Congress Returns for Lame-Duck Session With December 11 Funding Deadline Looming

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Congress returned to Washington on Monday for the lame-duck session that follows last week's midterm elections, with a December 11 deadline to keep the government funded and a leadership fight already under way among House Republicans. The session is the final stretch for the outgoing Republican majorities before Democrats take control of both chambers when the new Congress convenes on January 3, 2027.

The most urgent item is money. A stopgap law signed in September, H.R. 6500, funds federal agencies through December 11, and none of the 12 regular spending bills for fiscal year 2027 has become law. Lawmakers must either pass those bills or agree on another short-term extension before the deadline, or parts of the government will begin shutting down on December 12. The House calendar leaves 16 session days between Monday and the deadline, with the chamber meeting at noon and votes starting at 6:30 p.m. on Monday.

The return also opens a contest for the future of the House Republican leadership. Speaker Mike Johnson told his staff last week that he will not run to lead the party in the minority, and Majority Leader Steve Scalise and Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan have both put themselves forward. House Republicans are scheduled to choose their next leader in a closed-door vote on Tuesday, November 10, with President Trump saying he will stay out of the race. Johnson keeps the speaker's gavel through the end of the lame-duck session.

The return date and the December 11 deadline are reported consistently across several outlets. A Reuters report carried on November 7 put both at the centre of the session, a Gray DC report carried by local stations gave the same dates, and The Hill's November 9 report tied the deadline to the 12 unfinished spending bills. The November 10 leadership vote and the Scalise-Jordan contest were first reported by Reuters on November 4 and confirmed in later reporting that also noted Johnson's decision not to run. Projections that Democrats won both chambers come from CBS News, which put Democrats at at least 54 Senate seats. The outgoing Congress is the 119th, which convened in January 2025. The Congress that takes over in January 2027 is the 120th.

The calendar gives the outgoing majorities about five weeks of working time, split around Thanksgiving, to settle spending, a defence policy bill and a farm bill before handing power to a Democratic Congress that will renegotiate from its own position. If the two parties cannot agree on full-year bills, another short-term extension is the likely fallback, pushing the hardest choices into the new year. The leadership vote on Tuesday will also shape how House Republicans organise themselves in opposition, with the winner inheriting a smaller conference and the job of rebuilding after a midterm defeat.