What is on Congress’s “Must-Do” List This Fall?

Updated November 14, 2022

There are many priorities stakeholders inside and outside Congress might want to see enacted before 2022 ends—but there are only a handful Congress has historically deemed essential when crafting the so-called “end-of-year packages.” This explainer breaks down the issues that congressional leadership will likely place high on its to-do list between now and the start of the 118th Congress in January 2023.

Funding the Government

The government funding bill that became law on September 30 only funded the government at current Fiscal Year 2022 spending levels until December 16, 2022. Without additional legislation passing prior to December 16, funding for federal agencies will lapse, causing a government shutdown and potentially bringing critical services to a halt. Therefore, Congress now has an opportunity to pass a Fiscal Year 2023 appropriations bill that funds the government until September 30, 2023. A full-year appropriations bill would allow Congress to boost federal spending to adequately fund agencies and programs that provide vital services for families, and to offer some certainty that these programs will continue throughout the fiscal year. Stakeholders may also push Congress to allocate extra funding for recovery in the wake of disasters like Hurricane Ian, and additional aid for Ukraine.

Several key agencies and programs need a funding boost. For example, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), an independent federal agency with a mandate “to safeguard employees’ rights to organize” and “to prevent and remedy unfair labor practices,” has not seen a funding increase from Congress for nearly a decade. As more workers seek to unionize their workplaces, including high-profile campaigns at Starbucks shops and Amazon warehouses, failure to provide the agency with additional resources could constrain its ability to support the interests of working people pushing for workplace democracy, better wages and working conditions, and dignity at work. The NLRB is one of many agencies that require additional funding to fulfill their missions. 

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Dealing with the Debt Ceiling

Since 1939, Congress has set a limit for the total amount of debt the federal government can take on, often referred to as the “debt ceiling.” Congress has adjusted that limit hundreds of times over the past eight decades. Failure to raise the debt limit would cause a global economic catastrophe with devastating consequences for households across America. For a deeper dive into the debt limit, see the Congressional Progressive Caucus Center’s explainer, Ending this Manufactured Debt Limit Crisis (and Preventing the Next One).

Republicans in Congress have repeatedly used the debt limit as a bargaining chip to extract concessions from Democrats. These concessions include the Budget Control Act of 2011, which implemented federal spending caps for the next decade. The U.S. is currently projected to hit the debt ceiling next year, after the start of the new Congress, and Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy has indicated that should they take the majority, Republicans would seek cuts to vital programs like Social Security and Medicare in exchange for raising the debt limit. Accordingly, Democrats are discussing addressing the debt ceiling before year-end. Both Speaker Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Schumer said this weekend that this would be a priority for the fall. This would ensure that a potential new Republican majority cannot hold the debt ceiling hostage in exchange for cuts to Medicare and Social Security. 

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Passing the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA)

The annual NDAA authorizes funding and sets policy for U.S. military and defense programs. Congress has enacted an NDAA every year since 1961. As such, Congress will likely pass an NDAA through both chambers and send it to the president to sign before completing its work for the year. While a compromise between the House and Senate is not done, the final version of the NDAA could boost military spending to $850 billion, which is $68 billion more than the $782 billion appropriated for defense programs last year. 

The House and Senate have each crafted their own versions of the NDAA, and the final compromise version that is enacted does not typically include matters that either chamber has not already proposed by this point. Nonetheless, members of Congress will likely seek to attach their priorities—regardless of whether they concern defense programs—to the bill, knowing that it reliably becomes law. Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV), for example, has sought to attach his “permitting reform” proposal to the NDAA, while Senators Chris Coons (D-DE) and Roy Blunt (R-MO) have requested that the NDAA include the Victims of Child Abuse Act (H.R. 7419/S. 3975). 

Stakeholders may also look to attach items that do relate to defense or foreign affairs. For example, Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) and Rep. Sara Jacobs (D-CA) have advocated for including the House-passed Upholding Human Rights Abroad Act (H.R. 8333/S. 4506), which would require human rights vetting of U.S. security cooperation programs. In addition, the Biden Administration has priorities for the NDAA, such as more military support to Ukraine, opposition to funding for the nuclear-armed sea-launched cruise missile, retirement of the B83 gravity bomb, and increasing the number of Special Immigrant Visas (SIVs) issued to Afghans.

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Addressing Impending Tax, Health Care, and Other Assorted Deadlines

There are several tax and health care issues that Congress is likely to tackle before 2023. Reporting indicates that key members of Congress plan to take up a package of “tax extenders”—that is, extensions of tax policies that will expire without congressional action. Stakeholders have raised alarms that certain extensions would benefit the mega-wealthy and giant corporations disproportionately. Proponents of the expanded Child Tax Credit (CTC) are asking Congress to extend the expanded CTC before the end of the year and to prioritize children over the corporations that tax extenders typically aid.

With respect to health care, one likely priority is a fix to avoid physician payment cuts under Medicare, which doctors argue would impede seniors’ access to care. Congress has repeatedly averted such cuts in end-of-year legislation, including at the end of 2021. This is not, however, the only health care deadline on the horizon. For example, without congressional action, Medicaid funding for Puerto Rico will plummet after December 16. As a result, advocates may ask Congress to pair a fix for those cuts with any physician payment fix. 

Finally, there are other expiring programs that congressional leadership will likely feel compelled to renew before 2023 to ensure the assistance families depend on remains available. These include the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), and the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) Program, among others. 

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A Note from the Progressive Caucus Action Fund

The priorities listed above do not represent the Progressive Caucus Action Fund’s priorities. These examples do not speak to the value of specific priorities, nor are they necessarily exhaustive. There are a number of issues not included here that are of tremendous importance, including codifying the rights to abortion care and same-sex marriage, protecting the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, and more. Congress may decide to act on these items in November or December. 


The analysis above is not an endorsement. It solely represents a prediction, based on Congress’s past actions, of which tasks current leaders in Congress are likely to consider “must-do” in the limited time between now and 2023.