议员们周一从感恩节假期中返回，有许多工作要完成，而完成这些工作的时间相对较少。

在国会返回华盛顿进行年底立法冲刺之际，有五件事值得关注。

乌克兰融资面临迄今最严峻的考验

国会已经将近一年没有批准对乌克兰的额外援助了，两党议员都越来越感觉到，批准更多资金来帮助该国抗击俄罗斯侵略的机会正在关闭。

议员们的目标是从现在到12月假期休会期间通过某种紧急资金补充。如果他们不能及时完成，一些议员预计这可能是任何形式的乌克兰援助之路的尽头。参议院多数党领袖查克·舒默(Chuck Schumer)在写给同事的一封信中概述了即将到来的会期的优先事项，他宣布，他可能会在12月4日那一周将总统1060亿美元的国家安全计划提交参议院表决，该计划包括对以色列、乌克兰、台湾和南部边境的援助。

但是这个一揽子计划将会是什么样子越来越难以确定。参众两院的共和党人一直强调，如果没有影响南部边境移民的政策变化，乌克兰援助将不会获得通过。但是关于庇护和假释政策的谈判困扰了两党谈判者。

一个由两党参议员组成的小组继续在休会期间进行讨论，试图就何种边境条款可以满足共和党人对政策变化的要求达成共识，同时通过民主党控制的参议院。舒默敦促他的同事继续这些对话。

乔·拜登总统和参议院两党领袖仍然希望对以色列的援助将取决于双方达成的任何边境和乌克兰协议。但是有越来越多的共和党人希望以色列的援助能够得到批准豪斯已经做了.

围绕这一模糊方案的辩论预计将在今年剩下的几周内耗尽大量氧气。

共和党众议员乔治·桑托斯在爆炸性道德报告后面临驱逐

乔治·桑托斯在国会的日子屈指可数了。本周晚些时候，众议院可能会再次投票驱逐他，但驱逐议员的门槛很高——众议院三分之二的人必须投票赞成罢免。然而，越来越多的共和党人希望看到桑托斯被驱逐。

有足够的证据除掉他吗?那仍有待确定。上周五在X空间，桑托斯本人承认他可能会被撤职并将“像佩戴荣誉徽章一样佩戴”

众议院道德委员会的报告包含了确凿的细节关于他如何利用竞选资金为自己谋利——包括肉毒杆菌治疗、大西洋城之旅、名牌商品以及在以成人内容闻名的OnlyFans网站上购物。调查人员表示，他们对这位纽约国会议员长达一个月的调查揭示了一个“复杂的非法活动网络”，这位议员也面临着单独的联邦指控

本月早些时候，该委员会的共和党主席、众议员迈克尔·盖斯特(Michael Guest)罕见地提交了一份将桑托斯驱逐出国会的决议，这正式启动了将这位四面楚歌的国会议员免职的程序。

越来越多的众议院共和党人人谁没有在本月早些时候投票罢免桑托斯在众议院道德委员会发表严厉的报告后，他们希望他被开除。

议长迈克·约翰逊的发言人在一份声明中表示，桑多斯的报告有“非常令人不安的发现”，但“鼓励所有相关人员在进一步处理此事时考虑该机构的最佳利益”

桑托斯已经对23项联邦指控拒不认罪。他称这份两党报告是“政治化的诽谤”，并表示他不会在2024年竞选连任，但计划完成剩余的任期。

对军事晋升封锁的焦虑可能会达到白热化

参议员汤米·特伯维尔将面临更大的压力来缓和态度他对所有军事提名确认的封锁随着参议院感恩节假期的结束。

10个月来，特伯维尔一直在阻止几乎所有军队提名人的晋升，以反对国防部为前往州外堕胎的军人提供报销的政策。

就在参议院休会前，围绕搁置的紧张局势达到了新高。共和党人两次试图绕过特伯维尔，请求他同意确认几十名个人提名，但都失败了。特伯维尔封锁了每一个地方。

受够了特伯维尔的封锁，民主党人在11月中旬采取了绕开特伯维尔的初步措施，通过了参议院规则委员会的一项决议，允许参议院暂时回避特伯维尔的控制。它在委员会通过了，但是没有一个共和党人的支持。

参议院现在回来了，舒默承诺，如果特伯维尔不下台，在年底前就该决议进行投票。

尚不清楚共和党人是否会借出九张必要的选票来通过该决议。共和党内部对Tuberville的所作所为越来越失望，但许多共和党人仍然不愿意做任何可能给人以遏制单个参议员权力的印象的事情。

我们知道的是紧张局势正在加剧。通过这个临时的策略绕过特伯维尔就足够了吗?

