Special Report: Five Weeks to Dec. 11 — The Lame-Duck Funding Cliff and the Oversight Machine Waiting for January
Congress returns Monday with Republicans still holding every gavel and a Dec. 11 shutdown deadline. Behind it, Democratic chairmen-in-waiting are drafting subpoenas. Here is what must pass, what likely won't, how the new Oversight apparatus will work — and how conservatives protect Trump's final two years.
By Clara Hughes
Republicans won't hold their majorities much longer, but for now they still run Congress — and the first deadline arrives before Christmas. Both chambers are scheduled to return to Washington Monday, Nov. 9, for the lame-duck session, Gray DC reported. The stopgap funding law that keeps the government open expires Dec. 11. If nothing replaces it, a shutdown begins the following morning. The 120th Congress — with Democratic majorities in both chambers — convenes Jan. 3, 2027. That leaves the outgoing GOP majorities about five working weeks, with Thanksgiving in the middle, to keep the lights on, decide what to hand off, and brace for the most aggressive congressional investigation apparatus Trump has faced. Keep reading with Altas Premium. Below: exactly what expires Dec. 11, why a stopgap into spring is the likely path, which Trump priorities are fading, how Democratic subpoena power works on Day One, the committees and targets already named, Trump's call for a DOJ probe, and a seven-point conservative checklist. [Subscribe to Altas World News →] What expires Dec. 11 The current stopgap is Public Law 119-103, the Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2027, signed Sept. 2, according to a reading of the law by the explainer site The Whole Read. It funds agencies under all