The House is back in Washington for its final week before the November midterm elections, with lawmakers set to confront three politically charged issues before heading home to campaign: rising energy costs tied to data centers, sanctions on Russia, and President Donald Trump’s war in Iran.
The four-day session gives lawmakers one last opportunity to act on several major pieces of legislation before the House leaves Washington through Election Day.
First up, the bipartisan Ratepayer Protection Act is scheduled to come up for a vote as early as Tuesday. Introduced by Reps. Gabe Evans (R-CO) and Kathy Castor (D-FL), the bill would require tech companies to pay for the infrastructure and energy required to construct data centers.
Even if the bill passes the House, it will face an uphill path to Trump’s desk this Congress. Similar legislation by Sen. Jon Husted (R-OH) has yet to advance in the Senate, which has just three weeks before recessing ahead of the November election.
The House is readying to vote for a bipartisan Russia sanctions bill named after the late Sen. Lindsey Graham. The measure, which passed the Senate earlier this year, would penalize not only Russian oligarchs propping up Moscow’s war machine, but also give President Donald Trump the ability to levy tariffs on countries still buying Russian oil.
Democrats have seized on the new tariff authority as their reason for opposing the measure.
“House Democrats are rock solid in our support for Ukraine, but the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act would do more harm than good,” House Foreign Affairs Committee ranking member Gregory Meeks (D-NY), Ways and Means Committee ranking member Richard Neal (D-MA), and Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA) wrote in a statement. “This bill would dramatically expand presidential tariff authorities while failing to mandate sanctions on Russia, both of which are unacceptable. These flaws would raise Americans’ prices while undermining support for Ukraine in the long term.”
Opposition to the tariff authority prevented swift passage of the measure in the House earlier this month.
Outside of stunting Trump’s tariff powers, Democrats are also planning to force a vote this week on bringing an immediate end to the Iran war. Two prior votes to end the war and restrict Trump’s war powers passed the House in June and July thanks to GOP defections. Yet, similar votes have failed in the Senate.
Democrats are pushing forward anyway, however, hoping to put GOP lawmakers on defense one last time before the November elections.
The House’s packed final week could also be complicated by another effort to impeach Trump.
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Retiring Rep. Al Green (D-TX) announced Monday that he intends to force a vote on articles of impeachment accusing Trump of abusing his authority in his handling of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection.
House Democratic leaders have not embraced Green’s latest impeachment push, setting up the prospect of an intraparty fight just weeks before Election Day.