Republicans return Monday for a five-week lame-duck session with control of both chambers until January, and their most urgent job is keeping the federal government open past Dec. 11.
Agencies have been running on a stopgap since the fiscal year began Oct. 1. There is not enough time to negotiate the dozen full-year spending bills, which together will likely cost around $1.9 trillion, so lawmakers will need another short-term measure that carries funding into next year, when Democrats will lead talks with President Donald Trump after winning Congress in the midterms.
GOP leaders also hope to send the president the annual defense policy bill, a farm bill, legislation regulating college sports and a permitting overhaul meant to loosen rules on large construction projects.
A holdout on nominees
Senate Republicans plan to spend much of the remaining time confirming nominees before leaving in mid-December, since Democrats are unlikely to move Trump's picks once they hold the majority. A Senate GOP aide said judicial nominees will be a top priority.
That effort runs into resistance from one of their own. Sen. Kevin Cramer, a North Dakota Republican, is still holding up Trump's nominees as leverage to get the administration to scrap a Biden-era U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service rule on wetland easements, which he says hurts property owners in his state.
Cramer has eased his blockade in steps as he sees progress, clearing the way for Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling's confirmation and dropping his objection to Chris Klomp, nominated as deputy secretary of Health and Human Services. His office said he would release a few more holds after FWS Director Brian Nesvik visited North Dakota in October.
Farm, defense and sports bills
The farm bill, a sweeping package of agriculture aid and nutrition programs, is years overdue because the parties have long been at odds. Senate Agriculture Chairman John Boozman, R-Ark., said he hopes to strike a deal within weeks, which would require Democratic votes; his committee's version cleared the panel in September without bipartisan support.
House Agriculture Chairman Glenn Thompson, R-Pa., called a full five-year bill a top priority. Rep. Angie Craig of Minnesota, the committee's ranking Democrat, said she is in talks across parties and chambers on food assistance, year-round sales of gasoline blended with 15% ethanol and other issues, and wants to undo what she called an unfunded SNAP mandate that Republicans pushed onto states and counties.
Congress has passed the National Defense Authorization Act every year for more than six decades. House Armed Services Chairman Mike Rogers, R-Ala., said the bill is his highest priority and that he is confident it will pass, warning that failure would weaken deterrence and cut off a pay raise for service members.
House GOP leaders must decide whether to bring up a college sports bill the Senate already passed. A spokesperson for the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee said the bill has no realistic chance of drawing similar bipartisan backing in 2027 or later, and that amending it now would sink it.
A bipartisan group of senators unveiled the permitting legislation in late September, aiming to speed public projects by streamlining regulatory reviews. The Senate is set to take its first procedural vote on it this week, leaving the House to decide whether to follow.
The House may also rewrite its rules to address ethics violations by lawmakers in recent years. Reps. Kat Cammack, a Florida Republican, and Teresa Leger Fernández, a New Mexico Democrat, have spent months on a plan to enforce better conduct.
A leadership contest
Behind closed doors, House Republicans will pick their leaders for the next Congress, when they will be in the minority. Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana said this week he will not try to keep the top spot, opening a contest between Steve Scalise, also of Louisiana, and Ohio's Jim Jordan, who chairs the Judiciary Committee.
Democratic leaders Hakeem Jeffries and Chuck Schumer, along with Senate Republican Leader John Thune, are expected to keep their posts.
