Congress returns to Venezuela clash, a shutdown deadline and a health care fight

WASHINGTON — The House and the Senate are scheduled to return this week after the holidays and confront a growing list of tasks and potential agenda items in early 2026

WASHINGTON — The House and the Senate are scheduled to return this week after the holidays and confront a growing list of tasks and potential agenda items in early 2026.

Top of mind for many is President Donald Trump's decision over the weekend to launch strikes in Venezuela and capture its leader, Nicolás Maduro, in addition to his assertion that the U.S. will “run” the country for the foreseeable future.

It'll add to an already substantial to-do list for Congress in the early part of the year as November's midterm elections draw closer. Here are five issues facing Capitol Hill:

January on Capitol Hill will be heavily shaped by a fight over health care after enhanced tax credits for 22 million people under Obamacare expired, leading to sharp premium hikes beginning this month.

In the House, four Republicans in swing districts teamed up with all Democrats to sideline Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and force a vote in the full House on a three-year extension of the Affordable Care Act subsidies. That is expected this week. But while it’s likely to pass the House, Senate Republicans told NBC News before the holidays that the bill is dead on arrival in the upper chamber.