Our weekly column is back in a shorter format—less than a 10-minute weekly read—with a nonpartisan rundown of key domestic and international developments. For more background go to TrillionsWeekly.com.
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The House of Representatives and Senate are now in recess until after Labor Day. The House returns Tues, Sept. 8, 2026, and the Senate Mon, Sept. 14, 2026.
(1) MAJOR FISCAL (BUDGETARY) NEWS
NEW FISCAL YEAR BEGINS OCTOBER 1st BUT THE GOVERNMENT ISN’T FUNDED YET. Since none of the 12 regular appropriation bills for FY 2027 (which begins October 1st) have been enacted, Congress needs to enact a stopgap “continuing resolution (CR)” to avoid a government shutdown.
Senate Action: On Saturday, August 8, 2026, the Senate passed 90-6 a continuing resolution (HR 6500) to continue funding the government on October 1, 2026 at current FY 2026 levels. The stopgap funding would continue through December 11, 2026.
House Action: On July 21, 2026, the House passed its own CR (HR 9770) to continue funding through December 4, 2026, with nearly all Democrats opposing the bill because there was no bipartisan negotiation and the CR did not address a Trump Administration proposal to put all federal grant decisions in the hands of political appointees.
Major Differences Between the 2 Bills: The Senate-passed CR contains two rebukes of Administration policy not included in the House CR:
A temporary ban through December 11 on implementation of the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) proposed rule that would effectively give political appointees veto authority over federal grants (section 157 of the CR); and
A bar on additional funding for Customs and Border Protection by closing “the loophole in the (House-passed) CR that would have allowed the Trump Administration to transfer funding provided for other programs to Border Patrol (CBP).”
The Senate bill also includes some special provisions (“anomalies”) requested by the Administration to begin or adjust funding of particular projects as FY 2027 begins.
Outlook for the CR: According to Politico, House Rules Committee Chair Virginia Foxx predicted last Thursday that the Senate-approved CR would pass in the House under “suspension of the rules,” which requires a 2/3 vote. However, Speaker Johnson has not yet said if he is willing to advance the Senate CR.
See daily updates on the CR and possible shutdown at our appropriations tracker at Approps.Com.
BUDGET RESOLUTION / RECONCILIATION STALL IN THE SENATE:
“Budget Reconciliation” is a congressional budget procedure permitting budget-related legislation to move through Congress on a fast-track—immune from Senate filibuster—so it can pass the Senate with only 50 votes. Since the beginning of the 2d Trump Administration, reconciliation has been used twice: (1) the “Big Bill” in July 2025; and (2) in June of 2026 to circumvent the appropriations process and fund deportation operations through the end of President Trump’s term.
The Administration and GOP leaders are aiming for a 3rd reconciliation bill, but it has been held up in the Senate. The House began the process last month on 7/22/26 by passing a budget resolution instructing House committees to report reconciliation legislation enacting $73 billion in Iran-related defense and intelligence funding, $12 billion in farm aid to compensate for war-related fuel and fertilizer costs, and $10 billion to incentivize states to adopt elements of the Trump “SAVE Act” aimed at suppressing voter turnout through stringent voter ID policies.
In the Senate, prior to the August recess, the Senate Budget Committee released its own version of a somewhat larger budget resolution to begin the reconciliation process. However, the Senate failed to advance the budget resolution prior to recessing—leaving funding for Trump’s Iran war, farm relief, and voter ID in legislative limbo.
WASTING TAX DOLLARS: Taxpayers funded a half billion dollar artillery plant that made nothing; DHS paid nearly a half billion dollars for airplanes, then parked them; and the price tag for President Trump’s WH ballroom approaches $1 billion, as Senate Dems ask GAO to audit the expenditures.
DEFICIT PROJECTIONS WORSEN: Congressional Budget Office says the current year deficit will be $200 billion more than initially anticipated--$2.1 trillion. Bloomberg explains that the 119th Congress and the Trump Administration have worsened the nation’s fiscal trajectory with tax cuts, increased spending, and slashing the Internal Revenue Service’s tax collection capacity.
