(The Center Square) – U.S. lawmakers face a busy week ahead of them, aiming to advance legislation related to agriculture, housing, election security, and more while the partial government shutdown enters its third week.
Due to bad weather, the House Committee on Agriculture had postponed its February markup of the 2026 U.S. farm bill; now, it will do so March 3. Though Democrats have loudly opposed deregulatory provisions within the massive agricultural support package, congressional leaders expect bipartisan support.
Farm bills authorize various nutrition, rural development and farm support programs for a span of typically five years, but Congress has not passed a farm bill since 2018. Failing to renew authorization for crop insurance, rural health care, and other critical programs is not a scenario lawmakers on either side of the aisle wish to be in.
Yet while House Democrats might split over whether to support a bill that is mostly bipartisan, they have united behind an Iran War Powers Resolution, which they will force a floor vote on as soon as possible next week.
After the Trump administration’s unapproved military actions in Venezuela, where U.S. troops seized two vessels and arrested Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Democrats and Republicans alike want to prevent a similar situation from occurring in Iran.
The resolution would prohibit President Donald Trump from using military force against Iran – which the administration has hinted may imminently happen – unless Congress is consulted and authorizes the decision.
If the resolution passes the House, it must receive approval by U.S. senators as well, who will be swamped in their own legislative priorities.
The Senate could vote as soon as Monday on the ROAD to Housing Act, a sweeping legislative package aimed at expanding affordable housing supply, reducing repair expenses for homeowners, improving rental assistance options, and more.
The package may face delays, however, depending on how ongoing negotiations to reopen the Department of Homeland Security play out.
Funding lapsed for DHS over two weeks ago, when Senate Democrats tanked a Continuing Resolution that would have extended current funding levels. A second vote to reopen the department – which houses agencies responsible for transportation security, disaster support, immigration enforcement, and others – failed Tuesday.
With Democrats demanding an extensive list of immigration enforcement reforms, and Republicans refusing to grant all of them, the standoff continues, much to Senate Majority Leader John Thune’s, R-S.D., frustration.
Thune also has his hands full with some lawmakers in his own party, who have urged him to revive the “talking filibuster” in order for Republicans to have a chance at getting their election security bill through the upper chamber.
While Thune said the House-passed SAVE Act will hit the Senate floor next week, he effectively ruled out a talking filibuster and said the bill being subject to the typical 60-vote threshold is “a very real possibility.”
