Congress returns to Washington as GOP prepares to take control

New subordinate predisposition successful Congress

Orientation for caller members of Congress begins arsenic authorities shutdown looms 04:56

Washington — Lawmakers are returning to Washington Tuesday for a lame duck league aft Republicans flipped the Senate and look poised to clasp onto power of the House aft past week's elections.

The caller Congress volition beryllium seated successful January, and President-elect Donald Trump's agenda is expected to beryllium its cardinal focus. Until then, Senate Democrats whitethorn marque a propulsion to o.k. their priorities with their remaining days successful power of the precocious chamber. 

Lawmakers are besides facing deadlines connected different must-pass legislation, including backing the government, arsenic they laic the groundwork for the caller Congress with new-member predisposition and enactment elections this week and next. 

The caller Congress

House Republicans reveled successful their victories past week, expressing assurance that they would clasp power of the little enclosure successful the caller twelvemonth with conscionable a fistful of seats to go. Speaker Mike Johnson wrote a missive to colleagues asking for their continued enactment for his leadership, present that the predetermination has delivered a "mandate" for a unified Republican government. 

"If we conscionable this historical infinitesimal together, the adjacent 2 years tin effect successful the astir consequential Congress of the modern era," Johnson continued, noting that "to genuinely marque America large again, we volition request to statesman delivering for the radical connected time one."

Meanwhile, Democrats continued to clasp onto immoderate hopes of flipping the House, to beryllium the lone cheque connected Republican governmental powerfulness successful Washington. Still, Rep. Pramila Jayapal, who leads the Progressive Caucus, acknowledged Monday that Democrats person a "very slim way to the majority."

"We are going to bash our enactment to assistance rebuild and to travel backmost from this nonaccomplishment and recalibrate," Jayapal said astatine a quality league to present the recently elected progressives. 

On the different broadside of the Capitol, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell praised the prime of Republican candidates successful Senate races this cycle, saying the time aft the predetermination that he's "never seen a amended performance." With the caller bulk of astatine slightest 52 seats, the outgoing person argued that Republicans did "pretty well" with constrictive majorities during the past administration, citing 3 caller Supreme Court justices and taxation reform. 

"It's harder, but I deliberation we were palmy earlier with a constrictive bulk and I deliberation we volition beryllium again," McConnell said. 

Republicans to clasp enactment elections

In the Senate, Republicans volition ballot Wednesday to elite a caller leader, since McConnell announced helium would measurement speech earlier this year. A high-stakes contention to regenerate the longest-serving person successful the chamber's past has been taking spot down the scenes. 

GOP Whip John Thune, a South Dakota Republican, and Sen. John Cornyn, a Texas Republican, are considered the front-runners successful the contention to regenerate McConnell. But Sen. Rick Scott, a Florida Republican, has seen a surge of enactment from members of Trump's orbit — from Tucker Carlson to Elon Musk — that has drawn much attraction to the race.  

How the extracurricular input weighs connected the contention remains to beryllium seen. Senate Republicans volition conscionable down closed doors and formed concealed ballots to elite a caller leader, making them little apt to beryllium swayed by extracurricular pressures. But an endorsement of a campaigner from Trump himself could alteration the dynamic. He has already weighed successful with a request astir recess appointments.  

Meanwhile, House Republicans are besides acceptable to behaviour enactment elections this week. With a stronger-than-expected showing crossed the House races, the existent enactment slate is expected to bask wide enactment to stay astatine the helm of the chamber. But Trump's enactment of GOP Conference Chair Elise Stefanik to service arsenic ambassador to the U.N. created different opening successful the enactment races. 

Lame duck to-do list: backing government, Biden's judicial nominations

Congress is returning to unit to avert a authorities shutdown aft lawmakers approved a continuing solution to support the authorities funded done Dec. 20 earlier this year. 

The pre-holiday deadline to forestall a shutdown is commonplace for Congress, though it frustrates immoderate House Republicans looking to debar a ballot connected a monolithic spending measure known arsenic an "omnibus." Johnson said successful September that helium opposes an omnibus backing bundle astir the holidays, suggesting that helium would enactment to o.k. the12 full-year spending bills individually aft the election. But the caller equilibrium of powerfulness successful Washington adjacent twelvemonth astir surely changes the calculus.

House Republicans person truthful acold approved a fistful of the full-year spending bills, though they've done truthful connected a partisan ground that makes them nonstarters successful the Senate. And the precocious enclosure has yet to ballot connected immoderate idiosyncratic spending bills this year. The world makes different stopgap measurement punting a broader backing combat into the caller twelvemonth likely.

Lawmakers whitethorn besides code backing for catastrophe alleviation pursuing the devastation caused by Hurricanes Helene and Milton successful the southeastern U.S. earlier this year. And an yearly defence argumentation measure is besides a apical precedence earlier the year's end.

Meanwhile, Senate Democrats are expected to ballot connected judicial nominations, arsenic President Biden has sought to lucifer or adjacent surpass the full fig of judicial confirmations successful Trump's archetypal term. The contented takes connected heightened value for Democrats with different Trump word connected the horizon.

Caitlin Yilek contributed to this report.