Lawmakers hone in on midterm messages as Congress returns to session

Politics Lawmakers home in on midterm messages as Congress returns to session September 14, 20264:43 AM ET Heard on Morning Edition By Eric McDaniel , Leila Fadel Lawmakers hone in on midterm messages as Congress returns to session Listen &middot; 3:10 3:10 Transcript Toggle more options Download Embed Embed "> <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5966873/nx-s1-9925019" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript Congress returns for a short last session ahead of the midterm election with a full plate as lawmakers look for messaging bills they can take back to voters. Sponsor Message Transcript LEILA FADEL, HOST: Congress is back in town. It's the last week both chambers are expected to be in until after the midterm election in November. NPR congressional reporter Eric McDaniel is here in the studio to talk about it. Good morning, Eric. ERIC MCDANIEL, BYLINE: Good morning, good morning. FADEL: So what should we be paying attention to? MCDANIEL: Well, I think this week is probably best understood as a week of campaigning more than a week of legislating. Congress already did the one thing that they absolutely had to do before the election - extend government funding. It now expires sometime in December. Now legislators are going to move some messaging bills to try and show voters that they are, in fact, responsive to their concerns. But as far as landmark legislation - well, probably not happening. FADEL: Tell us about some of the things they're messaging on. MCDANIEL: Well, we've got AI, which Congress knows basically universally that it should act on. They just can't agree how, even among Republicans. Democrats are calling for decisive action, as Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries put it in the House. Here's Republican Speaker of the House Mike Johnson knocking down the idea of an AI-development moratorium on CNN's "State Of The Union." (SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "STATE OF THE UNION") MIKE JOHNSON: We need to handle this new technology like we have others in the past and make sure we do - we're doing everything we can responsibly to also not smother American innovation. We have to do both things simultaneously. MCDANIEL: We could see a vote designed to blunt the impact of energy price hikes associated with AI data centers, which is important in - everywhere, really, but also for vulnerable Republicans. There could be bills about college sport pay regulation - NIL - as well as cryptocurrency. Again, nothing expected to become law in this last week. The House is here until after Election Day. Though I will say we could see action on Russia sanctions. FADEL: Right. The Senate passed that on a bipartisan basis. But the path through the House seems bumpier, right? MCDANIEL: That's right. Democrats are concerned that it gives the president new tariff authorities, obviously the subject of much consternation this term. And Republicans are also somewhat soft on the bill, generally, about supporting Ukraine's war effort as a priority for the U.S. Even if this does pass, an analyst I talked to says it would only really be effective if the U.S. is committed to enforcement, which he said the government has a spotty record on. FADEL: Coming out of last week's Republican midterm convention, where do things stand in the campaign? MCDANIEL: I mean, I'll say a few things you've probably heard elsewhere on our air. The president's party usually loses ground in the midterms, especially when the president is unpopular. And Trump is very unpopular. It's also true that the details right now are not great for Republicans. Candidates are having trouble pointing to things like Trump's tax cuts because people are frustrated with the high cost of living overall. Obviously, gas prices may be just one part of a whole household budget, but it happens to be the one that's plastered on giant signs every few blocks. It's easy to notice when it spikes. Election forecasts and polling have Democrats at a near lock to take the House and slight favorites to take the Senate. They aren't letting people forget that on the campaign trail. They're all over the airs, talking about things like action on AI data centers and, you know, just the general unpopularity of the president. And Republicans are running out of time to change how they're seen. People have already begun voting. FADEL: All right. That's NPR congressional reporter Eric McDaniel. Thank you, Eric. MCDANIEL: Thank you so much. (SOUNDBITE OF TITLE FIGHT SONG, "SAFE IN YOUR SKIN") Copyright &copy; 2026 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information. Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts may vary. Transcript text may be revised to correct errors or match updates to audio. Audio on npr.org may be edited after its original broadcast or publication. 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