Washington: The lame-duck Congress is embarking on its final work session of 2016 as lawmakers face a December 9 deadline for spending legislation to keep the government running.
Republican leaders want to pass a short-term spending bill to extend existing funding levels into next spring, allowing a new President Donald Trump the opportunity to play a bigger role in crafting agency budgets.
Congress is also trying to finalise legislation to address lead-tainted water in Flint, Michigan, and pass a bipartisan bill to promote medical research and innovation.
And House Democrats will be voting in a new leadership team Wednesday after a delay sought by lawmakers angry over Democrats' poor showing in this month's federal elections. Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of California is expected to prevail, but must answer demands for change from a Democratic caucus that has been led for years by the same aging lawmakers and committee chairmen.
A number of other odds and ends await action as well. And throughout, GOP leaders will be working with Trump's transition teams to craft an agenda for next year, when Republicans will control both chambers of Congress and the White House for the first time in a decade.
"We've got a lot to do," said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.
A look at the pending legislation:
Spending
Work on 11 of the 12 annual agency spending bills has sputtered and a stopgap spending measure is keeping the government running until Dec. 9. Republican leaders have decided to punt the remaining measures into next year, in part because they may have better chances of winning additional Pentagon spending from the incoming Trump administration. Another temporary spending bill is in the works that would keep the government open until the end of March or later.
Flints water
A popular water projects measure, including $220 million to help Flint, Michigan, and other cities repair aging water systems that are poisoned by lead, is in House-Senate talks.
McConnell and House Speaker Paul Ryan have promised that Flint assistance will be approved in the lame-duck session.
Cures act
The House plans to vote Wednesday on legislation beefing up brain, cancer and other research at the National Institutes of Health and accelerating the Food and Drug Administration's approval processes. A Senate vote could come next week.
The 21st Century Cures Act would provide $6.3 billion over the next decade, including $1 billion for state grants for programs for preventing and treating the abuse of opioids and other addictive drugs. It would also expand government mental health programs.
The measure is supported by pharmaceutical and other medical industry groups. But some consumer advocates say it goes too far in relaxing testing standards, and Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts attacked it Monday as "political cover for huge giveaways to giant drug companies."
Defence
House and Senate negotiators hope to wrap up the defense policy bill, which Congress has passed every year for more than five decades.
House Republicans are seeking to use the must-pass $602 billion bill to reverse protections against workplace discrimination by Pentagon contractors based on sexual or gender orientation. Another battle is over how much additional money to spend on weapon systems that the Pentagon didn't request in its budget.
Iran sanctions
Congress must act to renew a decades-old law that allows the United States to hit companies with economic sanctions for doing business with Iran. Congress first passed the Iran Sanctions Act in 1996 and has extended it several times since then. The sanctions law, which is separate from the landmark nuclear deal, is to expire at the end of the year and there is strong bipartisan support for legislation that would extend it by another decade.
Coal miners
Lawmakers are pushing a bill to protect health care and pension benefits for about 120,000 retired coal miners and their families.
Several Republican incumbents supported the bill during the fall campaign, including Sens. Rob Portman of Ohio and Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania, who both won re-election. But McConnell and others are wary of bailing out unionized workers.
Energy bill
The House and Senate remain far apart as they seek to approve the first major energy bill in nearly a decade. Prospects for completion look dim as senators push provisions opposed in the House. These include speeding exports of liquefied natural gas and long-term authorisation for a fund that promotes land and water conservation.
