Congressional gridlock, workforce authority, and post-election funding backlog

The 119th Congress has passed fewer laws than any two-year session in more than half a century, and the Senate's pre-midterm adjournment leaves appropriations, permitting, TSCA, railroad-merger review, and other work for a compressed lame-duck period. The December 11 funding deadline and the expiration of a settlement protecting 4,200 workers at year's end could revive shutdown brinkmanship and disputes over executive authority and mass firings.