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Congress returns for crowded lame‑duck session

newsNov 9, 2026451,741

Congress returns Monday to a crowded lame‑duck agenda that includes a government funding deadline on Dec. 11, passage of the National Defense Authorization Act, debt‑limit planning and a possible impeachment resolution against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Lawmakers must pass either a continuing resolution or full appropriations before Dec. 11 to avoid a shutdown, but appropriations require 60 votes in the Senate because of the filibuster. Democrats swept to at least 255 House seats and could hold as many as 56 Senate seats, giving them looming majorities in both chambers and reducing their incentive to cut pre‑January deals with Republicans. Sen. Patty Murray signaled Democratic leverage over spending decisions, and the electoral loss of Sen. Susan Collins to Democrat Troy Jackson removes one of the Senate’s key appropriators from post‑election negotiations. The federal debt recently topped $40 trillion and a $41.1 trillion ceiling is written into the GOP’s 2025 reconciliation law; nonpartisan analysts say Treasury may reach maximum borrowing capacity by mid‑summer, while a Bank of America estimate put the date the U.S. might miss obligations at November 2027. Republicans could try to raise the debt limit through reconciliation, but that route requires near‑total party unity and would be difficult with the narrow margins expected after the midterms.

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