When holiday celebrations are done President Donald Trump will be facing “daunting challenges in 2026,” said USA Today writer Bart Jansen.
The lingering impasse over government spending is brewing in the House and Senate and Jansen said Americans will be facing a health care cost spike in 2026 now that Republicans and Trump have let Obamacare subsidies expire.
“The political disputes about spending − and the possibility of another federal government shutdown − will play out while waiting for a Supreme Court decision that could overturn tariffs central to the president's economic agenda that are projected to generate more than $3.3 trillion over the next decade,” said Jansen.
Foreign affairs are also volatile for Trump next year, said Jansen with Trump shuffling toward a peace agreement in the Russian war with Ukraine that's heading into its fourth year. He’s also struggling to keep the ceasefire in Gaza alive amid isolated skirmishes and bloodshed between Israel and Hamas.
Add to this the Justice Department's maddening trickle of documents concerning the investigations into convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein , which is dominating the political debate.
Jansen said Trump’s thoroughly dominated Congress Republican Party only approved 61 laws in 2025, reflecting harsh party polarization. Generally, lawmakers approve more than 300 bills in each two-year Congress.
“[But] Republicans have little room to maneuver with majorities of 53-47 in the Senate and 220-213 in the House,” Jansen said. “The House margin will narrow when Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Georgia, leaves Jan. 5. Two seats previously held by Democrats will be filled with special elections in Texas on Jan. 31 and in New Jersey on April 16.”
“And midterm elections — when the president's party traditionally loses seats — loom in November for the entire House and one-third of the Senate.”
Read the USA Today Report at this link.