With the impeachment inquiry well underway, is there a chance of anything else getting done on Capitol Hill?

When lawmakers return to Washington, D.C. next week, the environment they will encounter will be quite different than the one they left last month. The capital is now embroiled in an impeachment inquiry.

Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle argue they must push forward legislatively on other matters while the inquiry is underway.

“Everyone is called upon to continue working in the best interest of Americans,” said Rep. Dan Bishop, R-9th District.

“The House has to do its work,” said Rep. Alma Adams, D-12th District.

Lawmakers have several things on the docket, including passing spending bills to avoid a government shutdown before Thanksgiving. 

Democrats are pushing new legislation aimed at lowering drug prices. Republicans want Congress to approve a White House-backed trade deal with Mexico and Canada.

But can lawmakers on both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue balance the inquiry with this other work? Will the investigation - and the political fight associated wtih it - inhibit other work from being accomplished?

Democrats insist they can juggle multiple things at once, but several Republicans like Congressman Ted Budd, R-13th District, argue the Democrat-led inquiry is a distraction.

“This sucks a lot of oxygen out of the room," Budd said. "I think that’s unfortunate, because Americans deserve a lot more than this."

Many Democrats, meanwhile, are defending the inquiry, saying the president and his actions have given them no choice.

Adams said any legislative gridlock caused by the inquiry will ultimately be nothing new. The White House and the Republican-led Senate, she said, have already stymied House-backed bills for months.

“If they use that as an excuse, that’s all it is. Because they haven’t done anything up to this point,” she said.