庞大的国防政策法案准备摊牌

Tuberville的军事保留无疑也将是即将到来的国防授权法案摊牌的一部分，这是一项必须通过的军事支出政策法案，总统们在新年前签署了超过60年。

为了在参议院休会前给政府拨款舒默默认了参议院军事委员会最高共和党人的要求，即众议院和参议院的代表举行正式会议，试图调和众议院和参议院对这项庞大法案的分歧。

如果立法者希望在年底前通过国防授权法案，会议将不得不仓促进行。一次公开会议将把众议院和参议院争执不下的几个有争议的条款推到聚光灯下。

主要焦点:众议院法案包括将结束Tuberville如此反对的国防部堕胎旅行政策的语言。通过使用国防授权法案终止该政策将是绕过特伯维尔反对的一种方式，但这是参议院民主党人强烈反对的一种方式。

会议还将迫使立法者公开争论抑制跨性别医疗和多样性的政策，并结束公平和包容计划。这些条款被添加到众议院版本的法案修正案中，这是众议院自由会议成员的胜利。

所有这些都必须在立法者今年年底离开之前制定出来。

第一次政府拨款的最后期限逼近，为议长约翰逊设置了一个测试

立法者认为是胜利的一圈感恩节前暂时资助政府即将结束它短暂的生命。

现在，议员们回来了，他们重新开始工作，试图在第一批短期资金于1月19日到期之前达成一个长期的政府融资解决方案。第一批短期资金为12项年度拨款法案中的6项提供资金。随着圣诞节的临近，剩下的时间不多了。

2023年11月14日，众议院议长迈克·约翰逊在华盛顿会见记者。

J.斯科特·阿普尔怀特/美联社

两院仍需努力通过各自的2024财年拨款，该财年于10月开始。即使他们设法通过了这些法案，众议院和参议院在这些法案应该包括什么，以及应该花多少钱的问题上仍有一些重大分歧。对于最高支出仍然存在分歧，如果立法者希望法案获得通过，他们需要迅速达成一致。

众议院共和党人希望在这些法案中获得一些可观的政府削减。对于新任议长约翰逊来说，争取微弱多数支持会议通过的支出法案将是一项艰巨的任务。

但约翰逊明确表示，他不会再通过任何短期的持续性决议来为政府提供资金。因此，议员们需要开始工作，否则他们将面临明年1月部分关门的风险。

5 things to know as Congress heads into whirlwind sprint to the end of the year

Lawmakers are returning from their Thanksgiving break Monday with much work to accomplish and relatively little time to accomplish it in.

Here are five things to watch for as Congress rolls back to Washington for the end-of-the-year legislative sprint.

Ukraine funding faces its toughest test yet

Congress has gone nearly a year without rubber-stamping additional aid to Ukraine, and there's a growing sense from lawmakers on both sides that the window of opportunity to approve more funds to assist the country's ongoing fight against Russian aggression is closing.

Lawmakers will aim to pass some sort of emergency funding supplemental between now and the December holiday recess. If they fail to get it done in time, some lawmakers are projecting it could be the end of the road for any sort of Ukraine aid. In a letter to his colleagues outlining priorities for this upcoming period of session, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced he could put the president's $106 billion national security package, which includes aid for Israel, Ukraine, Taiwan and the southern border, on the Senate floor for a vote as soon as the week of Dec. 4.

But what that package is going to look like is increasingly difficult to pin down. Republicans in both chambers have been emphatic that Ukraine aid won't pass without policy changes impacting migration at the southern border. But negotiations over asylum and parole policies have vexed bipartisan negotiators.

A bipartisan group of senators continued talking over the recess to try to reach a consensus opinion on what sort of border provisions could appease Republicans' demands for policy changes while simultaneously passing the Democratic-controlled Senate. Schumer has urged his colleagues to continue those conversations.

President Joe Biden and Senate leaders from both parties remain hopeful that aid to Israel will ride on whatever border and Ukraine agreement can be reached. But there's a growing contingent of Republicans who'd like Israel aid approved on its own, as theHouse has already done.

Debate over this nebulous package is expected to suck up much of the oxygen the remaining weeks of this year.

GOP Rep. George Santos faces expulsion after explosive ethics report

George Santos' days in Congress could be numbered. Another vote to expel him is likely to take place on the House floor later this week, but the threshold is high to expel a member -- two thirds of the chamber would have to vote in favor of removal. However, a growing number of Republicans want to see Santos expelled.

