WASHINGTON — Lawmakers resuming work Monday will try to cram two years of leftover business into two weeks, while also seeking to avoid a government shutdown.
Their to-do list includes keeping the government running into the new year, renewing expired tax breaks for individuals and businesses, and approving a defense policy measure that has passed for more than 50 years in a row.
Also pending are President Obama’s requests for money to combat Islamic State militants, battle Ebola, and deal with the influx of unaccompanied Central American children who have crossed into the United States.
Among the lower-profile items on the agenda are renewing the government’s terrorism risk insurance program and extending the ban on state and federal taxes on access to the Internet.
The current Congress adjourns in mid-December. The new Congress, with Republicans in charge of both House and Senate, will be seated the week of Jan. 5.
The top item is preventing a government closure when a temporary funding measure expires Dec. 11. The House and Senate Appropriations panels are negotiating a $1 trillion-plus spending bill for the budget year that began Oct. 1 and plan to have it ready by the week of Dec. 8.