Congress is returning to Washington this week amid deep divisions over the U.S.’s strike on Iranian nuclear facilities and the GOP’s “big, beautiful bill,” setting the stage for a high-stakes stretch on both the foreign and domestic policy fronts.
On Iran, lawmakers are at odds over whether the attack on the three nuclear facilities was the correct decision, and if President Trump was within his constitutional right to execute the effort without approval from Congress. Republicans have largely backed the move while most Democrats are criticizing it, though there are outliers on both sides of the aisle.
All senators are scheduled to receive a briefing on Iran on Tuesday afternoon, a source familiar with the matter told The Hill.
On the megabill, meanwhile, a divided GOP is entering a pivotal week for the legislation, which could make-or-break whether congressional leaders can meet their goal of enacting the sprawling package by July 4. Senate leaders are aiming to bring the legislation to the floor by midweek.
Also this week, the House is kicking off the government funding process for fiscal year 2026 with a vote on a bill to fund military construction, the Veterans Affairs Department and related agencies, the first in an effort that is poised to quickly become a fierce fight on Capitol Hill. And the lower chamber will vote on resolutions to condemn the protests in Los Angeles and the shootings of Minnesota state legislators earlier this month.
Congress returns to Washington after U.S. strike on Iran
The main topic of conversation on Capitol Hill this week is poised to be the U.S.’s Saturday strike on three nuclear facilities in Iran, which marked a significant escalation in the ongoing conflict between Israel and Iran.
Trump on Saturday, in his first public remarks after the attack, said Tehran’s “key nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated,” though senior officials on Sunday said they were unaware of the status of Iran’s stockpile of uranium. On Sunday, the president suggested he would support regime change in Iran.
An all-senators briefing on Iran is set for Tuesday afternoon, a gathering that was scheduled before the weekend strikes. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) has also called for a briefing, writing in a statement on Saturday: “Congress must be fully and immediately briefed in a classified setting.”
Reaction to the weekend offensive largely broke along party lines, with Democrats criticizing the decision to strike the nuclear facilities — and Trump’s decision to do it without formal approval from Capitol Hill — and Republicans lining up behind the move, arguing that he had the authority to carry it out as commander-in-chief.
There were, however, some vocal detractors.
In the GOP, Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), who had been pushing against U.S. intervention in the Middle East conflict, wrote on X after news of the strike broke: “This is not Constitutional.” He is teaming up with Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) on a War Powers Resolution to prohibit U.S. involvement in Iran. It remains unclear if they plan to force a vote on the measure.
On the Senate side, Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) has a War Powers Resolution that would require a debate and vote before the U.S. using military force against Iran. The Virginia Democrat told Punchbowl News he expects the upper chamber to vote on the legislation ahead of the July 4 recess.
Trump swiped back at Massie on Sunday, writing on Truth Social that “MAGA should drop this pathetic LOSER, Tom Massie, like the plague!” and vowing to campaign for a primary challenger.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) also came out against the strike but tried to walk a fine line to not directly criticize Trump, writing on X: “I can also support President Trump and his great administration on many of the great things they are doing while disagreeing on bombing Iran and getting involved in a hot war that Israel started.”
A handful of Democrats broke from the party to laud the strikes, including Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), who said the effort was “essential to preventing Iran from developing a nuclear weapon” — while arguing that the situation “became this dire” because Trump pulled out of the Iran nuclear deal — and Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.), who said “The world is safer because of the actions of our brave service members.”
The criticism on the Democratic side, meanwhile, was fierce, with several lawmakers calling the move “unconstitutional” and at least two — Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Sean Casten (D-Ill.) — said it was grounds for impeachment. Any attempt by Democrats to impeach Trump, however, would be doomed to fail since the party is in the minority in both chambers.
Senate GOP enters critical week for ‘big, beautiful bill’
Aside from the fallout from the strike on Iran, Senate Republicans this week will be focused on the party’s “big, beautiful bill,” with leaders hoping to kick off floor action as their self-imposed July 4 deadline fast approaches.
Top GOP senators are hoping to get the legislation on the floor by the middle of the week, but it remains unclear if the measure will have enough support to move through the chamber. Members continue to grapple with disagreements over Medicaid cuts, green-energy tax credits and the state and local tax (SALT) deduction cap.
