Good Thursday evening. In this edition: House approves ACA subsidies extension, fails to override Trump vetoes; Senate approves Venezuela war powers resolution; and Rep. Steny Hoyer announces retirement.
Plus, Minneapolis shooting, Minnesota fraud, Colombia, White House and Gabby Giffords.
Health Care, Vetoes & Funding
The House approved a three-year extension of the enhanced Affordable Care Act (ACA) tax credits that expired at the end of December and were at the center of last year's record-long government shutdown.
The vote was 230–196, with 17 Republicans joining all Democrats in support.
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) had sought to keep the legislation off the floor for months, but his hand ultimately was forced when four swing-district Republicans joined a Democratic discharge petition just before the holiday break to bring the bill to the floor.
The measure was then advanced in a 221–205 vote on Monday, with nine Republicans joining all Democrats in favor.
Discharge petitions are a procedural tool that allows House members to circumvent majority leadership and force a floor vote if a majority of members sign on.
They have rarely been successful, but Republicans' narrow majority, coupled with internal divisions, has led to several petitions reaching the 218-signature threshold this Congress.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) took a victory lap after the bill was approved, calling it a "decisive victory for the American people."
"The cynics said it was impossible to do," he told reporters. "But where I'm from, difficult takes a day, impossible takes a week."
The legislation is unlikely to advance in the Senate, though a bipartisan group of senators says it is close to a deal on a compromise health care bill.
Language governing the use of federal funding for abortion reportedly remains a key sticking point, but President Trump on Monday urged Republican lawmakers to be "flexible on this."
The House also failed to override two vetoes President Trump issued in the waning days of 2025, with both votes falling short of the two-thirds threshold.
Lawmakers voted 248–177 to override the veto of a bill easing payments for a water pipeline in southeastern Colorado, with 35 Republicans joining all Democrats.
They also voted 236–188 on another bill expanding the Miccosukee Tribe's reserved land in the Florida Everglades, with 24 Republicans joining Democrats.
President Trump vetoed the bipartisan measures last week despite both having sailed through Congress by voice vote and unanimous consent.
He said the Colorado bill would "continue the failed policies of the past by forcing Federal taxpayers to bear even more of the massive costs of a local water project" and that the tribal bill would have benefited "special interests."
Some lawmakers have alleged the president vetoed the previously uncontroversial measures as political retribution.
Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) suggested it could have been retaliation for her signing the Epstein files discharge petition despite an intense White House lobbying campaign.
President Trump also accused the Miccosukee Tribe of standing in the way of "reasonable immigration policies" by opposing the Alligator Alcatraz detention facility.
Finally, in a busy day, the House overwhelmingly approved a three-bill appropriations package in a 397–28 vote as the Jan. 30 deadline to fund the remainder of the federal government approaches.
The package would fund the Justice Department, Commerce Department and key science agencies; the Energy Department and water development projects; and the Interior Department, EPA and related agencies.
The funding billsnow head to the Senate. If approved in the upper chamber, Congress will be halfway through the 12 annual appropriations bills for FY 2026.
If lawmakers cannot pass the remaining six bills in time, a continuing resolution (CR) will be needed to avert a partial government shutdown.
The Senate voted 52–47 to advance a war powers resolution aimed at blocking the Trump administration from taking further military action in Venezuela without explicit congressional approval.
Five Republican senators joined all Democrats on the procedural vote: Sens. Susan Collins (ME), Josh Hawley (MO), Lisa Murkowski (AK), Rand Paul (KY) and Todd Young (IN).
President Trump then blasted the Republicans who broke ranks, saying they "should never be elected to office again."
"Republicans should be ashamed of the Senators that just voted with Democrats in attempting to take away our Powers to fight and defend the United States of America," he wrote on Truth Social.
"This Vote greatly hampers American Self Defense and National Security, impeding the President's Authority as Commander in Chief. In any event, and despite their 'stupidity,' the War Powers Act is Unconstitutional, totally violating Article II of the Constitution, as all Presidents, and their Departments of Justice, have determined before me."
Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) introduced the resolution in December following reports of a U.S. "double tap" strike on a suspected drug-smuggling boat in the Caribbean, and the vote came days after the U.S. military captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
"None of us should want this president or any president taking our sons and daughters to war without notice, consultation, debate and vote in Congress," Sen. Kaine said after the vote.
"I applaud my Democratic colleagues, and I really applaud the number of Republicans who, with some urging by Sen. Paul in our discussions, got on board."
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), a prominent defense hawk, echoed the Trump administration's viewpoint that the War Powers Act of 1973 was "patently unconstitutional."
"Today's vote in the U.S. Senate on the Venezuela War Powers Resolution was a gift to our enemies, will encourage more bad behavior in Venezuela and it is an unconstitutional attempt to restrict the power of the Commander in Chief," he wrote on social media.
