感恩节假期后，立法者带着一个很长的议程回到华盛顿，几周后新的国会开始了。

明年1月3日，共和党将执掌众议院，结束两年来民主党对联邦政府的完全控制。共和党成员已经争夺新的领导职位将他们的注意力转移到他们将如何登上对拜登议程的回应。

但是，抛开党派准备不谈，如果国会要在选举和本届任期结束之间的所谓“跛脚鸭”时期做任何事情，接下来的几周将需要一些跨通道的合作。有一系列必须通过的议程悬而未决。其中包括:资助政府，通过大规模军费开支法案。

与此同时，民主党人将寻求最大限度地利用他们的最后几天不受共和党封锁。

Dems专注于两个突出的优先事项

预计民主党将在本周晚些时候最终通过联邦立法，将同性和跨种族婚姻纳入法律保护，从而赢得胜利。虽然程序性投票仍然存在，但该立法在感恩节前夕在参议院通过了一项关键的测试投票，12名共和党人与所有民主党人一起在众议院阻止阻挠议事。es

“让我明确一点:通过《尊重婚姻法案》不是‘如果’的问题，而是‘何时’的问题，”多数党领袖查克·舒默在成功投票后说。

批准这项立法将是民主党人的一次胜利，他们一直在寻求将同性婚姻合法化——目前由最高法院的判决Obergefell v. Hodges合法化——因为高等法院在今年早些时候推翻了堕胎权，克拉伦斯·托马斯法官在一份单独的意见中建议Obergefell也应该被逆转。

虽然参议院的婚姻法案一旦通过，将需要返回众议院，但此前的版本在47名共和党人的支持下获得了众议院的批准。

民主党人还希望在本月晚些时候通过立法，旨在澄清1887年《选举计数法》(ECA)中规定的副总统在认证选举结果中的作用。新立法旨在阻止前总统唐纳德·特朗普(Donald Trump)在2021年1月6日左右提出的论点:副总统有权单方面拒绝各州提出的选举人。相反，该法案将副总统在认证中的角色定义为纯粹的礼仪性角色。

ECA改革是在几个月的幕后两党联盟建设之后进行的，并获得了超过10个必要的参议院共和党共同提案人，包括少数党领袖米奇·麦康奈尔。但是现在还不清楚参议院是否或者什么时候会采纳它。

“我们正在努力。周一，当被问及潜在投票的时间时，舒默说。

随着时间的流逝，其他优先事项可能会落到剪辑室的地板上。

一些民主党人曾希望通过某种移民改革，以确保童年抵达者延期行动的接受者获得公民身份，他们的命运目前正在等待法院裁决。但共和党人对这样的措施兴趣不大，在有限的剩余时间内，至少需要10人才能推动任何提案。

一群民主党人也试图恢复他们广受欢迎的疫情时代的儿童税收抵免。这方面的成功也不太可能。

任何未能在明年1月新一届国会就职时完成的立法，都必须与下一批立法者一起回到起点。

领导权之争成为焦点

虽然民主党人将尽量利用剩余的几周时间控制国会两院，但众议院共和党人将花大量时间试图确定谁将在1月3日执掌大权。

现任众议院共和党领袖凯文·麦卡锡正盯着议长的小木槌，但他是否能获得确保其安全所需的票数仍有待观察。本月早些时候，他在闭门选举中赢得了党内提名。但这远远没有得到他自己的政党的一致支持——该党将在下届众议院控制最多222个席位——为了牢牢抓住议长职位，麦卡锡需要218票，这意味着他可以避免几个叛逃。

到目前为止，已经有五个众议院共和党人人表示他们坚决反对麦卡锡。

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy speaks at a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, July 29, 2022.

安德鲁·哈尔尼克/美联社

与此同时，众议院民主党人将在本周周三和周四的选举中选出新的、创造历史的一代领导人，此前众议院议长南希·佩洛西(Nancy Pelosi)在感恩节前宣布她打算辞去党内领导职务。

纽约州众议员哈基姆·杰弗里斯(Hakeem Jeffries)很有可能接替佩洛西的职位。杰弗里斯不必为选票而争斗;预计他将在他的核心小组的压倒性支持下接替佩洛西，使这位52岁的人有望成为第一位领导国会政党的黑人议员。

这也将是佩洛西20年来第一次没有担任这个角色。党鞭将是一位女性——来自马萨诸塞州的凯瑟琳·克拉克(Katherine Clark)——第三号人物皮特·阿吉拉尔(Pete Aguilar)将成为国会中职位最高的拉美裔人;这位加州人在1月6日高调的委员会中崭露头角。

