What the Lame-Duck Congress Can Still Pass
UNITED STATES · POLITICS
Key Facts
- The term A lame-duck session is the weeks between Election Day and 3 January, when outgoing lawmakers vote.
- Who is in charge Republicans run Congress until noon on Sunday 3 January 2027, then Democrats are projected to take over.
- The deadline A temporary funding law, signed 2 September, runs out on Friday 11 December 2026.
- The risk Without a new funding law by 12 December, parts of the government would shut down.
- Prediction markets Polymarket, an online prediction market, gives Hakeem Jeffries, the House Democratic leader, a 93.7% chance of becoming Speaker of the House, the chamber’s presiding officer (6 November 2026, 6:25 a.m. ET).
Congress is not finished yet: the Republican-led Congress elected in 2024 keeps every vote until Sunday 3 January 2027, and Democrats are projected to win both chambers after that. This overlap is called the lame-duck session, and it decides what the new majority inherits.
For US readers, the first test is money, because federal funding runs out on Friday 11 December 2026. This guide sorts what the outgoing Congress can still pass from what only the new Congress can change.
In Plain English
- A stopgap, formally a continuing resolution, keeps agencies funded at a temporary level while a full-year budget is still being written.
- A shutdown happens when funding lapses and agencies without money must stop all but essential work.
- A filibuster is the Senate rule that lets 41 senators block most bills, so those bills need 60 of 100 votes.
What a Lame-Duck Session Is
A lame-duck session is any meeting of Congress after Election Day in November and before the new Congress starts on 3 January, according to the Congressional Research Service, the research arm of Congress. Members who lost or retired still vote, which is where the nickname comes from.
The 20th Amendment to the Constitution sets the start of new terms at noon on 3 January, unless Congress picks another day by law. Until then Republicans keep both chambers, and they held 53 of the Senate’s 100 seats before the 3 November vote.
The Funding Cliff on 11 December
President Donald Trump signed H.R. 6500 (the House’s bill number), the Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2027, on Wednesday 2 September 2026.
It funds federal agencies through Friday 11 December, and it also extends highway and veterans programs. The same law extended some immigration programs only for the length of the stopgap, including the Conrad 30 program that lets foreign-trained doctors stay in the US.
E-Verify, the system employers use to check work eligibility, the authority for extra seasonal H-2B work visas for non-farm jobs, and visas for non-minister religious workers all run on the same clock, according to the Congressional Research Service.
Lawmakers have three roads: pass full-year spending bills, pass another stopgap, or let funding lapse on 12 December. A lapse means a partial government shutdown, with federal workers sent home without pay or working without pay.
A second stopgap would push the real decisions into the new Congress, where Democrats would have more say. That is the main reason both parties watch this deadline.
History offers a warning. After Democrats won the House in 2018, a partial shutdown began on Saturday 22 December 2018 and ended on Friday 25 January 2019, about five weeks later.
Nominations, Taxes and Tariffs
The Senate confirms judges and cabinet-level officials by a simple majority of senators voting. Republicans can use their 53 seats until 3 January, but nominations still pending when the Congress ends go back to the White House unless senators agree to keep them, so the president must send them again.
A tax bill normally needs 60 votes in the Senate. Republicans can avoid that with reconciliation, a budget process that needs only a simple majority once both chambers adopt a budget plan, as they did for the 2025 tax law, Public Law 119-21.
Tariffs set under laws that already exist stay in place unless Congress or a court changes them. Our analysis of whether a Democratic Congress can limit Trump’s tariffs explains.
What Changes After 3 January
On 3 January the 120th Congress is sworn in, and the House votes for its Speaker, the presiding officer and most powerful member. Hakeem Jeffries, the House Democratic leader, is the clear favourite for the job, and our guide to who chairs the new committees lists the likely committee chairs.
A Democratic majority could then open hearings and issue subpoenas, which are legal orders to hand over documents or testify. It still could not pass most laws alone, because the filibuster needs 60 Senate votes and overriding a veto takes two-thirds of each chamber.
What Prediction Markets Say
Polymarket, an online prediction market where traders bet real money, gave Hakeem Jeffries a 93.7% chance of becoming Speaker after the 3 November midterms, with US$38,510 traded in the whole Speaker market (6 November 2026, 6:25 a.m. ET). Kalshi, regulated in the US by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the federal derivatives regulator, priced him at 94.5%, with about 225,000 contracts traded in the whole market.
Why we show this: prediction markets turn real-money bets into a live probability that moves within minutes of the news, which is why investors, campaigns and newsrooms in the United States now follow them closely. We show them next to polls and official results, never instead of them.
What It Means for You
If you work for or sell to the federal government, mark Friday 11 December, because a lapse would hit paychecks and contracts first. Travelers should watch the same date, since a shutdown strains agencies such as airport security.
If you employ H-2B workers or rely on E-Verify, ask your lawyer whether the extension that ends with the stopgap will be renewed. For household questions, our guide to what the new Congress means for your wallet separates what is already fixed from what can still change.
What Is Not Known
It is not known which path Congress will take on funding, or how many days each chamber will sit before 11 December. Final seat counts, and so the size of the new majorities, are also not settled.
We found no announced plan for a tax bill or a tariff vote in the lame-duck weeks. The end dates of the highway and veterans extensions in the September law are not stated in the public summaries we read.
More: US midterms 2026 coverage, every day from The Rio Times.
Frequently Asked Questions
What Is a Lame-Duck Session?
It is a meeting of Congress after the November election and before the new Congress starts on 3 January. Outgoing members, including those who lost, still vote.
Can the Outgoing Congress Still Pass Laws?
Yes. Republicans control both chambers until noon on 3 January 2027, and any bill still needs both chambers and the president’s signature.
When Could the Government Shut Down?
Funding under the current stopgap law runs through Friday 11 December 2026. A shutdown could begin on Saturday 12 December if Congress passes no new funding.
What Can Democrats Change After 3 January?
They can run hearings, issue subpoenas and set the House agenda. Most bills still need 60 Senate votes and the president’s signature.
Sources: White House, signing of H.R. 6500, 2 September 2026; Congressional Research Service, Overview of Continuing Appropriations for FY2027 (Division A of P.L. 119-103), 17 September 2026; Congressional Research Service, Lame Duck Sessions of Congress; US Constitution, 20th Amendment; US Senate, party composition of the 119th Congress; Polymarket and Kalshi Speaker markets, public market data, 6 November 2026; Congressional Research Service, Return of Nominations to the President Under Senate Rule XXXI; Congressional Research Service, Past Government Shutdowns: Key Resources; Public Law 119-21 (2025 budget reconciliation law).
This article was produced by The Rio Times’ automated newsroom system. How we use AI · Report an error · Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind, Editor-in-Chief