Word is that the lame duck session of Congress will consist of this week, followed by a two-week break, with a final work period of Monday, December 4 to Friday, December 18. The current Continuing Resolution (CR) funding federal government operations expires this Friday, November 17. So, this week, a new CR is must-pass legislation. Congress is expected to set an expiration date for the new CR of Friday, December 8. The questions before Democrats and Republicans in both the House and Senate are:

• Will the GOP majority, in its final weeks, be able to summon the will to exercise its remaining authority to craft the FY2007 budget to reflect its policy preferences?
• Do the Democrats prefer a new CR that sets a 2007 date so that they can produce an FY2007 budget that expresses their own preferences -- or would they rather not have their fingerprints on a budget essentially drafted by the Bush administration?
• Are the Democrats fairly indifferent about the outcome of the FY2007 budget, focusing instead on passing the Pelosi First 100 Hours agenda?

The guess here is that GOP despondency, the paucity of time, and preference to hand painful budget decisions off to Democrats will trump the still-minority Democrats’ interest in starting next January with a clean budget slate.