共和党在参议院的领导地位已经确定，议员们上周闭门会议，以压倒性优势选择麦康奈尔继续执掌该党，尽管他面临着15年来对这一职位的首次挑战。

即将离任的参议院共和党人竞选团队负责人、佛罗里达州的里克·斯科特有10名支持者支持他接替麦康奈尔的职位。

预计参议院民主党人将在本月晚些时候举行领导人选举，可能在12月6日佐治亚州决选之后。舒默在很大程度上预计将继续留在党内首位。

立法者将努力解决必须通过的资金问题

议员们在未来几周的跛脚鸭会议中必须做的一件事是为政府提供资金。目前的资金将于12月16日到期。

民主党人希望通过为期一年的一揽子拨款计划，该计划由12个主要法案合二为一。但目前还没有就这个庞大的一揽子计划的最高限额达成一致，这使得谈判进展缓慢。

这些讨论中的一个巨大难点是拜登政府要求向乌克兰提供380亿美元的额外资金——这是一系列此类援助中的最新一笔——以帮助该国对抗俄罗斯。

一直以来，对乌克兰的资助都得到了两党的大力支持。但一些共和党人最近暗示，如果没有他们所谓的透明度和问责制的保证，该党不会在跛脚鸭期间支持额外的资金。

麦卡锡曾表示，如果他们获得多数席位，他的会议不会支持为乌克兰开出“空白支票”。他后来收回了自己的言论，称自己支持乌克兰。众议员迈克尔·麦克考尔(Michael McCaul)和迈克·特纳(Mike Turner)周日在“本周”节目中表示，即将上任的众议院共和党多数派将支持乌克兰，淡化共和党内的批评者，如众议员马乔里·泰勒·格林(Marjorie Taylor Greene)。

有几条途径可以避免立即关闭。其中包括一项短期融资法案，将这个问题搁置一边，让立法者有更多时间达成协议。一些共和党人支持这一选择，认为1月3日到来时，他们在众议院将拥有更大的谈判权力。

目前还不清楚国会将如何通过这项法案，在此之前，参议员们还将争论一项必须通过的军事拨款法案:国防授权法案。

50年来，这项必须通过的立法每年都在众议院获得通过，而本届国会却落后于计划。

提高债务上限的机会似乎正在减少

联邦债务限额允许政府借钱来支付国会所需的开支，该限额将需要在明年的某个时候提高。但是以前的债务限额增加——如在巴拉克·奥巴马总统和共和党国会执政期间——变成了政治上的恶斗。

国会中的一些民主党人希望在新的一年要求共和党合作之前，现在就着手处理这个问题。

与此同时，一些众议院共和党人人表示，他们将利用提高债务上限的协议来削减政府支出，如社会项目支出。

但在没有共和党支持的情况下提高限额需要使用一个被称为和解的繁琐的快速预算流程。这一过程消耗了大量的发言时间，几乎抹杀了民主党人利用剩下的几周时间处理其他优先事项的机会。

虽然民主党领导层已经表示有兴趣在将众议院的议事槌交给共和党人之前提高债务上限，但这似乎不太可能在本届国会发生。

What Congress is and isn't likely to do in the lame duck session

Lawmakers return to Washington after Thanksgiving break with a long agenda and just weeks untila new Congress begins.

Come Jan. 3, Republicans will run the House, ending two years of total Democratic control of the federal government. Already, GOP members arejockeying for new leadership positionsand turning their attention toward how they will mounta response to the Biden agenda.

But partisan preparation aside, the next few weeks are going to require some across the aisle cooperation if Congress is to get anything done in what is known as the lame duck between the election and the end of the current term. There is a laundry list of must-pass agenda items hanging in the balance. Among them: funding the government and passing a massive military spending bill.

Democrats, meanwhile, will look to maximize their final days unchecked by GOP blockades.

Dems zero-in on 2 outstanding priorities

Democrats are expected to seal a win later this week by finally passing federal legislation that would enshrine into law protections for same-sex and interracial marriages. While procedural votes still remain, the legislation cleared a key test vote in the Senate just before Thanksgiving, with 12 Republicans joining all Democrats in the chamber to prevent a filibuster.

"Let me be clear: Passing the Respect for Marriage Act is not a matter of 'if' but only of 'when,'" Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said after that successful vote.

Approving the legislation would be a victory for Democrats who have been seeking to codify same-sex marriage -- currently legalized by the Supreme Court decision Obergefell v. Hodges -- since the high court overturned the right to an abortion earlier this year, with Justice Clarence Thomas suggesting in a separate opinion that Obergefellshould also be reversed.

While the Senate's marriage bill will need to return to the House once passed, a previous version cleared the House with the support of 47 Republicans.

Democrats also hope to take up legislation later this month that aims to clarify the role, as spelled out in the Electoral Count Act (ECA) of 1887, that the vice president plays in certifying election results. The new legislation is intended to head off arguments like those made by former President Donald Trump around Jan. 6, 2021: that the vice president holds the power to unilaterally reject electors presented by the states. The legislation would instead define the vice president's role in certification as purely ceremonial.

ECA reform comes after months of behind-the-scenes bipartisan coalition building and has more than the requisite 10 Senate Republican co-sponsors, including Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. But it's still not clear if or when the Senate will take it up.

