Congress rolls out bipartisan 3-bill spending deal
Lawmakers wary of what's next on Venezuela
Also in today’s edition of ‘Regular Order’ for January 6, 2026:
Trump to speak to House Republicans this morning.
Five years since the Jan. 6 attack by Trump supporters.
A ‘preexisting personal romantic relationship.’
MINIBUS. Yes, Congress is way behind schedule. But lawmakers took a big step forward yesterday to finish work on nine overdue government funding bills for 2026, as lawmakers released the text of a new 3-bill ‘minibus’ funding package. The plan covers spending for Energy & Water projects, Commerce-Justice-Science, plus funding for Interior and Environment programs.
BIPARTISAN. I want to stress that these bills were worked out by both parties in talks over the holiday break. It’s a reminder that if they really try, the two sides can get things done on Capitol Hill.
MAINER. “This is a fiscally responsible package that restrains spending while providing essential federal investments,” said Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), who chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee.
HOUSE SIDE. The House Appropriations Committee cast this package as part of needed work ‘to advance regular order.’ Left unsaid was that Congress is more than 3 months behind schedule already.
MINORITY. Democrats were on board with the details, as they stressed some of their wins. “There is not a single Republican poison pill provision in this bill,” said Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT). A House vote is likely later this week.
TALLY. Nine government funding bills need to be approved by Jan. 30 - or another temporary spending plan will be needed to avoid a partial government shutdown. I still think it will be hard to get all nine done this month. Maybe in February?
EARMARKS. What’s the easiest way to figure out how this is a bipartisan plan? There is a pretty simple answer. The package has 89 pages of budget earmarks - home state spending projects - from both parties. Those don’t get stuffed in a bill unless both parties are on board.
NUMBERS. Of course it took a while for me to translate the earmark details from three different pdf files to an Excel spreadsheet - since each bill used a different earmark template. But here’s what I found (my numbers might be off by one or two depending on how I massaged the data):
There are over 3,000 earmarks worth $6.52 billion.
1,022 earmarks are from the Senate.
1,888 earmarks are from the House.
118 earmarks were joint House/Senate.
EXAMPLES. What kind of spending are we talking about? I could devote an entire newsletter to the over 3,000 earmarks obviously. You can look at the full 89 pages of earmarks at this link.
PORK BARREL. Remember - one person’s pork barrel waste is another lawmaker’s needed local project. So just because I might list something here doesn’t mean that it is a ‘bad’ thing to spend money on. I’m just trying to show you what’s in the bill.
$5 million wastewater improvements in Blytheville, AR.
$1.1 million for sewer pipe upgrades in Mesa, AZ.
$1.8 million for water quality in Palm Bay, FL.
$3 million for science work at Texas State University.
$4.2 million for Florida State University hypersonic test facility.
$482,000 for chemistry lab upgrades at Dalton State University in Georgia.
PROJECTS. That last item was proposed by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA). It’s a reminder that home state projects are not just from the Democratic Party. Republicans like spending money, too - even those who say the national debt is way too big.
OVERDUE. We should note that this spending work was supposed to have been finished by September 30 of last year. Congress has not finished its government funding work on time since 1996. (Yes, I was here.)
EPSTEIN FILES. Speaking of overdue, what’s up with the Epstein Files? The Justice Department last night said it has made public about 12,285 pages of material, out of approximately 125,575 pages. But there’s more. “There are more than 2 million documents potentially responsive to the Act that are in various phases of review,” DOJ added. (Narrator: This isn’t going to be over any time soon.)
VENEZUELA. There weren’t many concrete answers in the halls of the U.S. Capitol on Monday about what President Trump means when he says the U.S. will ‘run’ Venezuela. Yes, GOP lawmakers were pleased that Nicolás Maduro is no longer in charge - no matter how it happened - but they weren’t really sure what the next move would be by the White House.
QUESTION. “What’s your understanding of what it means to ‘run’ Venezuela?” Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS) was asked. “I think Secretary Rubio clarified that,” Wicker replied. ‘Are you going to hold a hearing on Venezuela?” “We’re discussing it,” said Sen. Jim Risch (R-ID), the head of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
FLORIDA. The loudest voices supporting Trump’s move were from South Florida, as GOP lawmakers gathered in Miami to hold a celebratory news conference there on Monday.
REGIME CHANGE. “This is a clear example of Trump’s peace through strength agenda in action,” said Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL). “The world will be better off now that Maduro is out of power.”