(2) TRUMP’S IRAN WAR – Day 171:
LATEST -- The on-again-off-again US-Iran ceasefire is set to expire with talks at a standstill… Trump seems to have shifted his focus to putting more economic pressure on Iran while continuing to blockade Iranian ports… JD Vance is now claiming that pushing down gas prices is their top priority, although Trump is saying Americans need to accept high prices… Military families are complaining of dire conditions about a U.S. aircraft carrier due to cut off supply lines in the Gulf, but Trump denies the reports… and Fareed Zakaria explains why “the Iran war is a master class in squandering a superpower’s credibility.”
(3) MAJOR ECONOMIC, TRADE, TAX, AND “AI” NEWS
INFLATION HITTING RETAIL SALES: Retail sales tumbled in July, their biggest drop in more than a year. New sales numbers from the Census Bureau suggest consumers may finally be losing patience with persistent inflation. Inflation remained elevated at 3.4% in July, as the Iran war and tariffs push up prices.
TRADE: Trump Administration is fighting a judge’s order for tariff refunds to all importers.
U.S. TREASURIES: US sells 10-Year debt at highest yields since the financial crisis.
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: How to regulate AI is one of the most important policy decisions of our lifetime; and the Trump Administration authorizes private sector companies to launch cyber counterattacks against foreign criminal groups.
TAX CUTS: The White House is considering a push to increase a capital gains tax exemption for primary home sales and cut levies on investments ahead of the midterm election. (However, with budget reconciliation derailed in the Senate, this is unlikely.)
To access economic and trade numbers in real-time, visit our Real-TimeNumbers.com page.
(4) HEALTH
CYCLOSPORA: How it evaded the U.S. food safety system to sicken thousands.
TRUMP’S ATTEMPT TO SPLIT MMR VACCINES FOR CHILDREN will be costly and slow (in addition to being based on debunked conspiracy theories).
EBOLA OUTBREAK: The Ebola outbreak in Congo is spreading, is on track to be the deadliest ever, and is a new variant from animal-to-human spillover.
CLIMATE DEATHS: In one week during Europe’s record heat wave, deaths increased by 16,000; and last week, Japan’s record rains stranded thousands and killed eight.
FACT CHECKER ON AUTISM: Trump made numerous false and misleading claims about vaccines and autism.
(5) POLITICAL AND LEGAL NEWS
TRUMP REFUSES TO BACK DOWN AS COURTS BLOCK POLICIES: He is seeking ways around rulings on tariffs, birthright citizenship and the Federal Reserve. Experts say the moves don’t signal outright defiance, but they push the limits.
TRUMP’S MAIL-IN VOTING RESTRICTIONS TEMPORARILY BLOCKED: Trump’s March 2026 executive order, directed the Postal Service to limit delivery of mail ballots to voters whose names appear on federally approved state voter lists—even though state legislatures have authority over the time, place, and manner of elections (subject only to acts of Congress). The President has no legal authority to regulate elections. Reporting from Axios.
JUDGES UNDER THREAT: Federal judges describe violent threats amid ‘dehumanizing attacks’ from political leaders.
DOJ SEEKS TO FURTHER EXPAND PRESIDENTIAL POWER: A new Department of Justice opinion asserts that executive privilege can be used to protect the President’s communications with private advisors outside the government.
ETHICS ISSUES: Donald Trump has asked an appeals court to pause a judge’s order imposing sanctions on him and his lawyers for how they handled his lawsuit against the IRS; and Trump is being sued over selling early access to “Truth Social” posts.
CRUEL AND UNUSUAL? Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers who wear masks and drive unmarked cars may soon be outfitted with gloves that can deliver painful electric shocks.
