the GOP – and could make headlines.
The first big project comes next week. A "rescissions" bill is due in the Senate. A "rescission" is a request by the administration to cancel spending that Congress had already appropriated. Congress approved an interim spending bill in March to avoid a government shutdown, but a few months later, White House Budget Director Russ Vought sent a "rescissions" request to Congress. Vought hoped to claw back $9.4 trillion in spending for USAID and public broadcasting.
BIDEN'S DOCTOR ARRIVES FOR CLOSED-DOOR INTERVIEW IN HOUSE HEALTH PROBE
South Dakota Sen. Mike Rounds was a panelist for the inaugural Reagan National Economic Forum in California. (Getty Images)
"Looking at radio stations in some of the rural areas that do a lot of emergency services," said Rounds.
Without question, the biggest challenge facing Congress this fall – and next fall – is funding the government and avoiding a shutdown. Congress managed to avoid a shutdown in March – simply renewing all existing funding at the levels dictated by the Democrat-controlled Congress last year, and signed off by former President Biden. The only reason they avoided a shutdown was because Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., decided a shutdown was a worse option.
So Schumer and several Democrats voted to assist the GOP overcome a filibuster – and keep the government lights burning.
Democrats railed against Schumer for essentially helping bail out Republicans and getting nothing in return. Some called on him to step aside. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., and other Democrats seethed at Schumer’s maneuver.
House Speaker Mike Johnson. (Ting Shen)
What’s the magic potion for funding the government on time this year?
Well, the question is whether Johnson can again keep his coalition together and convince conservatives to approve yet another interim spending measure. And, since it’s about the math, they absolutely must have assistance from Schumer and Senate Democrats to avoid a filibuster yet again.
Some of this will boil down to what President Trump wants. The easy path is simply re-upping the old Biden/Democrats’ money (again) for a short period and then hammering out a broader spending pact later in the fall or before Christmas. But that doesn’t change the numbers in the House and Senate.
And guess what? They have to do this all again by Oct. 1, 2026.
House Oversight and Accountability Committee Chair James Comer speaks during a news conference. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
But we’ve been down this road before. Edith Wilson practically acted as president after Woodrow Wilson suffered a stroke.
The press corps was complicit in hiding the physical condition of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt in the 1930s and 1940s.
Addressing a future impaired executive is a worthy exercise, but gazing backwards may be problematic for the GOP. Republicans don’t really have a good Democratic foil right now. Biden provides that. And so while the GOP focused on investigating the Bidens in 2023 and 2024, they’re going back to the same well again. It also doesn’t hurt Republicans politically to find out what former Vice President Kamala Harris knew. Same with former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. Both are flirting with a 2028 presidential bid.
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This comprises much of the agenda for lawmakers over the coming months. The midterms will be here soon enough. Most anything else will likely pale in comparison to the Big, Beautiful Bill. And with the touchstone of President Trump’s agenda now signed into law, Democrats are now determining how to weaponize it against Republicans in the fall of 2026.
Most of the legislative agenda is in the books.
So what do they do now?
Campaign.
Chad Pergram currently serves as a senior congressional correspondent for FOX News Channel (FNC). He joined the network in September 2007 and is based out of Washington, D.C.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/republicans-navigate-post-victory-agenda-after-trumps-big-beautiful-bill-becomes-law