WASHINGTON (AP) House Speaker Kevin McCarthy is a man who stays in motion enthusiastically greeting tourists at the Capitol, dashing overseas last week to the G7 summit of industrial world leaders, and raising funds back home to elect fellow Republicans to the House majority.

But beneath the whirlwind of activity is a stubborn standstill, an imbalance of power between the far-right Republicans who hoisted McCarthy to the speakers role yet threaten his own ability to lead the House.

Its a political standoff that will be tested anew as the House returns this week from a long summer recess and McCarthy faces a collision course of difficult challenges seeking to avoid a government shutdown, support Ukraine in the war and launch an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden .

Theyve got some really heavy lifting ahead, said the No. 2 Republican in the Senate, John Thune, of South Dakota.

McCarthy, of California, is going to have his hands full trying to figure out how to navigate and execute, he said.

Congress has been here before, as has McCarthy in his nearly two decades in office , but the stakes are ever higher, with Republicans powered by an increasingly hard-right faction that is refusing to allow business as usual in Washington.

With former President Donald Trump s backing, McCarthys right-flank pushed him into the speakers office at the start of the year only after he agreed to a long list of conservative demands including the ability to call a quick vote to vacate the chair and remove him from office.

That threat of an abrupt ouster hovers over McCarthys every move, especially now.

To start, Congress faces a deadline to fund the government by the end of the month, or risk a potentially devastating federal shutdown. There are just 11 working days for Congress to act once the House resumes Tuesday.

McCarthy and his team are pitching lawmakers on a stopgap funding bill, through Nov. 1, to keep the government running under a 30-day continuing resolution, or CR, according to a leadership aide granted anonymity to discuss the private talks.

But as McCarthy convenes lawmakers for a private huddle, even the temporary funding is expected to run into opposition from his right flank.

Facing a backlash from conservatives who want to slash government funding, McCarthy may be able to ease the way by turning to another hard-right priority, launching a Biden impeachment inquiry over the business dealings of the presidents son, Hunter Biden.

For McCarthy, running the two tracks a government funding process alongside an impeachment drive is an unusual and politically fraught undertaking.

But starting a formal impeachment inquiry into Biden could help to appease Republican allies of Trump, who has emerged as the GOP frontrunner to confront Biden in the 2024 election for the White House.

Hes being squeezed, Brad Woodhouse, a veteran Democratic operative, said of McCarthy. Woodhouse is now a senior adviser to the Congressional Integrity Project, which is preparing to criticize Republicans over the Biden impeachment.

The White House has said Biden is not involved in his sons business dealings.

But Trumps allies among House Republicans are working furiously to unearth any links between Biden and his sons business as they portray Hunter Biden as trading on the family name for financial enrichment and work to erode public support for the president ahead of the presidential election.

Republicans have not yet been able to produce evidence of wrongdoing by President Biden.

White House spokesman Ian Sams said, Speaker McCarthy shouldnt cave to the extreme, far-right members who are threatening to shut down the government unless they get a baseless, evidence-free impeachment of President Biden. The consequences for the American people are too serious.