CRUNCH TIME IN CONGRESS
By Lisa Desjardins, @LisaDNews
Correspondent

The 116th Congress has left some of its most consequential tasks to its waning weeks — passage of a sweeping defense authorization bill, another round of coronavirus relief and funding of the government itself.

Momentum and details on much of this can change by the hour, but here is a cheat sheet to help sort out where things stand.

Government funding

Let’s start here, because it is the issue driving the timing for all the other issues.

• Currently, funding for most of the U.S. government runs out at the end of the day Friday.
• But Congressional leaders need more time to finish a spending agreement (and a COVID relief agreement - see below). So they have agreed to seek a short-term funding bill to keep the government afloat another week, until Dec. 18.
• The funding bill is on track to wrap all 12 separate appropriations bills into one giant omnibus.
• Much of the work is done, but there have been some late disputes over a few things: whether to break through spending limits or caps for the Department of Veterans Affairs and how to handle President Donald Trump and Republicans’ continued demand for money to build a wall on the southwestern border. 
• The final omnibus bill is expected to total just under $1.5 trillion dollars and will fund most of the government.

COVID-19 relief

• Amid a worsening pandemic and increased pressure, House and Senate leaders have allowed a bipartisan group of senators and House members to try to hash out a pandemic relief deal. The group formed on its own just before Thanksgiving out of frustration with a lack of action in Congress.
• The group is now trying to write a detailed bill.
• Their framework agreement includes some important compromises between the parties. Highlights: Democrats accepted lower amounts of added benefits for the unemployed as well as lower total funding for state and local governments. In exchange, Republicans have raised their total funding amount, adding money for state and local governments above what they proposed initially.
• Specifically, the bipartisan group would add $300 in unemployment benefits each week for four months, help state and local governments with some $160 billion in aid, add more than $50 billion for housing and food assistance, and fund programs to help deliver and distribute vaccines.
• But several big issues are still not settled, including how to handle a demand by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and his conference to protect businesses from coronavirus-related lawsuits.  
• This has caused the one-week delay in voting so negotiators can work them out.
• A group meeting last night to try to resolve the liability issue left the bargaining table with ideas that hovered around a temporary six-month ban on such lawsuits. 

Defense authorization

• The massive National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA, is an annual heavyweight measure that lays out much of how the Pentagon should operate and where it can spend money.
• Republicans and Democrats, senators and House members have spent months working out differences in policy and crafting a compromise bill, which seems certain to get through Congress.
• But Trump has threatened to veto it if lawmakers don’t include a provision banning a part of U.S. law called “section 230,” which makes many internet content and social media companies largely immune from responsibility for content posted on their site by users. 
• Trump also opposes the NDAA’s requirement that military bases named for Confederates change those names within three years.
• Both the House and Senate have indicated they have strong support for the NDAA as is, but it remains to be seen if: 1. the president follows through on his threat to veto and 2. both chambers have enough votes (two-thirds) to override him.
• The House Freedom Caucus, a coalition of roughly three dozen Republicans, came out in opposition of the NDAA today, making a veto override more difficult.
• If the bill does not pass, it would at least delay some pay raises for members of the military and make it more difficult for many at the Pentagon to plan and move ahead with some key weapons and other programs. 

FIVE OVERLOOKED POLITICAL STORIES FROM THE PAST WEEK
By Ian Couzens, @iancouzenz
Politics production assistant

The Supreme Court Is Colliding With a Less-Religious America. Dec. 3. The pace of religious liberty cases brought by conservative groups has increased precisely as social and demographic changes have reduced white Christians to a minority. Why it matters: The Supreme Court recently overturned New York State’s limits on religious gatherings, a measure intended to mitigate a spike in COVID-19 cases. It’s part of a trend in which the high court’s conservative majority elevates religious liberty over other civic goals and allows religious exemptions from civil laws. -- The Atlantic 

Barr’s special counsel move could tie up his successor. Dec. 3. House Republicans will most likely use the confirmation hearing for President-elect Joe Biden’s nominee for attorney general as a forum to extract a commitment to allowing the independent investigation into the handling of the Russia probe to continue. Why it matters: Saddling Biden’s Justice Department with a special counsel investigation not only makes it more difficult for new leadership to launch investigations into Trump and his associates, but the ongoing inquiry could also influence who Biden chooses for attorney general. -- The Associated Press 

The Rancher Trying to Solve the West’s Water Crisis. Dec. 4. It’s inevitable that large amounts of water will have to leave agriculture to sustain cities in a far drier future. Why it matters: In order to survive, farmers and ranchers are having to make themselves part of the policy solutions and negotiate with interests they used to see as the enemy. Those efforts will serve as a test case of how American politics and laws can be renegotiated to share natural resources that were once thought limitless but are now being strained by climate change and growing populations.   -- Politico

‘Representation matters': 14 Native American candidates ran for office in Arizona; 11 won. Dec. 7. More Indigenous people are running for office and winning, coming close to parity in state legislatures, while a record number are heading to Washington, D.C., in January. Why it matters: Indigenous people in the U.S. have been historically underrepresented, but are now gaining political clout that could usher in positive change for their communities on issues uniquely impacting them. -- Arizona Republic 

Supreme Court to review rulings against Trump's Medicaid work rules. Dec. 4. Work rules, which require some low-income adults to work, volunteer, or attend school as a condition of receiving Medicaid coverage, have been embraced by Trump and many Republican-leaning states and opposed by Democrats and patient advocates. Every lower court that has considered work rules cases has blocked them. Why it matters: Though Biden has indicated his administration will reject state requests to implement work rules but may even take steps to revoke existing approvals, if the Supreme Court upholds work rules, it would allow future Republican administrations to move forward with the policy. -- Politico



#POLITICSTRIVIA
By Kate Grumke, @KGrumke
Politics producer

On this day in 1941, the U.S. declared war on Japan, just one day after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Hours earlier, an ally of the U.S. also declared war on Japan in reaction to the attack on American troops stationed in Hawaii.

Our question: Which U.S. ally declared war on Japan before the U.S. did?

Send your answers to [email protected] or tweet using #PoliticsTrivia. The first correct answers will earn a shout-out next week.

Last week, we asked: Who was ultimately the declared winner of the 1824 presidential election?

The answer: John Quincy Adams

The 1824 presidential election was thrown to the U.S. House of Representatives after an inconclusive Electoral College result. Despite Andrew Jackson winning the popular vote, Adams was chosen as the next president. The political maneuvering in the House that led to that outcome came to be known as the “corrupt bargain.”

Congratulations to our winners: Bob Schmid and Tim Smith!

Thank you all for reading and watching. We’ll drop into your inbox next week.