This week: Spending sprint continues; Venezuela war powers expected to get a vote

Niels Lesniewski, CQ-Roll Call on Jan 12, 2026

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

WASHINGTON — Appropriations are on the agenda for both chambers of Congress this week, with a three-bill spending package potentially reaching President Donald Trump’s desk by the end of the week, and a possible Venezuela war powers vote-a-rama coming to the Senate floor.

The Senate is scheduled to vote Monday evening to limit debate on taking up a package combining the bipartisan, bicameral compromise versions of the Commerce-Justice-Science, Energy-Water and Interior-Environment spending bills for fiscal 2026. The House passed the package, 397-28, on Jan. 8.

If the Senate passes it without amendment, it will be cleared for the president to sign into law.

The House, meanwhile, looks to move forward with a bundle of two more spending bills, including funding for the State Department, the Treasury and an assortment of related agencies including the White House itself.

“With this package, we are advancing President Trump’s vision of a golden age defined by security, responsibility, and growth. Our financial system will be protected, small businesses and entrepreneurs supported, and consumer freedom safeguarded,” House Appropriations Chair Tom Cole, R-Okla., said in a statement.

House Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee ranking member Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, said Sunday that negotiators needed more time to finish work on his subcommittee’s bill following Wednesday’s fatal shooting of a Minnesota woman by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer.

“Last week changed a lot for the Homeland bill. And members have lots of ideas that need thoughtful consideration,” Cuellar told CQ Roll Call. “That requires more time.”

Many Democrats called for independent investigations and oversight hearings after the shooting.

If negotiators are unable to find a path forward for a bipartisan fiscal 2026 Homeland Security spending measure as part of a package of bills, funding for DHS will likely be covered by a full-year continuing resolution. That extension would likely be attached to the final package of fiscal 2026 measures.

War powers

Last week, senators voted 52-47 to discharge from the Foreign Relations Committee a war powers resolution that would bar U.S. military action “within or against” Venezuela absent specific congressional authorization. That sets the stage for further action this week leading up to passage, including a potential limited-scope vote-a-rama.

The Senate set the ground rules for floor debate of war powers resolutions back in 2018, when it was an open question of what happens when the debate time on the measures expires. Senators voted 96-3 to set a precedent declaring that amendments to joint resolutions like the one up for consideration this week must meet the stringent test of germaneness.

“Let me be very clear: I do not challenge, nor does my War Powers Resolution challenge, the execution of a valid arrest warrant against Nicolas Maduro. Arresting Maduro and bringing him to justice in the United States will be good for America and good for Venezuela,” Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., the sponsor of the resolution, wrote in a Jan. 8 fundraising message. “But the President’s claims that the U.S. will run Venezuela for years make it clear that his plans go way beyond Maduro.”

Sen. Susan Collins of Maine was one of the Republicans who voted last week to discharge the war powers resolution, against Trump’s wishes.

“While I support the operation to seize Nicolas Maduro, which was extraordinary in its precision and complexity, I do not support committing additional U.S. forces or entering into any long-term military involvement in Venezuela or Greenland without specific congressional authorization,” Collins said in a statement.

Senators will seek to finish the war powers resolution and the appropriations package before departing for a scheduled recess next week. The House is expected to be in session next week except for Jan. 19, which is Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

--------

—Aidan Quigley and Aris Folley contributed to this report.