WASHINGTON — Congress returns Monday for a lame-duck session in which the outgoing Republican majorities must fund the government by Dec. 11, finish the annual defense policy bill and decide how much of their remaining agenda to attempt before Democrats take control of both chambers on Jan. 3.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) has said Republicans intend to keep working through the session. “But our job is nowhere close to being finished yet,” Johnson said, according to WSB-TV. “The outcome of an election on one night doesn’t change that a bit.”
Democrats won at least 54 Senate seats and a House majority in Tuesday’s midterm elections, with Senate races in Alaska and Mississippi still uncalled as of Saturday, according to CBS News. The Associated Press count cited by Yahoo News showed Democrats with 254 House seats to 162 for Republicans on Saturday morning, with 19 races uncalled.
The funding deadline
The most pressing task is government funding, which expires Dec. 11. Lawmakers must pass full-year spending bills or another temporary extension before then to avoid a shutdown, WSB-TV reported. Congress also has to finish the National Defense Authorization Act, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has pressed lawmakers for more military spending during the war with Iran. “The Department of War must be funded to meet the moment right now,” Hegseth said, according to the station.
Republicans could try to use their last weeks in control to pass a third party-line reconciliation bill, which can clear the Senate with a simple majority. Bloomberg Government reported that such a package could include more money for the Iran war and election security grants, alongside fiscal 2027 funding, the defense bill, extensions of farm, nutrition and surface transportation programs and a bipartisan energy permitting deal.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) was cautious before the election about a third reconciliation bill. “Right now, we don’t have the votes to get on a third recon bill [and a] budget resolution. … We might have them after [the midterms],” Thune said, according to The Hill. “We don’t have it now, and we don’t know that we have the votes to defend against the poison pill Democrat amendments.” Some Republicans have pushed for a longer session. “If we lose the House and the Senate, we should be here from Nov. 9 until Dec. 31 with no break at all,” Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio) told reporters in October, The Hill reported.
Nominees and permitting
The Senate’s first scheduled vote on Monday is on a bipartisan permitting reform package, The Hill reported. More than 30 administration nominees have cleared committee and await floor votes; any not confirmed by Jan. 3 would have to start over in the new Congress, where Democrats will control the floor. A batch of judicial nominees is also expected to come up.
Democrats say they have little reason to help Republicans move partisan bills. “We are in a stronger negotiating position” once Democrats take over in January, Rep. Greg Casar (D-Texas), chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, told Politico. Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) said, “The speaker has a chance now to take this lame-duck session and reconcile, not with Democrats, but with the American people,” according to WSB-TV.
The session could also include an impeachment fight. Outgoing Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) has vowed to force a House vote on impeaching Hegseth, WSB-TV reported. Asked in a “60 Minutes” interview airing Sunday whether he has confidence in Hegseth, President Donald Trump said, “I do,” according to The Guardian.
Democrats’ leadership questions
Democrats are also sorting out who will lead their new majorities. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) is positioned to become majority leader, but Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) said Saturday there “should be no coronation of the next Democratic leader,” and that “nobody should get a blank check without a full understanding from the caucus as to where we’re going to go,” NBC News reported. NBC said at least six incoming Democratic senators have pledged to challenge Schumer’s leadership. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) is the likely speaker in January, NBC reported.
The House and Senate are not scheduled to meet every day between now and the new year, leaving a compressed calendar for the funding and defense bills before control of Congress changes hands.
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