Lawmakers return to Capitol Hill to figure out how to avert a government shutdown

(NBC, KYMA/KECY) - After a six-week summer recess, lawmakers returned to the capitol on Monday facing a familiar problem: Figuring out how to avert a shutdown.

They have just three weeks to do so.

Funding for the government runs out at the end of the fiscal year on September 30, and could mean the closing of federal agencies and national parks as well as limited public services and the furloughing of millions of workers.

With Congress expected to leave again at the end of the month and return after Election Day, a stopgap bill is likely needed to keep the government open past the election.

One proposal by House Speaker Mike Johnson to tie a short-term government funding bill to a Donald Trump-backed proposal to overhaul voting laws was met with pushback by several GOP lawmakers Monday, who vowed to vote "No" on the package.