This Week in Congress

Both chambers of Congress returned to Washington this week following their Thanksgiving break, and they have three weeks of work before the end of the 118th Congress to finalize government spending and wrap up negotiations on the annual defense policy bill.  Speaker Johnson (R-LA) is pushing for a short-term funding extension into next year, allowing the Republicans to make their mark on fiscal 2025 appropriations while in control of the White House, Senate, and House. Some Republicans prefer to focus on other priorities early in President-elect Trump’s second term.  Other measures could ride along with the defense bill, such as the biennial water infrastructure bill. A compromise on renewing federal workforce development programs is also being eyed for floor action before the end of the year.  Movement on the next farm bill and the debt ceiling, which comes back into effect January 2nd, are more likely in the new Congress.  Finally, the short-term funding extension is expected to carry supplemental disaster funding, although probably not as much as the Biden administration has requested.

Additionally, the House voted on the Crucial Communism Teaching Act (H.R. 5349), which would promote high school curricula on the dangers of communism; and the Prove it Act (H.R. 7198), which would create a process to require additional reviews of the impact of federal regulations on small businesses.  Additional votes were casted on H.R. 9151, which would create an initiative in the Department of Justice to prosecute trade-related crimes, H.R. 7480, which would improve housing support for disabled veterans, and H.R. 3507, which would require state governments to report on their adoption of land use policies that promote housing supply and affordability. The Senate voted on the confirmation of judicial nominees.