Syria chaos could complicate lawmakers' holiday endgame

WASHINGTON — The fall of Bashar Assad’s government in Syria could complicate Congress’ dash toward an end-of-year break and a Dec. 20 government funding deadline.

While the House is expected to vote this week on the must-pass defense policy bill, lawmakers are not expected to begin floor votes on an emerging stopgap spending and disaster relief measure until next week, leaving them plenty of time to weigh in on other hot-button issues.

The stunning scenes over the weekend of Syrians celebrating rebel forces’ ouster of the Assad government were hailed by President Joe Biden and others as a win for democracy. But it raises a slew of questions about the Israel-Hezbollah war and whether a post-Assad power vacuum could escalate the Middle East conflict.

Lawmakers and the Biden administration must decide how involved U.S. forces should be in the fast-moving situation after Biden ordered a round of air strikes inside Syria on Sunday aimed at preventing the Islamic State militant group from filling the power vacuum.

Congress already has been grappling with refilling U.S. weapons stockpiles after the administration helped Israel turn back two Iranian aerial assaults and sent multiple shipments of combat hardware to Ukraine. And members of both parties have long been concerned about Iran’s influence and actions across the Middle East.

Many Republicans — especially House members worried about a 2026 primary challenge — also must consider President-elect Donald Trump’s call for the U.S. to stay out of what is happening in Syria.

“There was never much of a benefit in Syria for Russia, other than to make [Barack] Obama look really stupid. In any event, Syria is a mess, but is not our friend, & THE UNITED STATES SHOULD HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH IT. THIS IS NOT OUR FIGHT,” Trump wrote Saturday on social media. “LET IT PLAY OUT. DO NOT GET INVOLVED!”

But that has not always been the case in the Senate, where some Republicans were more willing during Trump’s first term and his post-presidency to defy him. One of his top Senate allies and a regular golfing partner, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., sounded much more hawkish about U.S. involvement in Syria in a series of weekend social media posts.

“The jihadist forces that have replaced Assad create major problems for Israel, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Iraq. As to U.S. interests in Syria, there are over 50,000 ISIS prisoners primarily being held by the Kurdish forces who helped President Trump destroy the caliphate,” Graham wrote Sunday. “These ISIS fighters planned and executed plots against the American homeland and our allies. A breakout and reestablishment of ISIS is a major threat to the U.S. and our friends.

“I appreciate the air strikes against ISIS targets in Syria, but it will not be enough,” Graham said, adding that the U.S. had to “ensure” that the Islamic State group prisoners were not released.

Meanwhile, lawmakers returning to the Capitol this week could be asked about Trump’s remarks in an interview that aired Sunday about potentially including U.S. citizens born to undocumented parents in his mass deportation plan.

“I don’t want to be breaking up families, so the only way you don’t break up the family is you keep them together — and you have to send them all back,” Trump told NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

Pressed on whether that would include children who are U.S. citizens, Trump responded: “Look, we have to have rules and regulations. You can always find something out, like, you know, ‘This doesn’t work. That doesn’t work.'”

“I’ll tell you what’s going to be horrible: when we take a wonderful young woman who’s with a criminal. And they show the woman, and she could stay, by the law, but they show the woman being taken out. Or they want her out, and your cameras are focused on her as she’s crying as she’s being taken out of our country. And then the public turns against us,” Trump added. “But we have to do our job. And you have to have a series of standards and a series of laws. And in the end, look, our country is a mess.”

NDAA watch

Still on Congress’ pre-holiday to-do list: the fiscal 2025 National Defense Authorization Act, a bicameral compromise version of which was released over the weekend. The House plans to vote on it this week, with a Rules Committee meeting scheduled for Monday. The Senate intends to follow suit before the holidays.

The sprawling, $883.7 billion Pentagon policy measure would authorize the amount of defense spending in fiscal 2025 that Biden requested, while mostly deleting House-passed Republican amendments on hot-button social issues.

It is particularly noteworthy for its large pay raises for military personnel — 4.5 percent for all troops and an additional 10 percent raise on top of that for the lowest-ranking troops — plus so-called quality-of-life improvements in everything from child care to medical services to housing.

Judicial watch

With only weeks to go until Republicans assume control of the Senate, Democratic leaders in that chamber have been intent on using their remaining time in the majority to confirm Biden’s judicial nominees.

Senators are slated to resume consideration Monday afternoon of Biden’s nomination of Tiffany Johnson to be a district judge for the Northern District of Georgia. At least one more floor vote on a federal judge nominee, for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, is possible later in the week.

Before leaving town Thursday, the Senate approved, 52-45, the nomination of Sarah Davenport to be a district judge for the District of New Mexico.

Freshman class

Two Democratic senators-elect, Adam B. Schiff of California and Andy Kim of New Jersey, are scheduled to be sworn in on Monday.

Schiff will succeed Democratic Sen. Laphonza Butler, who was appointed by Gov. Gavin Newsom to fill the seat of the late Democrat Dianne Feinstein. Schiff was elected last month to both finish Feinstein’s term and serve a six-year term that will begin Jan. 3.

Schiff submitted his formal resignation from the House on Friday, which was effective Sunday. He stepped down from the House Judiciary Committee on Nov. 13.

Biden and White House aides last week were reportedly considering preemptive blanket pardons for some of Trump’s political and other foes — and Schiff was on that list. During his first term, Trump routinely slammed Schiff over his role as chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, including the committee’s probe into possible Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

Schiff told NPR in November that he did not want a pardon from Biden, saying he was confident that the court system could withstand what he described as possible flimsy charges from a Trump Department of Justice.

Meantime, Kim will succeed Democratic Sen. George S. Helmy, who was appointed last year by New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy after longtime Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez stepped down following a federal corruption conviction. Helmy resigned over the weekend, and Murphy appointed Kim to the seat. Kim, who will be the first Korean American senator, won a full six-year term last month that will begin on Jan. 3.

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John M. Donnelly contributed to this report.