Adding to those problems, the Senate Parliamentarian, Elizabeth MacDonough, made a series of rulings regarding the bill over the weekend that struck key provisions, threatening its coalition of support.
Among the biggest developments was a ruling against language to prevent immigrants who are not citizens or lawful permanent residents from receiving food assistance in accordance with the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), often referred to as food stamps. MacDonough also said a provision requiring states to pay for a certain percentage of food assistance under SNAP depending on those states’ error rates in delivering aid — which was a pay-for for the legislation — does not comply with budget reconciliation rules.
The latter proposal was a sticking point for Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Susan Collins (R-Maine), meaning its removal could help win over their support for the entire package. Losing the spending cut it was meant to provide, however, could open up criticism among conservatives.
MacDonough also struck a provision that sought to make it more difficult for courts to enforce contempt findings against the Trump administration, which had drawn criticism from some moderate Republicans.
The focus on the “big, beautiful bill” will be happening alongside conversations about the U.S. strike on three Iranian nuclear strikes. Conservatives are signaling, however, that even with conflict going on abroad, they are not ready to fold on their concerns with the megabill.
“No. If anything, it just strengthens my resolve,” Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), a noted critic of the bill, said on Fox News’s “Sunday Morning Futures” when asked if the Iranian strike changed his feelings on the bill.
House to kick off government funding process
The full House will begin the government funding process for fiscal year 2026, as the chamber considers the appropriations bill to fund military construction, the Veterans Affairs Department and related agencies, the first of 12 appropriations bills.
The House Rules Committee is scheduled to debate and vote to advance the legislation at 4 p.m. Monday, teeing it up for consideration on the floor. More than 70 amendments were submitted for consideration.
The 94-page bill allocates $453 billion in funding, according to Republicans on the House Appropriations Committee, including $18 billion for Pentagon military construction and family housing and $452.64 billion for the Veterans Affairs Department. The panel advanced the measure in a largely party-line 36-27 vote earlier this month.
This week’s vote on the legislation comes ahead of the Sept. 30 government funding deadline. Congress passed and Trump enacted a continuing resolution in March to keep the government funded through the end of fiscal year 2025 after lawmakers failed to come to an agreement on full-year funding bills.
With 11 more appropriations bills to consider in the House, all dozen needing votes in the Senate, and a bipartisan, bicameral top-line agreement nowhere in sight, the prospect of Congress needing to pass a stopgap when the Sept. 30 deadline arrives is becoming more and more likely.
That reality, however, would likely spark strong pushback from hardline conservatives, who abhor continuing resolutions and want to codify more of the cuts made by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in the first months of the Trump administration.
House resolutions condemning LA protests, Minnesota shootings
The House this week is scheduled to vote on a resolution condemning the protests that took place in Los Angeles this month in response to the arrest of immigrants in the city by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
The legislation — which is four pages long — ”recognizes the right to assemble and protest peacefully,” “condemns unequivocally the violence perpetrated” against law enforcement at all levels, calls on California leadership “to work with the Federal Government to end the violent riots and restore peace,” and “expresses gratitude” to law enforcement officers “for keeping our communities safe in the face of danger.”
The vote is poised to be an interesting one for Democrats who, when responding to the protests, tried to walk the fine line of expressing support for the First Amendment rights of those protesting while also being careful to not endorse violent actions.
Some of the language included, however, is likely to spark opposition: The measure says the protests turned into “violent riots” in Los Angeles, argues that “illegal aliens have perpetrated violence against law enforcement officers,” and claims that leadership in California “has prioritized protecting illegal immigrants and violent individuals over United States citizens.”
Beyond the actual protests, several Democrats were highly critical of the Trump administration’s intervention in the demonstrations. Trump activated 2,000 Natural Guard troops without receiving approval from California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) or Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass (D), who argued that bringing in the reinforcements would inflame tensions in the city. Afterwards, he sent hundreds of Marines.
Also this week, the House is set to vote on a resolution condemning the deadly shootings in Minnesota this month, which left Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman (D) and her husband, Mark, dead, and wounded state Sen. John Hoffman (D) and his wife, Yvette.
The three-page measure “strongly condemns” the attacks, honors the lives of the victims and law enforcement officers who responded, and “calls on all community leaders and elected officials to publicly and unequivocally denounce acts of political violence.”