House and Senate lawmakers returned to Capitol Hill this week to find regular legislative business overshadowed by a growing partisan debate about the nation's debt limit and spending on Medicare, Social Security, and other federal programs.

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) last week determined party representation ratios for the committees on Appropriations, Energy and Commerce, Financial Services, and Ways and Means.