Congress Faces Key Decisions On Spending Ahead Of December 20 Deadline

When the next Congress gets to work in January, more than ten percent of the members — close to 70 — will be newcomers. That’s one reason many members of the outgoing Congress — even those who aren’t leaving — believe it’s important to finish their work, especially appropriations.

Under the continuing resolution (CR) that was passed in September, government agencies are funded through Dec. 20. That means the current Congress, in which Democrats still control the U.S. Senate, has just over a month to agree on what comes next.

"Well, we've got options," said Congressman Josh Brecheen (R-OK2) in an interview last week.

For Rep. Brecheen, a deficit hawk who believes the federal budget should, at a minimum, be shrunk to 2019 pre-COVID levels, the best option would be for this Congress to use another continuing resolution to fund the government into March, when the new Republican-controlled Congress and President Trump can leave their mark on what's left of 2025 spending.

"I don't want to lose, for fiscal year '25, the chance to cut spending," Rep. Brecheen explained. "If we do a full year and we just stay with where the Democrats want to be, then the spending levels remain heightened."

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA) also favors this approach, but he is reportedly in the minority.

Democrats, and many Republicans, would rather see a funding timeline where the 118th Congress approves appropriations all the way through the end of the current fiscal year, without interruption..

"We need to fund the government for the rest of this fiscal year through the end of September," Rep. Frank Lucas (R-OK3) said in a recent interview, "whether that's—whatever the mechanism is, get it done so we can take that off the plate so the president can focus on his big agenda items."

Those big agenda items include a major tax policy bill, given the fact that Trump's 2017 tax cuts are set to expire at the end of the calendar year 2025.

There will be Cabinet nominees and other Trump appointments who will need Senate confirmation, a new Farm Bill, border security, and the FY 2026 budget.

Oklahoma Senator James Lankford says the last thing the new Congress and President Trump should have to worry about is finishing up fiscal year 2025 appropriations.

"There's a lot that we've got to do next year," Lankford said in an interview last week. "The best thing we can do to prepare for next year is to finish this year's work, so we're not behind on day one of next year."

President-elect Trump has yet to publicly state his preference.