Lawmakers prepare for final lame-duck sprint before making way for next Congress

WASHINGTON — Keeping the federal government open. Provide more disaster relief. Adopting a bill on defense policy. And for Senate Democrats, confirming more judges.

It’s a short but important to-do list as Congress returns to Washington this week to begin what’s known as a lame-duck session — the period between Election Day and the end of Congress’ two-year term.

Republicans are eager to turn the page and move on to next year, when they will have control of the White House and possibly both chambers of Congress, while Democrats hope to accomplish as many of their priorities as possible while still holding the majority . in the Senate.

Here’s a look at the state of play in the final weeks of the tumultuous 118th Congress:

Just before lawmakers left Washington in September, they did just that past a short-term extension of government funding to avoid a shutdown before the election. They still need to approve full-year budgets for the current fiscal year, or at least another extension, by December 20.

A Republican aide in the House of Representatives and another in the Senate who was not authorized to speak publicly about the internal planning said it is likely that Congress will approve another short-term extension early next year instead of continuing work on the finalizing bills.

That’s because the two parties still have major differences over spending levels and policy priorities. Moreover, Republicans now have less incentive to negotiate because they will control the White House, the Senate and possibly the House of Representatives in January.

Much will depend on whether government funding will be a fight for the president-elect Donald Trump really wants to do business in his first weeks as president or whether he prefers to focus on other priorities.

Under the conditions of a previous agreement that then speaker Kevin McCarthy achieved with the Biden administration, spending on defense and non-defense programs would increase 1% this fiscal year.

The Senate has charted a course to rise above that level, while Republicans in the House of Representatives have voted for steep cuts to many non-defense programs and attached policy mandates to spending bills that Democrats overwhelmingly oppose. So it will be difficult to get this Congress to reach a final agreement.

Congress filled the Federal Agency for Emergency Management ‘s disaster relief fund with more than $20 billion in September. But that money is being spent quickly in the wake of the hurricanes Helene And Milton.

Congress is expected to pass a supplemental disaster funding package at some point during the lame duck. But for now, lawmakers are waiting on a request from the Biden administration about how much additional money will be needed for FEMA’s disaster relief fund and for other disaster assistance programs, such as the Small Business Administration program that provides low-interest loans to businesses and homeowners who affected by the crisis. material damage. The program no more money in mid-October, although the agency continues to accept applications so it can act quickly if Congress does provide funding.

Lawmakers expect a significant request.

On a visit to North Carolina after Hurricane Helene, Speaker of the House of Representatives Mike Johnson said Congress was providing money to meet immediate needs and at the right time would “act in a bipartisan manner to provide what is needed to help these communities recover, the appropriate amount the federal government should.”

For more than 60 years, Congress has passed an annual defense policy bill that authorizes specific weapons systems and sets troop strength and pay levels.

The House of Representatives passed the $895.2 billion measure in June. This amounts to an increase of 1% compared to the last budget year, an amount that is in line with the spending limits set in the McCarthy-White House agreement. The measure provided a 19.5% pay increase for junior enlisted service members and a 4.5% increase for other service members. But the measure was also filled with dozens of conservative policy mandates, including reversing the Pentagon’s policy to reimburse military personnel for transportation costs for traveling out of state for an abortion.

The inclusion of culture war provisions turned what is typically a bipartisan bill into one that was opposed by the vast majority of Democrats in the House of Representatives.

The Senate version would authorize about $919.9 billion in spending. The bipartisan measure passed the committee in July but was not brought up as Democrats reserved valuable speaking time for other priorities. But behind the scenes, lawmakers have been negotiating to reconcile the differences in the two bills.

Democrats have made confirming judges a high priority after watching Trump confirm 234 judges during his first four years in office.

To date, the Senate has confirmed 213 presidents Joe Biden ‘s judicial nominees, and a spokesperson for the committee said the chairman, Sen. Sen. Dick DurbinD-Ill., aims to confirm every possible candidate by the end of the convention. Seventeen nominees are pending and several more are pending in the committee.

It’s possible that Biden could beat Trump’s total, but Trump still gets an edge when it comes to the most important nominations — the one for the Supreme Court, with Trump appointing three and Biden appointing one. Trump also confirmed more appeals court judges.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck SchumerDN.Y. has already lined up votes on two justices next week, an indication of the priority Democrats are giving the issue during the lame duck.