America's Talking - Will Congress pull together a budget in January?

Episode Date: January 2, 2026

The Center Square staff discusses what to expect from Congress in 2026 Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Greetings, everyone, and welcome to America's Talking, powered by the Center Square. I'm Dan McCaleb, executive editor of the Center Square Newswire Service. Members of Congress return to Washington, D.C. next week, with a lot to get done. The continuing resolution that passed in November, ending the longest government shutdown in U.S. history, expires at the end of January, meaning large sectors of the federal government will yet again run out of funding without action. Congress has passed only three of 12, four-year funding bills. meeting they have more, nine more to finish in less than 30 days. Joining me to discuss this is the Center Square's congressional reporter, Teres Boudreau.

Terez, happy new year, looking like you're going to have a busy January. Yes, that's right. It was going to be a very busy January. Like you mentioned, the government funding is at top of mind for everyone. As you and I'm sure viewers remember, we had that 43-day-long government shutdown when the CR, continuing resolution to keep the federal government funded at current levels failed after Democrats rebelled due to concerns about expiring health care subsidies. And so they eventually agreed to help Republicans reopen the government. So they authorized VAT CR to continue funding

most of the federal agencies at current levels. And they did pass a minibus. Like you said, They passed three of the 12 appropriations bills, those full-year funding bills, to properly fund some agencies of the federal government. But the rest are operating on cruise control, as they have been for over a year at this point. And so that continuing resolution expires at the end of January. And so if lawmakers don't craft and fully pass and send to President Trump's desk, the nine remaining full-year funding bills, then either. the government shuts down or they pass yet another CR, which it would not be ideal for anybody. And I think that they're really hoping to avoid that. But again, the problem was that they have less than a month when they returned from their Christmas recess to get all of that

done to pass those nine remaining bills. And those are huge funding bills. So we'll see what happens there. That's definitely going to be something to follow. But there are other things happening as well. I mean, the Epstein files that are being, you know, released piece mail right now by the Department of Justice, that's going to bleed into the new year as well because they failed to make the deadline, at least fully meet the deadline. You know, they've released a bit over 100,000 at this point, or hundreds of thousands. And the Department of Justice said that there could be up to a million more. But it's going to take, you know, the coming weeks, right, to release all of them. And that, of course, has been dramatic, not least of all, because

there's been a lot of redactions that people are saying are necessary, that aren't following the edict that Congress gave them to release all these files about the sex trafficker and his associates without redacting names, if possible. And so then there also have been, over the coming days, some documents released, some files released, that the DOJ says, oh, these are false. So, for instance, there's a document that accused President Trump of participating in the sex trafficking of girls. And the DOJ said that that's false, but we're releasing it anyway because it's part of all the files we have related to Epstein. So, as you can imagine, this is fueling a lot of speculation, a lot of theories.

There are people who, you know, don't believe the claims. there are people who do, and, you know, many of the documents being released are useless or have already been released before, so it's not new information. So that's drama, but it's also happening on the Hill. And so the, and a huge thing, too, is just that a lot of people are becoming increasingly concerned with affordability. You know, not least of all health care, those Obamacare premium tax credits, the enhanced version of them from the COVID-19 pandemic, that's expiring as well very, very soon. And so a lot of people, millions of people are going to see their premiums rise. So that and then, as well as the fact that a lot of people are still seeing their grocery

prices high and Trump campaigned on affordability. And so now he and the Republican Party are really receiving a lot of heat for that. So we are definitely, there are a lot of things going into this new year that we're going to be watching and we're going to be covering. And that doesn't include all that does not include that 2026 is a midterm. election year. All 435 U.S. House seats are up as our 23 of 100 U.S. Senate seats, with Republicans holding the slimmest of majories in both chambers, the House and the Senate, control of Congress for the final two years of President Trump's second term are on the line. Primary season gets underway shortly after the first of the year, and then it's a long road to

November. Yes, that's right. And again, there are Trump. is in the Republican Party are leading on some things. In general, it seems most polls, although people are concerned about some of the excessive steps that are being taken, in general, the fact that he essentially closed the borders, which was such a problem under the previous administration, is popular with people in general in these polls that we're seeing. But also in general, again, affordability, huge concern for people. And so Democrats, excuse me, congressional Democrats are very much capitalizing off of that. Healthcare costs, which, again, in many sectors, including groceries and car payments are not lowering, they're rising.

And, you know, there's people attribute that to different things. Some say Trump's tariffs that are in effect. Some say that, oh, it's just, you know, left over from the Biden administration and we just need more time. But regardless of, you know, what reasons that are that are given, Republicans are, you know, they have a trifecta of power. They're in control of the House, the Senate, and the White House. And so ultimately, they're receiving a lot of the blowback for these problems that Americans are dealing with. And so Democrats have, you know, been a lot of, a lot of them going to the floor, campaigning, saying that Trump's not fulfilling his promise on affordability. So you should vote for us

in the midterms. And so that's a real, that's, you know, again, polls are contrasting and there's some things Republicans are leading. something Democrats are leading. But that's a real concern, a real issue for Republicans going into the midterms, especially in states where they might be more vulnerable, you know, or swing states or swing seats. And with the redistricting efforts in Texas, which are still, I believe, held up in court, whereas in California those passed. And so now there's some seats that are almost certainly going to flip Democrat. You know, it's not going to be a walk in the park for Republicans if they want to maintain control. So again, there's there's so much to watch.

And, you know, there is still time. If Republicans are able to really get a lot of affordability concerns addressed, then, you know, maybe it'll be smoother sailing. But we'll really just have to see. Let me just correct you on one thing there, Terrez. On the U.S. Supreme Court did allow Texas's redistricting efforts to stand in California while the new maps are in place. There are expected challenges to come. But that's not to mention, too, traditionally during midterm elections, the party that is not in power gains seats. So that's sort of an historical disadvantage that Republicans also are facing heading into next year's midterms. Trez, thank you for joining us today. Listeners can keep up with all things Congress, all things midterm, and more at thecenter.