WASHINGTON — On Thursday, Rep. Guy Reschenthaler, R-14th, shared a message from House Republican leaders on social media: Labor Day gas prices nationwide are projected to hit their lowest levels since 2020, with the GOP crediting the contentious tax and spending agenda President Donald Trump signed into law in July.

Earlier Thursday morning, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee announced a series of YouTube and Instagram ads running this weekend targeting young men, partly blaming Trump's and Republicans' "big beautiful bill" for "soaring" burger and beer prices as Americans close out the summer by firing up their grills. The ads are running in almost three dozen districts across the U.S., including four in Eastern and Central Pennsylvania, as Democrats hope to gain ground in the 2026 midterm elections.

The continued back-and-forth over the impacts of the bill looms over Capitol Hill as Congress gets back in full swing in September. Along with ongoing fights over health care, federal food assistance, veteran care, worker safety, pollution regulations, tariffs, gun violence, funding cuts and the controversial files on convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, Republicans and Democrats face a government shutdown if they don't hammer out a budget deal by Sept. 30.

"I hope they don't take hints from the (Pennsylvania) state Legislature," Christopher Nicholas, a Republican consultant based in Harrisburg, told the Post-Gazette, citing ongoing negotiations between Gov. Josh Shapiro and General Assembly leaders. "They're still working through that budget, which will go into its third month of being overdue."

Republican Sen. Dave McCormick told the Post-Gazette that as Congress returns to session, his focus will "continue to be on delivering for Pennsylvanians and building on some of the successes we've had in the past eight months."

"That means ensuring the (National Defense Authorization Act) fosters the continued revitalization of our military, advocating on behalf of Pennsylvania's robust life sciences and medical research industries, and beginning to tackle meaningful permitting reform to streamline energy infrastructure projects and unleash American energy dominance."

Here are a few more issues on the agenda as lawmakers return to Washington from summer recess.

Sept. 30 deadline

Congress only has about three weeks to finalize a long-term or short-term spending plan, with both chambers off for a week during Rosh Hashanah.

Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., was one of several Democrats, along with Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., who refused to go along with House Democrats willing to see the government shut down earlier this year over a controversial spending deal led by Republicans.

There are signs that Senate Democrats are less willing to give in this time.

Schumer joined House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y. in a letter to Republican leaders earlier this month, urging them "to govern for all Americans and work on a bipartisan basis to avert a painful, unnecessary shutdown."

Democratic frustration over the so-called "big beautiful bill," which extended Trump's 2017 tax cuts and made heavy investments in border security and defense spending, is already playing into Democrats' pressure campaign for bipartisanship in September.

"Over the past seven months, Republicans in both the Senate and House have largely rejected bipartisanship, which has been devastating for American families who will now pay more for everything from health care, to groceries, to utility bills, to essential goods and services," Schumer and Jeffries wrote. "This is not what voters had in mind when they handed Republicans very narrow majorities in Congress and a paper-thin presidential victory to Donald Trump."

Democrats and nonpartisan analysts say Trump's bill could mean millions of Americans, and tens of thousands of Pennsylvanians, lose their health care coverage and federal food assistance. Shapiro also said it undercut tens of thousands of clean energy jobs in the state and could lead to higher utility bills.

But Republicans, including Reschenthaler and Reps. Mike Kelly, R-16th, and Glenn Thompson, R-5th, remain adamant that the law provided much-needed tax relief to families and small businesses, while enforcing reasonable work requirements for recipients of Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

The push for both sides to work together comes as the Trump administration has asserted significant power over congressional-approved funds. White House budget director Russell Vought went on the record in July saying "the appropriations process has to be less bipartisan."

But Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said this summer that Republicans plan to move appropriations bills "that will have cooperation from the Democrats."

Social Security

Fetterman said this past week that as the Senate heads back into session, "job one" for him is "protecting Social Security."

Republicans are "cooking up a new scheme to privatize" the social safety net, which explained the "chaos" at the Social Security Administration, he said in a fundraising email.

"They cut staff, closed offices, made it nearly impossible to get someone on the phone. Checks were delayed!" he said. "The goal is simple. Confuse folks, scare 'em, make them lose trust in government. Then swoop in with the so-called fix — privatization."

