Both chambers of the United States Congress return to Washington on Monday 9 November for a lame-duck session crowded with unfinished business — and with government funding running out in just over a month.
According to a Gray DC report carried by Live 5 News and others, lawmakers return to Capitol Hill on 9 November for the session that follows the 2026 midterm elections, which concluded with Election Day on 3 November. The 120th Congress is scheduled to be seated in the first few days of January 2027.
The outgoing Republican-controlled 119th Congress returns knowing that Democrats will take control of both chambers in January, according to QNC News.
Funding runs out on 11 December
Top of the pile is money. Congress has not passed a single one of the 12 spending bills for the fiscal year that began on 1 October, and the government is running on a temporary measure that expires on 11 December, according to QNC News.
That measure, the continuing resolution passed in September, is formally the Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2027, which funds the government through 11 December, according to a Miller & Chevalier legislative update. If Congress does not act by 11 December, government funding lapses, and a partial shutdown before the holidays is possible, according to Gray DC.
With no time to complete the full appropriations process, lawmakers are expected to pass another short-term extension, but that will require Democratic cooperation that has been hard to secure all year, according to QNC News. NPR congressional reporter Eric McDaniel said on 7 November that Congress would not negotiate the full suite of 12 annual spending bills, and would instead do “some kind of kick-the-can extension.”
Defence and farm bills unfinished
Also unfinished is the annual defence policy bill, the National Defense Authorization Act, which Congress has managed to pass in some form every year since 1961, according to QNC News. The House and Senate versions of the $1.15 trillion defence authorisation bill remain to be melded, according to the Tierney Real News Network.
The Farm Bill has already expired, on 30 September, with a deadline of 31 December, according to the same report. The lame-duck session has about 16 working days before the end of the year, according to the Tierney report, and about 20 legislative days in total, according to Representative Andrew Clyde of Georgia, cited by QNC News.
NPR reported that a vote this week to impeach the Secretary of Defense is also expected, an effort first brought by Republican Thomas Massie of Kentucky, which will compete for floor time with the must-pass bills.
Miller takes over as chief of staff
The session opens with a change at the top of the White House. President Trump on Friday named Stephen Miller, his longtime aide, as White House chief of staff, Reuters reported, three days after Republicans lost control of Congress in the midterms. Miller, 41, replaces Susie Wiles, and Trump said the change takes effect on Monday 9 November, according to Yield Update, citing Reuters.
Miller has been deputy chief of staff since 2025, according to the same report. Senate Republican Majority Leader John Thune will have to balance the floor time needed to pass the must-pass legislation, according to NPR.
