The US Congress begins a five-week year-end session, with funding before December 11 as the priority to avoid a government shutdown. On the agenda are the five-year farm bill, the defense budget and pending reforms.
The US Congress begins this week its year-end session, a five-week period in which Republicans, still in control of both chambers despite the Democratic victory in the midterm elections, must wrap up a packed agenda before handing over control in January. The immediate priority is passing a government funding bill before December 11 to avoid a shutdown of the federal administration.
Democrats and Republicans do not have enough time to negotiate a bipartisan agreement on the twelve appropriations bills for the full fiscal year, which would total around 1.9 trillion dollars. That is why lawmakers will have to resort to another stopgap spending bill that extends funding into next year, when Democrats will take the lead in negotiations with President Donald Trump.
At the same time, Senate Republicans are expected to use the remaining time to confirm nominees before the mid-December recess. Senator Kevin Cramer of North Dakota continues to block Trump's nominees to push back against a Joe Biden-era rule on Fish and Wildlife Service wetland easements; after a visit by the agency's director in October, he has gradually lifted some of those holds.
The farm bill, a sweeping package of farm aid and nutrition programs that should have become law years ago, remains unfinished because of long-standing disagreements between the two parties. The Senate Agriculture Committee approved its version of the text in September, though without bipartisan backing. The chairman of that committee, Republican John Boozman, said he hopes to reach a deal in the coming weeks.
"Family farmers contending with numerous challenges to their viability cannot afford another Farm Bill delay," Boozman said. "Producers and rural communities are counting on us to deliver the predictability, certainty and support that a modernized Farm Bill provides. Congress has the opportunity to show them we understand how urgently they need these critical updates and I remain committed to helping get them signed into law this year."
House Agriculture Committee Chairman Glenn "G.T." Thompson, a Republican, said that moving "a full, five-year farm bill across the finish line remains a top priority of mine as we look to the remaining legislative days of 2026. American producers and consumers cannot afford to wait any longer."
Democrat Angie Craig, ranking member of the committee in the House, said she remains in bipartisan, bicameral conversations to address the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), year-round E15 sales and other priorities. "I remain deeply committed to addressing the unfunded SNAP mandate that Republicans forced onto states and counties," she said. "Family farmers across the country are hurting right now and desperately want to see a farm bill that opens up domestic markets, like year-round E15, that robustly funds conservation programs and provides certainty for the next five years. I will continue to work with my colleagues to address these issues and more in the coming weeks."
Congress could also finalize a deal on the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which lawmakers have approved annually for more than 60 years. House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mike Rogers, a Republican, said that "the NDAA continues to be my highest priority, and I'm confident we can get this across the finish line."
"This legislation is crucial to our national security, and a failure to pass it would not only weaken American deterrence, but also abandon critical support for our men and women in uniform, including a pay raise and better access to healthcare and childcare," Rogers added.
House Republican leadership will also have to decide whether to bring up for a vote a college sports bill that the Senate approved earlier this year. A spokesperson for the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee said that "there is no realistic path to secure the same broad, bipartisan support for a new bill in 2027 and beyond."
"Passing the Senate-approved bipartisan bill through the House and sending it to the President's desk during the lame duck Congress gives House Republicans an opportunity to close out the 119th Congress with a significant win for President Trump, HBCUs, women's sports, and student athletes," the spokesperson added. "An attempt to amend it would be a surefire defeat for the colleges and fans counting on PCSA's enactment."
Also pending is a permitting reform to speed up regulatory review of major public works projects, driven by a bipartisan group of senators and with a first procedural vote expected this week in the Senate.
Off the floor, the House could change its rules to address the ethics violations of recent years, an issue Republican Kat Cammack and Democrat Teresa Leger Fernández are working on. House Republicans will vote behind closed doors to choose their next minority leader: Speaker Mike Johnson announced he will not seek to remain at the helm, leaving a contest between Republican Leader Steve Scalise and Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan. The other three congressional leaders — Democrat Hakeem Jeffries, Democrat Chuck Schumer and Republican John Thune — are expected to remain at the head of their respective conferences.