Fetterman, who has supported some Trump administration moves and formed a solid relationship with his Republican counterpart, McCormick, said such a tactic with Social Security would hand retirees' money to big banks and hedge funds, and gamble retirement funds on the market.

"Hell no," he said. "Hardworking people in Pennsylvania (and) across this country have paid into Social Security their entire lives. They've earned this benefit. We need to connect the dots for folks and let them know what's happening before the dominoes really start to fall."

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., wrote on MSNBC earlier this month that an investigation found Social Security recipients' call wait times had "soared to nearly an hour and 45 minutes, sometimes exceeding three hours."

"Last month, when President Trump and congressional Republicans jammed through their Beautiful-for-Billionaires bill, it included tax cuts that make the financial picture for Social Security more challenging," Mr. Whitehouse added. "(And) Treasury Secretary Bessent ... slipped and called the investment accounts created by the law a 'backdoor for privatizing Social Security.'"

Bessent later walked back those remarks.

"Trump Baby Accounts are an additive benefit for future generations, which will supplement the sanctity of Social Security's guaranteed payments," he wrote on X. "This is not an either-or question: our Administration is committed to protecting Social Security and to making sure seniors have more money."

The president has since vowed again to protect Social Security.

"I gave my word — we're not going to hurt anybody on Medicaid, Medicare or Social Security," he said Monday.

Health care

Health care will remain a major focus for lawmakers on both sides of the aisle in the next few months.

More than 118,000 across Western Pennsylvania could lose their health insurance coverage due to changes and cuts to Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act in the "big beautiful bill," according to a Post-Gazette review of nonpartisan estimates reported by Democrats on the Joint Economic Committee.

Meanwhile, Pennsylvania insurers selling Obamacare coverage are seeking average rate hikes of 19% for individual health insurance and 13% for small groups next year, according to the state Insurance Department. The expiration of enhanced premium tax credits at the end of 2025, rising health care costs and other factors were cited for the premium jump for plans available on the state's online health insurance marketplace, Pennie.

McCormick recently told Tri-State Alert in Chambersburg that "everything" about the Affordable Care Act was unaffordable, including pharmaceutical costs.

"It's a huge crisis for our country," he said, citing promises to working families to address the burdens of high prices, wages not keeping up, and housing costs. "We've got to rein in our health care costs. It is an area that is very much front and center in my mind."

Though Congress has more authority on the issue of drug prices, Trump has sought to use executive orders to force pharmaceutical companies to level the playing field with other nations' costs.

"Big Pharma will either abide by this principle voluntarily or we will use the power of the federal government to ensure that we are paying the same price as other countries," he said in May.

Bills & subpoenas

On top of a major push to address the impacts of cuts at Veterans Affairs and attacking Trump's trade policies, Rep. Chris Deluzio, D-17th, continues to seek legislative measures to protect children from addictive and distracting technology in classrooms.

The congressman is also pressing for a railway safety bill, stronger antitrust enforcement and protecting workplace safety as the Trump administration aims to shutter the agency investigating the deadly Clairton Coke Works explosion.

Deluzio has also joined Rep. Summer Lee, D-12th, and other Democrats in pressuring the Trump administration to release more files on Epstein.

Before the summer recess, Lee successfully led a House Ethics subcommittee effort to subpoena the Justice Department for Epstein records. DOJ has released tens of thousands of records, but Lee recently told MSNBC that fewer than 1,000 pages of 33,000 released contained "any new information."

The congresswoman is also likely to continue speaking out against Trump's immigration policies and tactics. This past week, she said she was denied access to the Moshannon Valley Detention Center, where she alleged people were "held in horrific conditions."

McCormick, on the other hand, praised the Trump administration for strengthening the border, which he said has helped lower the number of fentanyl cases in Pennsylvania.

There is at least one area where there's bipartisan support on legislation advancing in Congress: moving part of the U.S. Department of Energy to the Pittsburgh region, which is backed by McCormick, Fetterman, Deluzio and Reschenthaler.

"I've always said the departments that regulate and oversee American industry should live closer to the people," McCormick said.

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