U.S. Congress Will Have Several Domestic, Foreign Policy Matters To Tackle In Early 2026

Members of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives returned to Washington, D.C. last week. Lawmakers reconvened in the wake of significant upheaval across the globe. As The Associated Press reported, U.S. President Donald Trump and top Iranian officials exchanged “dueling threats … as widening protests swept across parts” of Iran while leaders from Ukraine and Russia continued to discuss peace plans and the U.S. military seized Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, and brought them to the United States to stand trial for drug charges.

The developments aboard, particularly when it comes to next steps for U.S. involvement in Venezuela, are expected to take up a significant amount of federal lawmakers’ time over the coming weeks. (To help industrial metals company leaders stay on top of global development, the Metals Service Center Institute will welcome geopolitical strategist Peter Zeihan to its 2026 Steel Conference. Click here to register for the March 2026 event.)

But foreign policy matters are hardly the only thing on the Congress’s agenda. Lawmakers also will look to approve a fiscal year 2026 funding bill to cover most federal agencies, programs, and operations. (Funding will expire on Jan. 31 otherwise.) To that end, as Punchbowl reported, last week a bipartisan group of congressional leaders and appropriators released a funding deal that would cover several agencies, including the U.S. Departments of Commerce, Energy, Justice, and the Interior. Punchbowl said the “package is on track for passage over the next few weeks” even though it largely “rejects major spending cuts the White House had sought.” Indeed, U.S. House lawmakers gave their approval to the bill late last week.

The U.S. Senate must now act, and it is so far unclear when that vote might happen. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), and the top Democratic appropriators Sen. Patty Murray (Wash.) and Rep. Rosa DeLauro (Conn.), all support the nearly $180 billion package.