"Throughout my political career I have been consistent on the idea that under the U.S. Constitution, there is only one Commander in Chief and that is the President. I've always rejected the idea that the U.S. Constitution allows Congress to replace the President's judgement as Commander in Chief in matters of military force."
Nevertheless, the test vote indicates there is sufficient support in the Senate to ultimately pass the resolution, a step expected to occur next week.
The measure would still need approval from the House and the signature of President Trump, who has threatened to veto it.
Prior to the vote, the New York Times published an interview with President Trump in which he said he expected the U.S. to be running Venezuela and extracting its oil for "much longer" than a year.
He also said the country's interim leaders, who were previously part of the Maduro regime, were "giving us everything that we feel is necessary."
Maryland Rep. Steny Hoyer, the longest-serving Democrat in the House, announced he will retire at the end of his current term, bringing a six-decade career in politics to a close.
"I make this decision with sadness, for I love this House, an institution the Framers designed to reflect the will of the American people and to serve as the guardian of their liberty and their democracy."
Rep. Hoyer described how seeing a speech by then-Sen. John F. Kennedy (D-MA) while he was a student at the University of Maryland in 1959 inspired him to change his major to political science and ultimately run for elective office.
After working on the staff of Sen. Daniel Brewster (D-MD), alongside future Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Mr. Hoyer was elected to the Maryland State Senate in 1966, eventually becoming president of the chamber.
He won a special election in 1981 to represent Maryland's 5th District, a seat he would hold for the remainder of his House career.
Rep. Hoyer joined Democratic leadership in 1989 and eventually rose to the No. 2 position in the caucus under Rep. Pelosi, serving twice as majority leader.
He and Rep. Pelosi stepped down from leadership at the start of the 118th Congress, clearing the way for a new slate of Democratic leaders.
In his retirement speech, Rep. Hoyer warned that he feared the country was "heading not toward greatness, but towards smallness, pettiness, divisiveness."
"At the outset, I said that I spoke with reluctant conviction. That reluctance is because I am deeply concerned that this House is not living up to the Founders' goals," he said.
"I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to examine their conscience, renew their courage and carry out the responsibilities that the first article of the Constitution demands."
Vice President JD Vancedefended the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer who fatally shot a woman in Minneapolis and criticized news coverage of the incident. "This was an attack on federal law enforcement. This was attack on law and order. This was an attack on the American people," he told reporters at the White House. "The way that the media, by and large, has reported this story has been an absolute disgrace and it puts our law enforcement officers at risk every single day." The vice president went on to disparage the woman who was shot, claiming she was part of a "broader left-wing network" that uses "domestic terror techniques" to target federal agents.
Democratic congressional leaders, on the other hand, condemned the shooting, calling it an "abomination" and a "disgrace." "Blood is clearly on the hands of those individuals within the administration who've been pushing an extreme policy that has nothing to do with immigration enforcement connected to removing violent felons from this country," House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) said. "There's no evidence at all that this was a justified shooting." Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) called for a full investigation. "Looking at the video, there seemed no justification for what these agents did," he said.
Vice President JD Vance also announced the creation of a new assistant attorney general position to combat fraud amid the scandal in Minnesota. "Those programs should go to American citizens, not be defrauded by Somali immigrants and others to make it hard for you to get access to the resources you need," he said. The VP said the new position will operate out of the White House under his supervision and that of President Trump. He said a nominee will be announced soon and that Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) has promised a swift confirmation process. "We know that the fraud isn't just happening in Minneapolis. It's also happening in states like Ohio. It's happening in states like California," the VP said.
President Trump has seemingly backed off his threats against Colombia following a phone call with the country's leader, Gustavo Petro, whom he had previously called a "drug leader" and warned to "better watch his ass." "It was a Great Honor to speak with the President of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, who called to explain the situation of drugs and other disagreements that we have had," President Trump wrote on social media. "I appreciated his call and tone, and look forward to meeting him in the near future."
After tearing down the East Wing to make way for a massive new ballroom, President Trump told the New York Times that he is considering building a second level on top of the colonnade that connects the West Wing to the main White House residence to be used as office space. He also said he is planning to tear up the brick walkways in Lafayette Park, across from the White House, and replacing them with granite.
Former Rep. Gabby Giffords (D-AZ) returned to the House floor, accompanied by her husband, Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ), on the 15th anniversary of the assassination attempt that resulted in permanent disability and cut her political career short. "House Democrats stand with Gabby and with all Americans who say 'enough is enough,'" House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) said as he pledged to prioritize gun control legislation if Democrats win the majority in the midterms.
For your radar…
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) and other senators hold a press conference at the U.S. southern border on Friday. Watch LIVE on C-SPAN2 at 10am ET.
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