"We're working on it. We want to get it done," Schumer said Monday when asked about the timing of a potential vote.

Other priorities are likely to fall on the cutting room floor as the clock ticks down.

Some Democrats had hoped to pass some sort of immigration reform to secure a pathway to citizenship for recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, whose fate currently awaits a court ruling. But there's little appetite for such a measure from Republicans and at least 10 would be needed to move any proposal in the limited remaining time.

A group of Democrats are also angling to reinstate their popular, pandemic-era child tax credit. Success on that front is also unlikely.

Any legislation that fails to make it to the finish line come the installment of the new Congress, in January, must return to square one with the next group of lawmakers.

Leadership fights take center stage

While Democrats will look to make the most of their remaining weeks in control of both chambers of Congress, House Republicans will spend much of that time trying to figure out who will be at the helm come Jan. 3.

Current House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy is eying the speaker's gavel, but it remains to be seen if he'll have the votes he needs to secure it. Earlier this month, he won his party's nomination during a closed-door election. But it was far from unanimous support among his own party -- which will control at most 222 seats in the next House -- and to clench the speakership, McCarthy will need 218 votes, which means he can avoid few defections.

So far, five House Republicans have said they are hard "no" votes for McCarthy.

Meanwhile, House Democrats will elect a new, history-making generation of leaders this week during elections on Wednesday and Thursday, following Speaker Nancy Pelosi's pre-Thanksgiving announcement of her intention to step away from party leadership.

Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of New York is largely expected to ascend to Pelosi's post. Jeffries won't have to scrap for votes; he is expected to take over for Pelosi with the overwhelming -- if not unanimous -- support of his caucus, putting the 52-year-old on track to be the first Black lawmaker to lead a party in Congress.

It will also be the first time in 20 years that Pelosi hasn't been in that role. The whip will be a woman -- Katherine Clark of Massachusetts -- and the No. 3, Pete Aguilar, will become the highest-ranking Latino in Congress; the Californian rose to prominence from his perch on the high-profile Jan. 6 committee.

Republican leadership in the Senate has already been decided, with members meeting behind closed doors last week and overwhelmingly selecting McConnell to remain at the party helm, despite facing his first challenge for the position in 15 years.

Rick Scott of Florida, the outgoing head of Senate Republicans' campaign arm, had 10 supporters back his bid to replace McConnell.

Senate Democrats are expected to hold their leadership elections later this month, likely after the Dec. 6 Georgia runoff election. Schumer is largely expected to remain atop the party.

Lawmakers will grapple with must-pass funding

One thing lawmakers must do in the coming weeks of the lame-duck session is fund the government. Current funding runs out on Dec. 16.

Democrats want to try to pass a year-long funding package composed of 12 major bills rolled into one. But there's yet to be an agreement on a top-line figure for that massive package, slowing negotiations.

A huge sticking point in those discussions has been a request from the Biden administration to provide Ukraine with $38 billion in additional funding -- the latest in a series of such aid -- to assist the country in its war against Russia.

All along, funding for Ukraine has had strong bipartisan support. But some Republicans have recently signaled that the party would not back additional funding during the lame-duck without guarantees of what they called transparency and accountability.

McCarthy has said his conference would not support writing a "blank check" for Ukraine if they captured the majority. He later walked back his comments, saying he is supportive of Ukraine. Reps. Michael McCaul and Mike Turner said on "This Week" on Sunday that the incoming House Republican majority will support Ukraine, downplaying critics inside the GOP like Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene.

There are a few paths forward to avert an immediate shutdown. Among them is a short-term funding bill to punt the problem slightly down the road, giving lawmakers more time to make a deal. Some Republicans favor this option, figuring they'll have more negotiation power in the House come Jan. 3.

It's not yet clear how Congress will maneuver through this and, before they do, senators are also set to wrangle a must-pass military appropriations bill: the National Defense Authorization Act.

That must-pass legislation has cleared the chamber every year for 50 years, and this Congress is behind schedule.

Chance to raise debt limit seems to be slipping

The federal debt limit, which allows the government to borrow money in order to pay for spending required by Congress, will need to be raised sometime next year. But previous increases of the debt limit -- as under President Barack Obama and a Republican Congress -- became politically poisonous battles.

Some Democrats in this Congress want to go ahead and deal with it now, before GOP cooperation is required in the new year.

Some House Republicans, meanwhile, have indicated they will use a deal over raising the debt limit to extract cuts to government spending, such as on social programs.

But hiking the limit without GOP support would require use of a cumbersome fast-track budget process known as reconciliation. The process eats up an incredible amount of floor time, all but wiping Democrats' chances of using their remaining weeks in control to tackle other priorities.

While Democratic leadership has signaled interest in raising the debt limit before turning the House gavel over to Republicans, it does not seem likely to happen this Congress.