The lame duck Congress has four remaining weeks before it is scheduled to adjourn for the year. Even if it stays in session through Christmas and New Year’s, that still only gives representatives and senators six more weeks of work. There is a lot to be done. Unless the White House wants to start 2027 in a severely weakened position, President Donald Trump needs to tell Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) what he wants to prioritize.
First, Congress must fund the government before the current spending agreement expires on Dec. 11. Republicans could pass another short-term continuing resolution to keep the government open into the new year, but doing so would leave Trump in a terrible bargaining position. Newly elected Democratic majorities in both chambers would have tremendous leverage to force their far-left spending priorities on the White House, including handing the Strait of Hormuz back to Iran, reopening the borders by defunding Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and sending inflation even higher by adding trillions of dollars in spending on Affordable Care Act subsidies and Medicaid.
