During what should have been a week of crucial messaging and legislating, Congress spent the week instead focused on dramas on and off Capitol Hill.

And those sagas have left lawmakers with a lengthy to-do list to tackle next week before they scramble to leave D.C. ahead of their next district and state work periods.

Two House members facing allegations of sexual misconduct — Republican Tony Gonzales of Texas and Democrat Eric Swalwell of California — resigned Monday after Reps. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., and Teresa Leger Fernández, D-N.M., announced plans to introduce resolutions to expel the two if they did not leave Congress voluntarily. More than two dozen members from both sides of the aisle called for them to give up their seats.

In March, Gonzales admitted to having an affair with a staffer who later died by suicide. “I made a mistake and I had a lapse in judgment,” he said, adding he’s reconciled with his wife and asked God to forgive him. 

Swalwell, meanwhile, faces accusations from five women accusing him of a wide range of sexual misconduct, including rape, according to allegations originally reported by the San Francisco Chronicle and CNN. He has apologized for “mistakes in judgment” but continues to deny the allegations. 

The allegations and questions over culture on Capitol Hill drew attention away from a week Republican leadership had hoped to spend messaging about Tax Day and the merits of the tax cut legislation they passed last summer. 

“Go to church. Find Jesus. Why is everyone so horny around here?” Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., asked Thursday.

On top of that, Republicans faced questions of Biblical proportions after the Trump administration and Pope Leo XIV began a public squabble over the war in Iran, spurring many lawmakers to urge the White House to stay in its lane on matters of liturgy and refocus its messaging ahead of the midterms. 

After Sunday, when he called the pope “weak on crime,” President Donald Trump on Thursday insisted he is “not fighting with him.” Also Sunday, Trump posted, then later deleted, an AI-generated image of him wearing a Christ-like garment. Trump said it was meant to portray him as “a doctor.”

Vice President JD Vance later defended Trump by criticizing Leo, the first American-born pope, for weighing in on the Iran conflict in the first place, saying it’s “very, very important for the pope to be careful when he talks about matters of theology.” 

During a trip to Africa, Leo on Thursday said, “Woe to those who manipulate religion and the very name of God for their own military, economic and political gain, dragging that which is sacred into darkness and filth.”

“As always, there are a lot of distractions around here, and it’s kind of whatever the immediate news cycle is,” said Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., Thursday. “ But I think the more strategic play here, obviously, is to talk about the things we’ve accomplished and how they’re impacting the lives of the American people, and namely, as you know, putting more money in their pockets.”

Congressional checks and ceasefires 

The war in Iran remained top-of-mind for lawmakers on both sides of the chamber as it nears the 60-day mark. The conflict is rapidly changing: Last week, Trump made the threat to eliminate the “whole” Iranian civilization and as of Friday, Iran reopened the Strait of Hormuz amid a ceasefire agreement reached between Israel and Lebanon following a US naval blockade. 

But Trump posted to TruthSocial that while the Strait is open, “THE NAVAL BLOCKADE WILL REMAIN IN FULL FORCE AND EFFECT AS IT PERTAINS TO IRAN, ONLY, UNTIL SUCH TIME AS OUR TRANSACTION WITH IRAN IS 100% COMPLETE.”

“THIS PROCESS SHOULD GO VERY QUICKLY IN THAT MOST OF THE POINTS ARE ALREADY NEGOTIATED,” he continued.

House and Senate Republicans again fended off Democratic attempts to force Trump to end the war in Iran this week. But there are signs of growing GOP angst over the conflict, despite Republicans in both chambers repeatedly voting against such measures. 

Some Republicans have started to signal that they view 60 days — April 29 — as the deadline to end the war or seek congressional approval: Under the 1973 War Powers Resolution, the president must withdraw forces from military conflicts in 60 days if there is no congressional authorization for the war. That can be extended to 90 days if more time is needed to safely complete a withdrawal.

Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., said that “after the 60-day mark, absent a very coherent 30-day extension request, which is something that they’re entitled to do under the War Powers Resolution, it’s time to fish or cut bait.”

FISA extension 

Following late-night drama in the House over reauthorizing Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, both chambers approved a short-term extension of the powerful surveillance tool ahead of its Monday deadline. 

House leadership punted on the issue throughout the week, leading to votes in the wee hours of Friday morning related to the legislation. Speaker Mike Johnson then tried to pass two proposals — one extending the program by five years with some warrant changes and another 18-month clean renewal — but both were defeated because of Republican dissent over privacy concerns. 

After 2 a.m. Friday, the House by unanimous consent passed a stopgap extension of the program through April 30 with no changes, moving the action to the Senate, where it was also approved with no objection, clearing it for Trump.  

Rolling on reconciliation

Senate Republicans tasked with writing the budget resolution that would kick off the process for the GOP’s second budget reconciliation bill this Congress planned a release for text next week. Leadership plans to start on the process on Wednesday or Thursday, according to an aide. 

The reconciliation bill is expected to focus on immigration enforcement funding, helping end the ongoing partial shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security.

Thune said Thursday that some may “view reconciliation as a vehicle to do a lot of stuff, but I think in this circumstance, it’s oriented around just making sure that we get these agencies funded into the future.”

The party aims  to provide about $70 billion in funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Border Patrol for over at least the next three years, without placing any new guardrails on federal immigration agents sought by Democrats. The budget resolution would contain instructions to the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and Judiciary panels, which would write the details of the upcoming reconciliation bill.

“Then we have another vehicle available,” Thune said, referring to the possibility of a third budget bill, which some want to use to pass other priorities, from farm aid to defense. “We’ll see. But right now, keep it tight. That’s the plan.”

Republicans have also floated using reconciliation to pass parts of their voter I.D. bill, known as the Save America Act, which has been stalled in the Senate for weeks amid a lackluster extended debate. Others are pessimistic about its chances.

“Those who tell us that we’re going to have a third reconciliation bill have been smoking the devil’s lettuce,” said Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., a member of the Budget Committee. “We will never have a third reconciliation bill. I hope I’m wrong, but I doubt it,” he said.

He said the second reconciliation bill will be the “last major piece of legislation that we will likely pass until [after the midterms].” 

“There’s a feeling, which I share, among the Senate [Republican] caucus that, last train leaving the station, we better get all of our cargo aboard,” he said.

Valerie Yurk, Rebecca Kheel, Ryan Tarinelli, Aidan Quigley and Aris Folley contributed to this report.