What is Congress focused on now that it's back in session?
The Excerpt
USA TODAY
4.4 • 1.2K Ratings
🗓️ 2 September 2025
⏱️ 11 minutes
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Summary
USA TODAY's Zachary Schermele takes a look at some of the major looming issues as lawmakers return from an August recess.
China's President Xi Jinping convened the leaders of Russia and North Korea Tuesday.
Former CDC directors say Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s health actions should alarm every American.
USA TODAY Supreme Court Correspondent Maureen Groppe discusses what the high court might consider in a case centered on whether vanity license plates are protected speech.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Your first great love story is free when you sign up for a free 30-day trial at audible.co. |
| 0:05.5 | That's audible.co.uk slash wondery. |
| 0:12.2 | Good morning. I'm Taylor Wilson and today is Tuesday, September 2nd, 2025. |
| 0:22.3 | This is USA Today's The Exit. Today, what to expect as lawmakers get back to work? Plus, former CDC directors |
| 0:30.5 | say RFK Jr's actions should alarm every American and our vanity license plates protected as free speech. |
| 0:40.5 | Lawmakers returned to Congress this week after an August recess. I spoke with USA today, Zach Shermally, for a look at |
| 0:45.7 | some of the looming issues on the horizon. Zach, thanks for wrapping on. Sure thing, Taylor. |
| 0:51.0 | So before we get to this coming fall, I mean, it's been a busy year for lawmakers so |
| 0:55.0 | far already. What have we seen among some of the bigger headline grabbing actions from Capitol Hill? |
| 1:00.0 | Right. Well, I think the biggest headline is the fact that Congress passed some of the most |
| 1:05.4 | significant legislation in recent years in the form of the so-called one big, beautiful bill act. Some people call it |
| 1:13.7 | OB3. Some people call it the BBB. We can just call it a massive domestic policy law or a tax and |
| 1:21.1 | spending law for our purposes. But this is arguably the most significant accomplishment of either of Donald Trump's presidencies. |
| 1:30.9 | And it was championed by the White House from the beginning. |
| 1:34.3 | This is a piece of legislation that's going to reshape social safety net programs, |
| 1:39.5 | aspects of the American education system, and the healthcare systems as well. It took quite a while and some |
| 1:47.5 | strong arming by the White House and Senate leadership, especially to try and get certain Republican |
| 1:55.2 | members, the more moderate ones on board. But ultimately, President Trump signed that piece of legislation into law |
| 2:04.3 | on the 4th of July right before lawmakers went into their August recess. |
| 2:10.5 | Well, the first challenge, Zach, on return from recess, appears to be about avoiding a government |
| 2:15.7 | shutdown. This is back in the news. What's the timeline look like to pull this off and what challenges remain? |
| 2:21.3 | Right. We're back in another new cycle of talking about a looming shutdown. |
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