Republicans weigh debt-limit option as Senate pursues judicial confirmations

Stalled reconciliation faces slim-majority and attendance hurdles

Republicans are considering a third budget-reconciliation bill that could deliver the military-spending boost President Trump wants and raise the debt limit, according to The Wall Street Journal. The proposal stalled before the election, and the report said reviving it would require a coordinated push in both chambers. Republicans hold slim majorities in the remaining House and Senate, House attendance might be spotty, and lawmakers are divided over the bill’s size and contents.

Republicans used the special budget-reconciliation procedure earlier in Congress to pass party-line measures related to taxes and immigration enforcement. They could also use a third bill to raise the debt limit, which the report said would remove a must-pass bill from Democrats’ agenda in 2027.

Federal agencies’ funding is scheduled to lapse on Dec. 11, triggering a government shutdown unless Congress passes legislation. One possibility is a short-term extension until early 2027, leaving the incoming Democratic majority and Trump to negotiate the rest of the fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30. Full-year funding for some agencies would need Democratic votes in the Senate. Democrats might insist on conditions such as a mechanism written into law to end the war in Iran or tighter restrictions on the administration’s ability to shift or cancel congressionally approved spending.

Among the bipartisan deals under consideration before the election, but not completed, a permitting bill is the leading measure. It would expedite major construction projects by speeding environmental reviews and accelerating the build-out of energy infrastructure. Some of the bill’s leading Democratic advocates are urging action during the lame-duck session, which the report said gives the measure a chance. Legislation on college sports, cryptocurrency and agricultural aid could prove tougher.

A handful of tax measures are also under consideration. They include an extension of the tax credit for semiconductor manufacturing, a collection of tax-administration process improvements, regulation of tax preparers, a reversal of tighter deduction limits on gambling losses and a new tax credit for film production.

Senate Republicans plan to focus on confirming as many of President Trump’s judicial nominees as possible, according to The Wall Street Journal, which described the effort as “locking conservatives into lifetime appointments before Democrats take over.” The chamber also has a set of executive-branch nominees to confirm. Currently, four vacancies sit on the federal courts of appeals, and about a dozen district-court vacancies have pending Trump nominees. Conservative court watchers said it was imperative for Senate Republicans to act swiftly to confirm all of those pending nominees during the lame-duck session.

The report said the chances of a Supreme Court vacancy arising soon were remote. It identified Clarence Thomas, 78, and Samuel Alito, 76, as the court’s “two oldest and most conservative justices,” and said both had signaled that they had no plans to retire soon.

Republican leadership elections are set for Tuesday, with the House contest the biggest of them. Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana is not seeking the minority leader position. Current House Majority Leader Steve Scalise of Louisiana will face Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan of Ohio, whom the report described as “a favorite of the party’s right flank.”

In the Senate, John Thune of South Dakota is expected to remain his party’s leader despite a series of Republican defeats and the loss of the majority. Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin has tried to build support for delaying the vote.

Senate Democrats’ leadership elections are set for early December. Several newly elected Democrats have said they will not vote for Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York for majority leader, though he is expected to have plenty of support after the party’s strong midterm performance. Sen. Brian Schatz of Hawaii is set to step into the No. 2 role. House Democrats are also set to choose new leaders before the end of the year, and the full House will vote on its new speaker in January, with Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of New York set to be speaker.

Against that legislative backdrop, the House might move to impeach Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Departing Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky is pressing the chamber to act, and the potential charges include waging war without congressional authorization and ignoring laws intended to minimize civilian casualties, among other charges. An impeachment would prompt the Senate to consider a trial, and removal from office would require a two-thirds vote.

The report said senior White House officials are blaming Hegseth for the “unpopular Iran war” and are pushing President Trump to oust him, but Trump still says he likes Hegseth and has no plans to fire him. Hegseth said he wouldn’t back down, and Pentagon officials said he has no plans to leave and will stay and fight. If he steps aside or is fired, Republicans would want to move quickly to confirm his replacement before the end of the year.

Republican lawmakers return to Washington on Monday with 55 days remaining in their House and Senate majorities after Democrats won both chambers in the midterms. The Wall Street Journal described the session as an opportunity for “some final, single-party power plays” and a chance to finish some bipartisan deals, particularly permitting for major energy projects. The report said that if “the sour vibes prevail,” Congress could produce only a few must-pass bills, a large slate of judicial confirmations and an early break for the holidays.

Source note

The Wall Street Journal said the summary accompanying its report was generated with AI and reviewed by an editor. The paper identified Richard Rubin as its U.S. tax policy reporter in Washington, where he focuses on the intersection of taxes, legislation, politics and economics. Rubin was the lead author on the Journal’s coverage of major tax law changes in 2017 and 2025 and writes frequently about corporate taxation and the Internal Revenue Service. Before joining the Journal in 2015, Rubin covered tax policy for Bloomberg News and Congressional Quarterly. Earlier in his career, he wrote about local government and transportation policy for the Charlotte Observer. Rubin is a native of New Jersey and a graduate of Duke University.

The report also described Lindsay Wise as a Journal reporter covering Congress. Wise previously worked as a Washington correspondent for the Kansas City Star and as an investigative reporter for the Star and McClatchy newspapers. Before McClatchy, Wise reported for the Houston Chronicle’s metro desk on the night cops beat. She covered Texas veterans and the military while traveling to Iraq for the Chronicle and documented stories of Houston’s Arab and Muslim refugee communities. Wise holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Virginia and a master’s degree in Modern Middle Eastern Studies from St. Antony’s College, Oxford. Between 2003 and 2006, Wise worked as a freelance journalist in Egypt.