Republicans will enter the 119th Congress with a lot on their to-do list, and only a razor-thin majority to accomplish it with.
Confirming cabinet nominees. Dealing with the debt ceiling. Preparing tax cuts and border security legislation. Passing government spending for the upcoming fiscal year. Draining… the swamp? And — on top of all that — passing government spending for the current fiscal year, months after Congress was supposed to. Some ballots are still being counted, but it is clear GOP leaders will have almost no room for disagreement in the new year as they try to shepherd Donald Trump’s priorities through the House.
That’s why some Republicans would like to finish one of those tasks now rather than later. They argue wrapping up spending talks this month and passing government funding — instead of a stopgap appropriations bill that would kick the matter into the new year — would give members more bandwidth to work on their other priorities in the next Congress. It would be one less deadline to think about, at least.