When using KafkaConsumer.poll() without specifying timeout_ns, the default value 0 is used. This seems to trigger the early exit here: https://github.com/dpkp/kafka-python/blob/master/kafka/consumer/group.py#L727
With a nonzero timeout_ns, the poll fetches messages just fine.
Similar to #2609, but seems not to have been fixed.
Let me know if you need more information.