ROLLING BACK FINANCIAL REPORTING REQUIREMENTS: The Trump administration on Tuesday finalized a rule exempting U.S. companies and individuals from reporting beneficial ownership information to the Treasury Department’s financial crimes unit, rolling back reporting requirements established under a 2021 law aimed at combating illicit finance.
TRUMP AND RUSSIA: Investigation: How a counterintelligence inquiry into Trump’s Russia ties was derailed.
(6) OTHER KEY DOMESTIC DEVELOPMENTS
HEAD START: Trump Administration is using deregulation to undermine the Head Start program after lacking support to defund it.
STUDENT LOANS: Trump’s Education Department is clawing back credit toward loan forgiveness due to errors it said were made during the Biden administration; the student loan debt fight in Congress no one saw coming.
UNIVERSITIES: About 110,000 fewer foreign students are expected at U.S. universities due to Trump visa policies; and why the University of Michigan is dropping 1st semester grades, with George Will’s commentary on the move.
AIR TRAFFIC: FAA hires 2,000+ gamers to train as air traffic controllers.
ENERGY INFRASTRUCTURE: Trump cancels Biden-era funding to speed power line construction.
BULLDOZING IN A NATIONAL PARK: Brazen, even for Trump, and opposed by his own supporters.
(7) OTHER KEY GLOBAL DEVELOPMENTS
NATO-RUSSIA TENSIONS: A top German general says Russia is probing NATO defenses with drones… Just in the past few days, NATO jets have shot down Russian drones in Latvia and in Romania.
RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR: Russian strikes on dozens of grain ships threaten global food supplies and Ukraine responded by proposing a truce in the Black Sea. As Ukraine offers new proposals to the end the war, a Russian court bars Russia’s only antiwar party from running candidates for Parliament. Ukrainian prisoners recount torture while in Russian detention.
THE U.S. AND ASIA: As China pushes to expand its influence, America’s Asian allies are beginning to wonder whether the U.S. would or could defend them in a war while tied down in the Persian Gulf.
USAID FALLOUT: In Nepal, when the aid workers stopped coming, the women and babies started dying.
(8) OTHER READS/VIDEOS THAT MAY BE OF INTEREST
The Looming 2030s: When America’s budget will break, disastrously
Bill Maher’s take: The Battle Raging within the Democratic Party
Visit our digital library of public policy resources.
Speaking engagements and press interviews can be scheduled by calling: (301) 509-5688. Email comments, suggestions, and questions to: info@trillionsweekly.com.
About the author: Charles S. Konigsberg J.D. served as Assistant Director, White House Office of Management and Budget; General Counsel at the U.S. Senate Finance Committee, where he had principal responsibility for managing federal budget and debt limit legislation; Minority Chief Counsel at the U.S. Senate Rules & Administration Committee where he advised the ranking member on budget, appropriations, trade, and tax legislation; Staff Attorney at the U.S. Senate Budget Committee where he had responsibility for federal fiscal law issues including the Impoundment Control Act and wrote the Senate’s first explanation of the congressional budget process; Director of Congressional Affairs at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and AmeriCorps; and Staff Director of the only national bipartisan budget task force to agree on a unanimous long-term debt stabilization plan. He is admitted to the U.S. Supreme Court Bar, the District of Columbia Bar, and the Ohio Bar and is the author of three books:
1. Trillions: A Primer on Federal Spending, Taxes, the U.S. Debt Ceiling, and Fiscal Law. Click here to purchase. The 2026-2027 edition will be released this fall on Amazon.
2. Independent Voters will Decide America’s Future in 2024 and Beyond (2024)
3. America’s Priorities: How the U.S. Government Raises and Spends Trillions (2008)
Charles S. Konigsberg is President of Capitol Public Policy LLC, which provides consulting services on budget reconciliation, appropriations, government shutdowns, the debt limit, mandatory spending, tax expenditures, as well as budget process training. Contact us at ckonigsberg@capitolpublicpolicy.com or (301) 509-5688.
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