Congress sets agenda for 2026

Leslie Picker (Reporter) 00:00.000

Uh, now to Washington, the Congressional agenda for the new year. Emily Wilkinson joins us with a look at the what I'm assuming is a very busy-to-do list, Emily.

Emily Wilkins (Washington Correspondent) 00:09.360

Hey Leslie. Well, look, the first things Congress needs to do as soon as they get back is to avoid a partial government shutdown. Remember, government funding runs out for most of the government on January 30th. Now, lawmakers had hoped to make some more progress. They wanted to

Emily Wilkins (Washington Correspondent) 00:22.760

move these five spending bills that would have covered a majority of government funding, but a number of conflicts are holding up that packet. However, several democratic lawmakers, including Senator Peter Welch, told us before they left town that they don't expect another

Emily Wilkins (Washington Correspondent) 00:37.680

shutdown this time around.

Peter Welch (Senator) 00:41.040

It's a different time frame and the reality is that shutdown came where there was a real urgent issue to get health care on the front and center of the agenda. I think we accomplished that. So, I haven't heard people talking about another shutdown.

Emily Wilkins (Washington Correspondent) 01:00.560

Peter Welch said that he is hopeful that something can be done on health care in January. And remember when the house gets back, those rank-and-file members Welch are going to be able to force a vote on a three-year extension of the Affordable Care Act tax credits. Now, while

Emily Wilkins (Washington Correspondent) 01:15.040

that bill is expected to pass in the house, senators of both parties have said that it is unlikely to pass in that chamber. However, senators are working together. There's a bipartisan group that's working on a potential plan to reopen the exchanges and bring back the credits in

Emily Wilkins (Washington Correspondent) 01:30.000

a limited capacity. So, guys, we'll be keeping a very close eye on both of those stories because that will likely dominate the first part of the year in Congress. Emily,

Leslie Picker (Reporter) 01:38.440

I I was a little confused by his soundbite there. Why is it a different period uh for health care for the American public now versus uh in the you know latter parts of 2025?

Emily Wilkins (Washington Correspondent) 01:52.160

I I mean, it's it's a good it's a good question, Leslie. And certainly, there are some members who feel like not nearly enough has been done. What Democrats do feel like like they've been able to do, at least the ones who I've spoken to on Capitol Hill, is they were able to kind

Emily Wilkins (Washington Correspondent) 02:04.200

of use the shutdown to really highlight the issue, move the ball forward, kind of get it into the spotlight. And now they're saying, "Hey, now that it's here, we can try to find an agreement." Or at least the American people know where the Democrats stand. Granted, for a lot of

Emily Wilkins (Washington Correspondent) 02:18.040

other Democrats, they say something actually needs to be done. But of course, that's going to rely on getting enough bipartisan support. And while there is that group trying to work together on a solution, and they are projecting a lot of optimism about it. We still haven't seen

Emily Wilkins (Washington Correspondent) 02:31.720

any paper, any text, which means that it could be a while if we even do wind up seeing a plan on how to keep those tax credits going. But at this point, things are not are not looking very optimistic for those tax credits continuing. Yeah,

Leslie Picker (Reporter) 02:44.520

I guess in Washington sometimes putting a spotlight on an issue and doing something about the issue may be the same thing and you know, it's just good enough. Emily, thank you.