The Lame Duck Session of Congress Begins—Here’s What to Expect

Becoming a member of the Senate early will give Schiff seniority over all new senators being sworn into workplace on Jan. 3.

The resignations of Schiff and Kim from the Home to affix the Senate will enhance Republicans’ slim majority within the decrease physique, the place inside occasion division led to a traditionally unproductive legislative session. As of this writing, a number of incumbent members have launched bids for management positions within the new Congress, for which elections will doubtless happen throughout the lame-duck session.

One other main growth would be the election of a brand new chief of the Senate Republican Convention, who will instantly grow to be the Senate majority chief upon the 119th Congress taking workplace. The incumbent, Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), is retiring after 14 years within the position. Three senators—John Cornyn (R-Texas), Republican Whip John Thune (R-S.D.), and Rick Scott (R-Fla.)­—are operating for the position.

McConnell introduced his determination earlier this 12 months, which implies that jockeying for the management has gone on for some time. Nevertheless, the occasion’s impending management of the Senate had altered the panorama of the race, most notably with Scott’s entry and endorsement from a number of distinguished populist figures.

Past composition adjustments, Congress may have a number of main residual coverage gadgets to deal with earlier than it dissolves.

One other Persevering with Decision

As common, Congress was unable to move full-year spending or “appropriations” payments for fiscal 12 months 2025 by the deadline of Sept. 30. Because of this, preserving with common follow, it handed a “persevering with decision” (CR) that prolonged funding on the earlier 12 months’s ranges for a prorated interval, ending on Dec. 20. To maintain the federal government funded, Congress should act by that date.

It’s extremely unlikely that full-year appropriations payments will probably be handed earlier than the 118th Congress dissolves. As a substitute, it’s prone to move one other CR that pushes the query of 2025 appropriations to the subsequent Congress, the place Republicans are prone to management each homes. Doing so will allow a more recent physique, freshly elected, to start the entire appropriations course of once more.

“Congress will … move a CR in September to delay the deadline till December, the place they’ll both negotiate a full-year omnibus or one other persevering with decision. This has grow to be the conventional mode of enterprise nowadays,” Joshua Huder, a senior fellow at The Authorities Affairs Institute at Georgetown College, advised The Epoch Instances.

Pushing the method into 2025 had lengthy been the intention of Republicans, who had anticipated to win the presidential election that may give them better leverage to enact extra conservative spending laws.

“I would moderately [the CR] go clear into March in hopes that former President Trump wins the election after which has an opportunity to place his fingerprints on laws,” Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wy.) advised The Epoch Instances in September.

“We’ll fund the federal government into March,” learn an announcement from Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) that month. “We’re going to provide [government spending] to President Trump’s administration to repair.”

‘Midnight Judges’

Given Trump’s victory within the presidential election and Republicans’ impending management of the Senate, all the judicial appointment course of is ready to be managed by conservatives within the 119th Congress. Over the last interval of such twin management, from 2017 t0 2021 throughout Trump’s first presidential time period, the Republican-led Senate granted “recommendation and consent” (i.e., affirmation) to 251 federal judges nominated and appointed by him.

Then-Majority Chief Mitch McConnell referred to as judicial confirmations of conservative nominees his “highest precedence.”

Throughout their phrases, President Joe Biden and Senate Majority Chief Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) have adopted swimsuit. The Senate has, up to now, confirmed 213 federal judges that Biden nominated.

The composition of the federal judiciary has grow to be tremendously vital to politics in recent times, given frequent litigation. Lots of the Biden administration’s regulatory actions—from scholar debt reduction to frame insurance policies—have been blocked by conservative federal judges pending evaluation by the Supreme Courtroom, which has a conservative majority.

Biden and Schumer are prone to proceed the frequency of judicial confirmations within the ultimate weeks of his presidency, in order that nominees could also be appointed to phrases with life tenure earlier than Trump takes workplace on Jan. 20, 2025.

A dispute over one such appointment grew to become the premise for the Supreme Courtroom’s landmark holding in Marbury v. Madison, establishing the precept of judicial evaluation.

Kicking the Can Down the Street

Past averting a authorities shutdown and the Senate’s confirming Biden-nominated judges, it’s extremely unlikely that Congress will tackle any main legislative merchandise within the ultimate weeks earlier than Jan. 3, 2025.

Typically, the top of Congress prompts votes on main legislative gadgets, benefiting from retiring members who can vote with out consequence on payments that could be unpopular of their constituencies.

Nevertheless, Home Republicans—who will doubtless enhance their majority within the 119th Congress—don’t have any incentive to work with the Democratic-led Senate on non-immediate points and can delay any main laws in order that the subsequent Republican-led Congress can tackle it.

When a brand new Congress convenes, it should tackle a number of main legislative issues instantly. Chief amongst them is the federal debt ceiling, which was suspended for 2 years by the Fiscal Duty Act (FRA) of 2023.

The suspension will expire on Jan. 2, 2025, and the restrict will reapply, at which level it is going to instantly be exceeded, creating the danger of sovereign default by america.

Nevertheless, a default received’t happen instantly. The Division of the Treasury will deploy extraordinary measures because it did in 2023 to stave off a default for a number of months. The precise date at which a default will happen following these measures is unsure, on condition that spending priorities differ.

Many Republicans, particularly within the Home, have strongly criticized elevating or suspending the debt ceiling, which they imagine allows unsustainable authorities spending. In 2023, they insisted upon important spending limits for 2024 and 2025 within the FRA, in trade for the debt-limit suspension. Nevertheless, remaining Republicans and the totality of Democrats have cautioned towards such situations, arguing {that a} default will probably be catastrophic for the U.S. financial system in addition to the entire world, on condition that the U.S. greenback is the world’s reserve forex.

Past debt, Congress additionally will probably be prompted to deal with taxation. Key provisions of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) of 2017, which was championed by Trump and the then-Republican-led Congress, will expire in early 2025.

Republicans are fascinated with reauthorizing the TCJA’s widespread provisions, such because the discount of revenue tax charges and the creation of ‘alternative zones’ for low enterprise taxation.