LEILA FADEL, HOST:
Congress returns to Capitol Hill today after an August recess that was anything but quiet.
STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
Angry constituents confronted lawmakers at town halls. They focused on economic turmoil and presidential overreach, and now lawmakers face those same issues in Washington, along with a possible government shutdown. There's a deadline at the end of the month. In a few minutes, we'll talk with Democratic Senator Chris Coons of Delaware, who is part of this debate. First, more on what's on the agenda.
FADEL: Joining us now is NPR congressional correspondent Claudia Grisales. Hi, Claudia.
CLAUDIA GRISALES, BYLINE: Good morning, Leila.
FADEL: Good morning. So the last day to fund the government is September 30. Could the government shut down by the end of the month?
GRISALES: It's possible. That's the hardest job on tap for lawmakers as the parties remain deeply divided. Many House Republicans want to see another stopgap measure to keep funding levels static, but Democrats want a regular appropriations plan. Then underlying all this, we have seen this Republican-led Congress cede their power of the purse to the president. The most recent example happening this past week, when the president unilaterally clawed back billions more in foreign aid using what's known as a pocket rescission. That's when the president asked lawmakers to rescind funds so close to the end of the fiscal year, it runs out the clock on the 45 days Congress would have to deliberate for a traditional rescissions request. So we expect to hear a lot from President Trump during this process, and Democrats say they're going to fight these efforts in a new way after facing plenty of blowback from their base that they are not doing enough.
FADEL: Now that they're back, what else is set to take priority?
GRISALES: Well, I did hear a lot from lawmakers who faced angry constituents while they were on recess. For example, I was traveling in Texas, where redistricting just took place. A lot of voters there are really worried about the economy. And so we'll see if lawmakers want to take any steps related to addressing these concerns. And then, meanwhile, they also heard a lot of complaints about the signature bill passed this summer. President Trump called it the Big Beautiful Bill and even said that maybe they should rename it because it should focus on benefits for middle-class families in terms of what that name would be. And that's a signal this plan is not landing as they intended.
FADEL: We also saw President Trump push the extent of his executive power this past month with tariffs. He tried to fire a Federal Reserve governor and ousted the CDC director. So once again, testing the checks and balances that many argue Republicans have just ceded. What do you expect Congress to do?
GRISALES: Lawmakers are going to have to make a political calculation here - how much do they want to pay the price in terms of pressures they may face because of these efforts by President Trump? For example, the ousting at the Federal Reserve could create new pressures for the economy, for the markets. And then when we look at the CDC director situation, there's concern that there's new confusion about U.S. vaccine policy. We're going to hear from Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy before a Senate committee this week. And finally, President Trump's efforts on tariffs - that's under legal challenge. Now, whether that power really rests with Congress, that's something we could hear about in the coming days as well.
FADEL: That's NPR congressional correspondent Claudia Grisales. Thank you.
GRISALES: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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