From now until Dec. 20, Congress has a full plate of issues to deal with before Washington turns red in January. All the items on the agenda are fraught with varying levels of political risk. Let’s get into the top three we’re watching for this lame-duck special edition.
Government funding: Speaker Mike Johnson has said he wants to pass a short-term stopgap funding bill to keep the government open past the Dec. 20 deadline. Strategically, this could be a risky move for President-elect Donald Trump’s 100-day agenda.
Moving a short-term measure would ensure Congress is wrapped up in a funding debate for the first quarter of 2025, all while Johnson has a bare-bones, 218- or 219-seat majority. On top of that, assembling a three-month CR would be a heavy lift for Congress. The Pentagon hates short-term funding bills. The spending anomalies would make this a huge bill that runs thousands of pages.
Disaster relief and the farm bill: The White House sent Congress a $98.4 billion bill on Monday to help the storm-stricken Southeast. This is exactly in line with what Johnson and other congressional leaders thought the price tag would be. All four corners — Johnson, incoming Senate GOP Leader John Thune, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer — want to get disaster relief passed. However, House Republicans will be the squeaky wheel.
The NDAA: For the last six decades, Congress has passed the annual Pentagon policy bill. The Senate is expected to move on the NDAA after Thanksgiving. House Republicans planned to put a number of bills cracking down on China in the legislation, but the chances for that are dimming.
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