The U.S. House of Representatives is in recess through the November election, and the fiscal year 2025 federal appropriations bills were not passed before members of Congress left to campaign for reelection. Both chambers have agreed to a temporary funding resolution that expires on Dec. 20. Congress will need to agree during the lame-duck session on funding levels before that date or pass another stopgap funding measure that would have to be addressed by the next administration.

Additional items for consideration in the lame-duck session include finishing work on permitting reform, with an overarching Senate deal advanced by retiring Senator Joe Manchin (I-WV) to streamline environmental reviews for energy projects still running into opposition from House members. An end-of-year tax bill also remains a possibility, with House Ways and Means chair Jason Smith (R-MO) trying to get the Senate to agree to tax legislation passed by the House earlier in the year, which failed to garner the support of key Senate Republicans.