By Thérèse Boudreaux
The Center Square

Congress faces a mountain of political challenges when it resumes session next week, including a potential government shutdown, a health care affordability crisis, and the ongoing release of the Epstein files.

U.S. lawmakers left town for the holidays after passing only three of the 12 appropriations bills funding federal agencies in fiscal year 2026.

Most sectors of government are still running off of fiscal year 2024 funding, as Congress resorted to passing four consecutive Continuing Resolutions keeping funding levels static, rather than complete the regular-order appropriations process.

With the current CR expiring Jan. 30, lawmakers have less than a month to finish the remaining nine bills or pass yet another CR, otherwise, the government will partially shut down.

There is little appetite on the Hill for a shutdown, as the most recent lasted a record-long 43 days. The government ran out of funding Oct. 1, 2025, when Democrats refused to vote for the fourth CR due because it failed to include an extension of the enhanced Obamacare subsidies.

After six weeks of holding out, enough Democrats voted to reopen the government by passing the CR, additionally passing three of the appropriations bills in the form of a minibus.

Progress, however, stopped there. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., does intend to hold a vote on a five-bill appropriations minibus as soon as lawmakers return, but he’s already receiving pushback over certain earmarks.

Over in the House, Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., will have to handle the still raging fight over health care policy, including the now-expired enhancement of Obamacare Premium Tax Credits that many lawmakers want to reinstate.

Even if such legislation passes the lower chamber, it will almost certainly fail in the Senate, which already tanked a proposal to extend the subsidies. And given Democrats’ opposition to House Republicans’ alternative policies, any health care bill that does not include the subsidies will also fail to break the Senate filibuster.

On top of meeting the tight government funding deadline and addressing rising health care prices, the Republican majority must also continue doing damage control with the Epstein files.

The Department of Justice says it still has up to a million more files to release related to the now-deceased sex trafficker Jeffery Epstein after Congress mandated it make all Epstein-related files public. Some of the files seem to implicate President Donald Trump, though the DOJ says the allegations are “unfounded.”

Both parties will likely continue using the files, which also reference high-profile Democrats like former president Bill Clinton, as a political football going into the new year.