Congress returns with Dec. 11 shutdown deadline and NDAA fight
What's next: Republicans have only weeks before Democrats take both chambers in January, narrowing the window for any deal.
Congress returns to Washington this week for a lame-duck stretch dominated by a Dec. 11 deadline to keep the federal government funded and a stalled National Defense Authorization Act. Lawmakers are expected to rely on another short-term continuing resolution rather than finish the usual 12 spending bills before current funding expires. The annual defense package has also become tangled in politics around the Iran war. The House is also likely to vote on an impeachment effort against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, filed by Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky over the administration's handling of the military campaign and consultation with Congress. Democrats, set to take the House and Senate in January, have little incentive to cut broad deals now.