Will there be enough to remove him? That's still to be determined. On X Spaces last Friday,Santos himself acknowledged he will likely be removedand will "wear it like a badge of honor."

A House Ethics Committee's report contained damning detailsabout how he allegedly used campaign dollars for his own personal enrichment -- including things such as Botox treatments, trips to Atlantic City, designer goods and purchases on the website OnlyFans, known for its adult content. Investigators said their monthslong probe of the New York congressman, who is also facing separate federal charges, revealed a "complex web of unlawful activity."

In a rare move earlier this month, Rep. Michael Guest, the Republican chairman of the committee, filed a resolution to expel Santos from Congress -- which formally jump-started the process to remove the embattled congressman from office.

A growing number of House Republicanswho did not vote to remove Santos earlier this monthsay they want him expelled following the scathing report from the House Ethics Committee.

A spokesman for Speaker Mike Johnson said in a statement that the Santos report had "very troubling findings" but "encourages all involved to consider the best interests of the institution as this matter is addressed further."

Santos has alreadypleaded not guilty to 23 federal charges. He called the bipartisan report a "politicized smear" and has said he will not run for reelection in 2024, but plans to finish out the rest of his term.

Angst over military promotion blockade could reach a fever pitch

Sen. Tommy Tuberville will face even more pressure to relent onhis blockade on confirmation of all military nomineesas the Senate returns from Thanksgiving break.

Tuberville has been blocking the promotions of almost all military nominees for 10 months in objection to a Department of Defense policy that reimburses military members who travel out of state to obtain abortions.

Just before the Senate left for recess, tensions over the hold were reaching a new high. Republicans tried and failed twice on the floor to get around Tuberville, asking for his consent to confirm dozens of individual nominees. Tuberville blocked every single one of them.

Democrats, fed up with Tuberville's blockade, took the early steps of moving to get around Tuberville in mid-November, passing a resolution out of the Senate Rules Committee that would allow the Senate to temporarily side-step Tuberville's hold. It passed out of committee, but not with the backing of a single Republican.

The Senate now returns with Schumer promising a vote on that resolution before the year is out if Tuberville doesn't stand down.

It's not clear if Republicans will lend the nine necessary votes to get that resolution passed. There's growing frustration within the GOP about what Tuberville has been doing, but many Republicans remain reluctant to do anything that could give the appearance of curbing the power of a single senator.

What we do know is that tension is mounting. Could it be enough to pass this temporary maneuver to get around Tuberville?

Giant defense policy bill prepares for a showdown

Tuberville's military holds will no doubt also be a part of the looming showdown over the National Defense Authorization Act, a must-pass military spending policy bill that presidents have signed before the new year for over six decades.

In order toget the government funded just before the Senate recess, Schumer acquiesced to demands from the top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee that representatives from the House and Senate hold formalized meetings to try to reconcile differences between the House and Senate versions of the massive bill.

Conference meetings will have to happen in haste if lawmakers hope to pass the defense authorization bill by the end of the year. A public conference is going to thrust several controversial provisions that the House and Senate are at loggerheads over into the spotlight.

Of chief focus: the House bill includes language that would end the DoD abortion travel policy that Tuberville so opposes. Ending the policy through use of the National Defense Authorization Act would be one way to get around Tuberville's objection, but it's one Senate Democrats are grossly opposed to.

The conference will also force lawmakers to publicly duke it out over policies that curb transgender medical care and diversity, and end equity and inclusion programs. These provisions were added to the House version of the bill in amendment votes that were a win for House Freedom Conference members.

All of it will have to be worked out before lawmakers leave for the end of the year.

First government funding deadline looms, setting up a test for Speaker Johnson

Any victory lap that lawmakers were taking fortemporarily funding the government before Thanksgivingis coming to its short-lived end.

Now that they're back, lawmakers are back on the clock to try to come to a longer-term government funding solution before the first tranche of short-term funding, which funds six of the 12 annual appropriations bills, runs out on Jan. 19. With the Christmas holiday looming, there's not a lot of time left.

Both chambers still have work to do on passing their own separate appropriations for Fiscal Year 2024, which began in October. Even if they manage to pass them, the House and Senate have some major disagreements about what should be in those bills, and about how much they should cost. There's still disagreement about top-line spending, and lawmakers will need to quickly get on the same page if they hope to get bills passed.

House Republicans want to extract some sizable government cuts in these bills. It'll be a herculean task for newly-minted Speaker Johnson to wrangle his slim majority to get behind conferenced spending bills.

But Johnson made clear he will pass no more short-term continuing resolutions to fund the government. So lawmakers will need to get to work, or risk a partial shutdown on their hands in January.