A Look at What’s On Tap for the December Work Period

Congress has funded the government into early 2024, but lawmakers must still contend with several year-end legislative priorities when they return after the Thanksgiving holiday. Notably, a bipartisan group of senators plans to resume negotiations over a supplemental appropriations package that could potentially include buckets of funding for Israel, Ukraine, and Taiwan in exchange for additional border spending and policy changes. The negotiations have proven to be a tough slog throughout the fall, especially given the lack of appetite among House conservatives for additional foreign spending. Other items that need to be addressed prior to the end of the year include the fiscal year (FY) 2024 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) as well as reauthorization of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)

• Government Funding Update. Leadership will look to get the appropriations process back on track with the goal of clinching a broader fiscal year (FY) 2024 spending deal. According to intel from Capitol Hill, the Senate is eyeing another “minibus” package that would contain funding bills for Defense, Labor-HHS-Education, Energy-Water, and Commerce-Justice-Science. With the House’s process on ice over several intraparty disputes within the GOP majority, bipartisan cooperation will be needed among Senate leaders and Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) to clinch a deal for next year’s spending levels.