House Takes Up Senate's Stopgap Funding Bill Today as GOP Hardliners Threaten Revolt, Trump Huddles With Oil Executives

Since Congress opened its post-Labor Day sprint with the House returning from August recess this week, the chamber's one must-pass item hits the floor today, September 1: a Senate-passed continuing resolution to keep the government funded past the September 30 deadline.

The Funding Fight

The Senate passed its version of the stopgap 90 to 6, without touching the national debt, which crossed $40 trillion on August 20, according to the Daily Signal. Because the House was on recess when the Senate acted, the bill is now racing back across the Capitol with the deadline closing in.

Speaker Mike Johnson is putting the measure on the floor under a fast-track method, Politico reported, betting it clears without much drama. The Senate version would fund the government into December and includes a delay on a federal hemp ban, according to The Hill.

Not everyone in the House GOP is on board. Reps. Chip Roy of Texas and Andy Harris of Maryland are among the hardliners threatening to vote against the procedural rule as a protest, The Hill reported, partly over the hemp provision. Their objection isn't about the topline spending number so much as process and add-ons buried in a Senate deal House conservatives had no hand in writing.

The House will also vote today on censuring Rep. Chuck Edwards, a North Carolina Republican, following an Ethics Committee referral over alleged inappropriate conduct toward two female staffers. Edwards tried to clear his name ahead of the vote, according to Politico.

The Bigger Package Is Stuck

Behind the stopgap sits a $95 billion reconciliation package House Republicans want the Senate to pass before October, per the Daily Signal. It includes $10 billion for the House Administration Committee to implement the SAVE Act's voter-eligibility provisions, $73 billion tied to Iran war operations for the Armed Services and Intelligence committees, and $12 billion for struggling farmers. It carries no spending offsets and does nothing about the $1.4 trillion deficit.

Fiscal conservatives worry the bill spends too much; farm-state senators worry it spends too little on agriculture aid. Senate Majority Leader John Thune has been skeptical the chamber has the votes at all, the Daily Signal reported. The Senate doesn't return from its own recess until September 14, leaving a three-week window that Politico's sources say makes floor action before the midterms unlikely.

This is fueling talk that Johnson may send members home well before the chamber's scheduled October 1 exit, according to Politico, with many Republicans eager to campaign and some heading to Dallas for the GOP's midterm convention.

What Else Is Moving Today

Trump is meeting Tuesday with oil and gas executives at the White House to discuss expanding U.S. refining capacity, according to a White House official cited by NBC News. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, Energy Secretary Chris Wright and National Energy Dominance Director Jarrod Agen are expected in the room. White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers said the goal is bringing down prices at the pump. Wright is also traveling to Venezuela later Tuesday, days after Venezuela's acting government agreed to give a U.S. company majority control over more than 65 million barrels of the country's oil, a deal Trump called "the biggest oil deal in world history." Critics quoted by the Associated Press's wire coverage say American consumers won't see relief from that deal for years.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent wrapped up the G20 finance ministers meeting in Asheville, North Carolina, today, where White House Principal Deputy Press Secretary Kush Desai told Breitbart News that coverage misreads Trump's tariff policy. Separately, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick met with OpenAI's Sam Altman and Nvidia's Jensen Huang in Chapel Hill to talk AI policy.

On Monday, a divided Supreme Court allowed construction to continue on the White House's $400 million ballroom project while lawsuits over it proceed, according to NBC News, overriding a lower-court order that would have halted work. Documents reviewed by the Associated Press indicate major portions could be finished within months.

Army Secretary Dan Driscoll is stepping down after 18 months, the White House confirmed Monday. No reason was given, though tensions with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth have been widely reported. White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly credited Driscoll with advancing readiness and assisting Russia-Ukraine negotiations.

Trump also announced drug-pricing deals Monday with nine pharmaceutical companies, including Astellas, BeOne Medicines, CSL, BridgeBIO, Sun Pharmaceutical, Teva and UCB, tying Medicaid pricing to a most-favored-nation standard, according to NBC News.

Massachusetts Democrats vote tonight in a primary pitting 80-year-old Sen. Ed Markey against 47-year-old Rep. Seth Moulton, with polls closing at 8 p.m. Surveys have consistently favored Markey, per The Hill.

The open question heading into the evening is whether the House rule vote survives the Roy-Harris faction's objections, and whether Johnson decides this is the week he sends the House home early rather than fight through October.