The 119th Congress in 2026 will pick up right where it left off at the end of 2025, addressing the issue of health care costs and trying to avoid another government shutdown.
The 119th Congress in 2026 will pick up right where it left off at the end of 2025, addressing the issue of health care costs and trying to make sure federal funds don’t run out when an agreement that ended the government shutdown expires Jan. 30.
The latest session was tumultuous, including a period of more than 50 days when the U.S. House wasn’t even in session, owing to House Speaker Mike Johnson’s decision to keep lawmakers out of D.C. as the longest government shutdown in history stretched on with no resolution.
Right before lawmakers left for their home districts for the holiday break, the House approved a GOP bill that included some provisions designed to bring down health care costs, but the legislation did not extend the Affordable Care Act subsidies beyond the end of 2025.
That means that more than 20 million Americans are currently dealing with soaring insurance premiums, which for some people can be double or triple what they had previously been.
The House will vote this month on legislation that would extend the ACA subsidies for three years, because four Republicans broke with Johnson and signed onto a discharge petition sponsored by House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.
Their signatures, along with those of 214 Democrats, allow lawmakers to skirt Johnson to bring a measure to the floor that he opposes.
Midterm elections come in November, and the impact will be felt all year
Democrats, who pushed for the ACA extension during the shutdown, believe health care is a winning issue for them as the country prepares for the midterm elections.
“Health care that’s affordable and accessible is a right that should be available to every single American,” Jeffries said on the steps of the U.S. Capitol as lawmakers prepared to end the 2025 session. “That’s what we believe and that’s what we’re fighting hard to achieve.”
While Democrats did not get approval of the ACA extension during their shutdown fight, they have succeeded in making sure health care will be a prominent issue in 2026. Many moderate Republicans worry their reelection prospects will dim if Congress doesn’t do more to address rising health care costs.
The GOP holds a narrow majority of 220-214 in the House and just a handful of races this year could allow Democrats to regain power in the lower chamber, which could severely curtail President Donald Trump’s legislative agenda.
But for now, Johnson still has a fragile majority and he argues Republicans have been able to do a lot, given the political challenges.
“This team has delivered with small margins what the American people asked us to do and what we promised we would do,” Johnson said. “And that work has just begun.”
Johnson said GOP lawmakers will never take “our foot off the gas.”
He has said he remains confident Republicans will retain control of the House, despite warning signs that Democrats are gaining ground after winning elections for governor in Virginia and New Jersey in November.
What about that Jan. 30 funding deadline?
Congress still has to approve nine appropriations bills for this fiscal year and lawmakers will only have a few weeks to do so before Jan. 30, when the federal funding is depleted.
Jan. 30 could potentially be a date for a government showdown, but the previous, lengthy shutdown seems to have lessened that threat.
Democratic leaders have indicated they are generally pleased with how they have been able to heighten the health care issue and don’t appear to want to start the new year spoiling for a fight.
But a lot of work remains to be done and senators failed to take a step Senate Majority Leader John Thune had hoped for before they ended their session Dec. 18.
Thune and appropriators sought to get an agreement on a “minibus” of five major appropriations bills before they left Washington.
But they were unable to do so, which means they will need to pick up that work when they return.
House appropriators still need to make progress as well.
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise said he remains hopeful that they can get all the remaining appropriations bills done by the end of January, though that will be very difficult.
“We’ve got a lot of momentum going into the new year,” Scalise said. “We’re going to have a very bold, aggressive agenda again next year with an even more narrow majority because we lose one more at the end of this year.”
Scalise referred to GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who has represented Georgia’s 14th District and announced she will resign from Congress on Jan. 5.
More challenges for Speaker Johnson
During Greene’s tenure she was often a thorn in the side of Johnson, but with her departure, navigating the GOP conference doesn’t get any easier.
There have been an unprecedented number of successful discharge petitions filed in the past year and they are likely to continue in 2026.
A discharge petition used to be a relatively rare legislative tactic, in which lawmakers can join with the opposing party to get 218 signatures for a piece of legislation so it can be brought up on the House floor — even if the GOP leadership doesn’t want a vote on the issue.
That is what happened with legislation that forced the recent Justice Department release of files linked to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
A handful of Republicans joined with Democrats to bring the bill to the floor after the government shutdown. After months of delays, the House and Senate then quickly approved the legislation.
As previously noted, the House vote on extending the ACA subsidies that is expected in January is also the result of a discharge petition.
If the House approves the extension, however, that doesn’t mean insurance rates will suddenly drop for millions of Americans.
The Republican-controlled Senate is not expected to approve it.
But some lawmakers — from both parties — are hopeful it could be a vehicle for broader legislation in a midterm election year when health care costs are expected to remain a prominent issue.