This Week in Congress

Congress returned this week to pass the FY23 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), along with attempting to fund the government before December 16th and potentially extending that funding deadline to December 23rd.   Additionally, the federal government’s debt interest costs surged in the first two months of the fiscal year. The Treasury Department reported that interest paid on the public debt amounted to $103 billion over the past two months. That marks an 87% jump over October and November of last year.  Finally, the U.S. inflation cooled more than expected in November, an encouraging sign for the economy. Consumer prices rose 7.1 percent from a year ago. The new data was an encouraging sign for Federal Reserve officials as they gather in Washington this week to discuss the next steps in their campaign against rapid price increase.