This week: Congress returns to debate Venezuela, spending, health

Niels Lesniewski, CQ-Roll Call on Jan 5, 2026

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

WASHINGTON — Congress returns from its holiday recess this week, and President Donald Trump’s use of military force to extricate Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro is sure to take center stage in Washington.

Democrats criticized the U.S. military action that took place overnight Jan. 2, warning of broader consequences in the region and beyond.

“Let me be clear: Nicolás Maduro is an illegitimate dictator. But launching military action without congressional authorization and without a credible plan for what comes next is reckless,” Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., said in a statement.

“The administration has assured me three separate times that it was not pursuing regime change or taking military action in Venezuela,” Schumer said. “Clearly, they are not being straight with Americans.”

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Sunday that there was no need to get the legislative branch on board for the operation, in which U.S. forces captured Maduro in Venezuela and flew him to New York to be indicted.

“This was not an action that required congressional approval. In fact, it couldn’t require congressional approval, because this was not an invasion. This was not an extended military operation,” Rubio said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “This was a very precise operation that involved a couple of hours of action.”

Rubio, who is also the acting national security adviser, was among the officials monitoring the action with Trump this weekend at Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s South Florida home and commercial resort. At a news conference Saturday morning, Trump said the United States would “run” Venezuela.

Congressional briefings are expected throughout the week, and there will likely also be calls for public testimony from Rubio and other senior administration officials.

Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., said that there would be additional votes upcoming to respond to Trump’s actions.

The Senate is already poised to vote this week on a resolution that would block U.S. military action within or against Venezuela unless authorized by Congress, Kaine told reporters.

It could be the latest of several so far ill-fated attempts to assert congressional prerogatives.

Separately, Trump is scheduled to address House Republicans during a Tuesday gathering at the Kennedy Center. (The performing arts center itself has recently come under fire for adding Trump’s name to its signage, despite the institution’s name being codified by law.)

The House picks up the second session of the 119th Congress with a Tuesday evening quorum call, and the Republican majority intends to bring up legislation regarding showerhead water flow and energy efficiency standards for manufactured housing.

Republicans may also bring up additional appropriation bills for fiscal 2026, with less than a month before the expiration of the current continuing resolution. House lawmakers on Sunday were putting the finishing touches on bipartisan, bicameral versions of the fiscal 2026 Commerce-Justice-Science, Energy-Water and Interior-Environment spending bills

House members may also vote on overriding Trumps’s first two vetoes of his second term, which happened just before Christmas. The White House on Dec. 29 issued veto messages regarding the two previously noncontroversial tribal and water bills.

But Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., may not have full control of the week’s schedule. Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., has the signatures he needs for a discharge petition that would force a vote on a measure that would revive for three years expanded health care subsidy payments under the Affordable Care Act.

Senators were talking about the path forward for the subsidies during the holiday break, and they are expected to meet further as early as this week.

Other business will immediately occupy the Senate floor, however.

Additional Trump nominees could get confirmation votes this week, following the large batch of confirmations at the end of the December session.

The nominations of Joshua Simmons to be general counsel of the CIA, Alexander Van Hook to be a federal judge in Louisiana and Sara Bailey to lead the Office of National Drug Control Policy all started through the floor process before the holiday break, with an agreement to hold confirmation votes when the Senate returns.

There are also pending at least two more disapproval resolutions under the Congressional Review Act’s expedited procedures. One seeks to stop a Trump administration rule regarding the Affordable Care Act marketplaces, while the other would block an EPA rule.

----------

—John M. Donnelly and Aidan Quigley contributed to this report.