CALLE OCHO. Some Republicans were already talking about the next U.S. military operation, focusing on Havana. “Should President Trump do Cuba next?” tweeted Rep. Carlos Gimenez (R-FL). Over 80 percent of the respondents to his unscientific social media poll said, “Yes, right now!”
BRIEFING. Amid questions about what happens next, Congressional leaders were briefed last night on the latest about Venezuela, with lawmakers staying in their partisan corners about the military operation to capture Maduro. Democrats are ready to force a Senate vote later this week on a war powers resolution, but it seems unlikely to win a majority.
DEMS. “The Trump administration’s story keeps changing by the hour,” said Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer. “It looks like it’s about oil, or it looks like it’s about the Don-roe doctrine,” added Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA), who said Congress cannot ignore Trump’s threats against other nations.
KAINE. “You have to take it seriously,” Kaine told reporters, noting the military attacks during the holiday break on Venezuela and Nigeria. “You got to take any threat that he makes seriously.”
WAR POWERS. Over in the House, Democrats are also promising to put lawmakers on the record on the possible use of military force. “Congress must force votes and debate every day this month,” said Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA), rattling off the names of other countries like Cuba, Colombia, Greenland, and Iran.
GOP. While there might be concern in Republican ranks, there is no way that GOP lawmakers are going to run away from Trump over the Venezuela mission - right now. But who knows what happens next.
JUDICIARY. Maybe the most interesting take on the Venezuela operation came from the top members of the Senate Judiciary Committee. With the Trump Administration talking about how this was a law enforcement operation, two key Senators said they should have been part of Monday’s briefing. This was from Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL):
“The Senate Judiciary Committee has jurisdiction over DOJ, FBI and DEA, and all three agencies are led by individuals who our Committee vetted and processed. The Attorney General herself will be present at today’s briefing.
“There is no legitimate basis for excluding the Senate Judiciary Committee from this briefing. The administration’s refusal to acknowledge our Committee’s indisputable jurisdiction in this matter is unacceptable and we are following up to ensure the Committee receives warranted information regarding Maduro’s arrest.”
JANUARY 6. Today is the five year anniversary of the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol by supporters of Donald Trump. Paired with the GOP’s fake elector scheme, it was all part of the effort to keep Donald Trump in power - even though he lost the 2020 election. It disappoints me greatly that so many Republican lawmakers have tried to whitewash what happened that day.
TWEET. As a reporter, you try your best to accurately report what’s happening. In the heat of the moment, sometimes you hit the nail on the head. Looking back on my coverage, I did not remember making this tweet - but one hour after the attack on the Capitol began, I called it a ‘coup.’ That’s what it was.
JAN. 6 MAILBAG. “My question is about the January 6 video recordings,” one reader wrote me on Monday. “I know that you were taking the time to view them as they were released. Was all the video eventually released, or is some still being held back?”
VIDEO. Despite all the promises and all the talk, Republicans never made public all of the Jan. 6 security video from the Capitol or the broader Capitol complex. I think some of that was due to sloppy staff work. But some of it was clearly held back on purpose.
MY STORIES. Some of you may be new to my coverage on Capitol Hill. Last year I broke two really good stories from the Jan. 6 tapes. One showed the GOP’s fake elector scheme in action on Jan. 5. (Video at this link.)
FAKE ELECTORS. The other story showed how Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) tried to get the same fake elector documents to Vice President Pence on Jan. 6. Read that at this link. (Video is also here.)
THINGS THAT MAKE YOU GO HMMM. This next story is sort of odd. A new ethics report about the office of Rep. Mike Collins R-GA says his former Chief of Staff Brandon Phillips paid an intern for little office work - as the intern turned out to be Phillips’ girlfriend. It was described as a ‘preexisting personal romantic relationship.’
REPORT. “Brandon Phillips may have used congressional resources for unofficial or otherwise unauthorized purposes,” the Office of Congressional Ethics report states.
CAPITOL HILL. I don’t want to be blasé about that - but the idea of a boss on Capitol Hill hiring his girlfriend or being involved with someone on staff - this isn’t the first time. So, why is the Ethics Committee involved??
COLLINS. The OCE review notes that Rep. Collins has repeatedly refused to answer questions about this staff hire. The report also reveals that there was a separate (but parallel) ethics board inquiry directed at Collins himself, but doesn’t go into detail on that case or where it stands.
NO ANSWERS. “Rep. Collins and Mr. Phillips declined to respond to formal Requests for Information from the OCC seeking information and documents concerning the hiring of Ms. Craze and any work that she performed,” the ethics board stated.
