WASHINGTON (AP) – The lame-duck Congress is gaveling in for its final work session of 2016, and its last under President Barack Obama, as lawmakers face a Dec. 9 deadline for spending legislation to keep the government running.
Republican leaders want to pass a short-term spending bill to extend existing funding levels into next spring, allowing a new President Donald Trump the opportunity to play a bigger role in crafting agency budgets.
Congress is also trying to finalize legislation to address lead-tainted water in Flint, Michigan, and pass a bipartisan bill to promote medical research and innovation. And House Democrats will be voting in a new leadership team Wednesday after a delay sought by lawmakers angry over Democrats’ poor showing in this month’s federal elections. Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of California is expected to prevail over Rep. Tim Ryan of Ohio, but she has promised some changes meant to give newer lawmakers a bigger voice in the Democratic caucus, which has been led for years by the same aging lawmakers and committee chairmen.
A number of other odds and ends await action as well. And throughout, GOP leaders in the House and Senate will be working with Trump’s transition teams to craft an agenda for next year, when Republicans will control both chambers of Congress and the White House for the first time in a decade.
A look at the legislation awaiting action: