Congress returns to work in Washington facing deadline to keep government funded

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• Amna Nawaz:

  U.S. senators are back to work in Washington today after a month-long recess. The return sets up the start of a high-stakes showdown to prevent a government shutdown by the end of the month. That will be a tough task. The Democratic-led Senate and Republicans in the House currently do not see eye to eye on spending priorities.

• Geoff Bennett:

  The Senate gaveled into session days after Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell appeared to freeze up for more than 30 seconds during a press event in Kentucky, the second such incident in as many months.

  Today, while speaking on the Senate floor, McConnell referenced the episode, but did not discuss it in detail.

• Sen. Mitch McConnell(R-KY):

  Now, one particular moment of my time back home has received its fair share of attention in the press over the past week, but I assure you, August was a busy and productive month for me and my staff back in the commonwealth.

• Geoff Bennett:

  The Washington Post's Leigh Ann Caldwell joins us now from Capitol Hill.

  So, Leigh Ann, let's start with concerns about Senator McConnell's health. His office released a letter today from the Capitol's attending physician. What did it say? And what's the level of concern among McConnell's Senate colleagues about his well-being?

• Leigh Ann Caldwell, The Washington Post:

  Before the Senate even came into session, McConnell's office did release this letter from the attending physician, as you mentioned, trying to get ahead of the controversy and the questions swirling around his health. What the letter said is that there is no evidence of a seizure disorder, that there's no evidence of a movement disorder, such as Parkinson's or of a stroke.

  And so that was an attempt to tamp down on any questions. As far as what his Republican colleagues are saying, there are still some concerns about wanting to know more information, about wanting to know the full story. But I will say, he has the support of his fellow Republican leaders.

  The number two, Senator John Thune, said today that he has the full support of McConnell. But it will be a topic of a discussion among Republicans as they meet for their weekly conference lunch tomorrow, Geoff.

• Geoff Bennett:

  Well, when the House returns, the first order of business will be funding the government before September 30 deadline, or face a government shutdown.

  The two chambers, as Amna mentioned, are far from agreement, in large part because far right House Republicans are making their demands known. So, what's the latest?

• Leigh Ann Caldwell:

  So the Senate did come back into session, and I spoke to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer in an interview that published this morning.

  And he said it is up to Kevin McCarthy, the House speaker, on if there is a government shutdown. It is because McCarthy can choose to go the bipartisan route and ensure that there is no shutdown. But McCarthy has not committed to that yet.

  But it does seem like McConnell and Schumer are on the same page. In McConnell's floor statement today, he addressed it. And he's saying that the government needs to keep its lights on and that also the government needs to fund money for Ukraine and money to help all the people who have been impacted by disasters.

  And so this is really going to be a showdown, but it's going to be up to Speaker Kevin McCarthy on if he's going to do this a bipartisan way or if he's going to appease his far right members that lead them to a shutdown, Geoff.

• Geoff Bennett:

  Well, shifting our focus back to the Upper Chamber, Senator Tommy Tuberville, the Republican from Alabama, he's facing new pressure to release his holds on military promotions.

  The secretaries of the Navy, the Air Force, and the Army wrote a rare joint op-ed accusing him of putting national security at risk. Is there any evidence, based on your reporting, that that will soften the hard line that Tuberville has drawn here?

• Leigh Ann Caldwell:

  There isn't.

  There's been a lot of pressure on Tuberville for months now coming from Democrats, coming from leaders of the military, including Defense Secretary Austin, including Joints Chief of Staff General Milley, who I spoke to recently, and said that there's a real readiness problem with these holds.

  But Tuberville insists that he is holding a line and it's the military and Democrats who need to compromise here. He thinks that he has the support of Alabama Republicans, his Alabama constituents. And so there is no sign yet that these holds — there's going to be any sort of breakthrough on these military holds.

• Geoff Bennett:

  Leigh Ann of The Washington Post, it's good to see you, as always, friend. Thanks for being with us.

• Leigh Ann Caldwell:

  Thanks, Geoff.