6 things to watch during Congress's September sprint

Congress returns Sept. 9 for a three-week sprint, during which lawmakers will face key legislative deadlines and work to push their political messages before departing again for campaign season.

Political pressure and considerations could complicate how Congress addresses must-pass items.

The legislative dash will also be a prime time for lawmakers to push messages that aid their parties ahead of the November election.

Here are six items to watch in Congress this September.

Government funding 

Government funding for fiscal 2024 expires Sept. 30, and virtually no one expects Congress will come to an agreement on funding for 2025 by that deadline. The Senate has passed zero regular funding bills, and while the House has passed partisan versions of more than half of the 12 regular funding bills, intraparty squabbling has stopped others from passing on the House floor.

Attention is now turning to what the terms will be for a continuing resolution (CR) to fund the government at current levels to avoid a government shutdown and buy Congress more time.

One consideration is the length of a continuing resolution. Hard-line conservatives in the House Freedom Caucus are pushing for a stopgap to extend into 2025, with the thought that doing so could avoid a massive end-of-year omnibus negotiated primarily by party leaders. That could also give Republicans a chance of getting more influence over funding levels if they win the House, Senate, and White House.

Other Republicans prefer starting 2025 with a clean slate, arguing that even if former President Trump wins, he will not want to be distracted by a funding fight in his first months back in office.

Also at issue is a Freedom Caucus push to pair a CR with the SAVE Act, a bill to expand proof-of-citizenship requirements for voter registration that passed the House earlier this year, but that the Democratic-controlled Senate and White House oppose. Doing so would be an attempt to try to either force Democratic action on the matter, or to use it as a negotiation item for other matters like length of a stopgap.

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) has not yet indicated what kind of structure he prefers for a stopgap package, but said he is considering all options.

Veterans Affairs funding shortfall

In addition to the funding deadline, Congress has until Sept. 20 to address a roughly $3 billion budget shortfall for the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Republican concerns about mismanagement of the agency have remained even as some senators hoped to expedite legislation to address the shortfall before the August recess.

If Congress does not act, veteran compensation and pension benefits, and readjustment benefits, could be delayed.

Democrats to dig in on Project 2025 messaging

House Democrats will use the weeks in session in part to dig in on their messaging against Project 2025 — the Heritage Foundation-led effort to suggest policy changes and personnel placements in a new conservative administration, which it would expect to be the Trump administration. 

Despite Trump’s disavowal of the project and his opposition to some of its policy ideas, Project 2025 — created by former Trump administration officials and allies — has become a main source of Democratic attacks against him and Republicans.

Democrats have created a task force to oppose Project 2025, and are coordinating with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) on several Project 2025 forums on Capitol Hill.

Republicans center messaging on Harris and Walz

House Republicans have already started to shift their attacks and investigatory firepower from Biden to Vice President Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D). 

The House Oversight and Accountability Committee, for instance, has asked U.S. Customs and Border Protection for documents and communications with Harris about her work on immigration matters.

Republican press materials have also upped their usage of the “Biden-Harris administration” rather than “Biden administration” since Harris became the nominee.

Republicans aimed to put the focus on Harris and Walz with their campaign trail events over the August recess, as well. Johnson held one event in Minneapolis, during which he accused Walz of “letting Minnesota burn” during the 2020 riots, also referencing a post from Harris on the social platform X in 2020 asking for donations to a fund that bailed out those arrested during the protests and riots that sprung up in the wake of George Floyd’s killing.

Expect to see more focus from Republicans on Harris and Walz when they return to Congress.

Biden impeachment wildcard

Although there is little appetite among most House Republicans to impeach Biden even after an impeachment inquiry report accused him of engaging in impeachable conduct, there is the possibility that a member acts alone to force a vote on impeachment articles in the House.

No members have indicated they will actually take that step. But two members who have introduced impeachment resolutions — Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) and Greg Steube (R-Fla). — expressed a desire to see action on the matter after the report was released.

The report failed to uncover a smoking gun, relying on disputed testimony and circumstantial evidence that did not directly tie any official action from Biden to his family’s business dealings. Though it accused Biden of impeachable conduct, it did not recommend articles of impeachment.

Farm bill 

Authorizations passed in the large agricultural, food, and nutritional program bill technically expire Sept. 30, with those originally approved in the 2018 bill having been extended to the end of fiscal 2024 in a continuing resolution last year.

But consequences do not actually kick in until after Dec. 31, when dairy and commodity programs expire.

Still, the Sept. 30 deadline is likely to spur pushes from interest groups for Congress to address the farm bill, which is typically renewed every five years.

Updated at 5:26 p.m. EDT