SPIDEY SENSES. I’ll say it again. This story just feels odd. A Congressional chief of staff hiring his girlfriend is not the kind of thing that gets publicly aired by the House Ethics Committee. Why this time??
WARNING. Kicking off the Second Session of the 119th Congress, Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA) had a reminder for fellow Senators - be better on the Senate floor. Grassley opened Monday’s session with a rules reminder about decorum in debate. Here is what he said:
“In my capacity as President pro tempore of the Senate, I wish to remind all Senators and staff of the rules and precedents regarding proper decorum in debate in the Senate chamber. Rule XIX, paragraph two reads quote, ‘No Senator in debate shall, directly or indirectly, by any form of words, impute to another Senator or to other Senators any conduct or motive unworthy or unbecoming a Senator.’ In addition, the precedents of the Senate require Senators when addressing each other, to do so in the third person and through the Chair. Senators shall address and refer to one another using proper titles, such as the Senator from Iowa, the Chairman, or the Majority Leader, and refrain from using first names and other monikers.”
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD. The last time the President Pro Tempore made a similar appeal for decorum in debate was in 2015, when Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) reminded Senators that Rule XIX, paragraph 2 had been adopted in 1902 to govern debate on the Senate floor.
ABSENTEES. 15 Senators - 9 Republicans and 6 Democrats - didn’t make it back for the first vote of 2026 in the Senate last night. The roll call was on the nomination for an Assistant Secretary of Defense.
THE LIST. Missing the vote were Barrasso R-WY, Blackburn R-TN, Blunt Rochester D-DE, Coons D-DE, Cramer R-ND, Daines R-MT, Graham R-SC, Kelly D-AZ, Lee R-UT, Markey D-MA, Moran R-KS, Murkowski R-AK, Sheehy R-MT, Warnock D-GA, and Welch D-VT.
HOUSE. We’ll see how many extend their break in the House tonight. The only vote scheduled is to demonstrate a quorum for the Second Session of the 119th Congress.
NOMINATIONS. While Republicans used the nuclear option last year in order to speed up the process for confirming presidential nominations, GOP Senators did not confirm every single person tapped by President Trump. In fact, the Congressional Record shows 107 nominations were returned to the White House at the end of the First Session of the 119th Congress.
BACK AGAIN. The White House on Monday quickly renominated 14 of those nominees, including six picked for a federal judgeship. We’ll see if they make it this time around.
TRUMP. As for Trump, House Republicans will meet with the President this morning over at the Kennedy Center. That meeting kicks off the Second Session of Congress for GOP lawmakers as they look to press ahead with Trump’s legislative agenda. As you might expect, everyone has different ideas on what that should entail.
FREEDOM CAUCUS. The House Freedom Caucus dropped all sorts of ideas on Speaker Mike Johnson yesterday, including calls to ‘stop the crazy earmarks...and all other woke garbage.’ You can read their full list at this link.
SENATE. A number of the Freedom Caucus policy goals involve bills which are unlikely to get through the Senate, like a major immigration policy measure, limits on early voting, an end to voting machines, and more. The filibuster stands in the way.
MUSE OF HISTORY. January 6, 1862. On this date, a dispute arose over the swearing-in of a new Senator from Oregon. A native of Louisiana, Benjamin Stark had been legitimately appointed by the Governor of Oregon, but Stark was a supporter of slavery - during the Civil War. “Mr. Stark is understood by everybody in his vicinity to be an open and avowed support of secession,” said Sen. William Fessenden of Maine. The Senate made no immediate decision on Stark’s credentials.
LEGISLATIVE PROGRAM:
The House meets at 6:30 pm.
The Senate convenes at 10 am.
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Until the day I die, I will NEVER understand how any Representative or Senator who was at the Capitol that day, January 6, 2020, can say that it was no big deal. There's video of Josh Hawley running through the hallway. There's video from the House of members huddled in the chamber, ducking and hiding. THEY WERE THERE! Do they not remember what they had to go through? You can't tell me they weren't scared. Trust me. Those thugs who broke through wouldn't know whether the man in the suit or woman in a nice outfit they ran into in the hallway was an R or a D. They would have hurt and tortured them.
I will never vote for a person in the GOP as long as I live because of Jan 6.
I would just like to speak up for my Delaware senators missing yesterday’s vote. They were attending the funeral of 34-year-old Cpl. Matthew Snook, a state trooper who was working overtime at the DMV before Christmas when some guy walked in and shot him in the head for no reason. RIP Cpl. Snook