Below is this week's congressional update by BakerHostetler's Federal Policy team. We'll continue to post in weeks when both chambers of Congress are in session.

HEADLINES

  • Congress returns for its lame-duck session, with several uncalled House elections leaving the chamber's majority in the 118th Congress uncertain.
  • The Republican Party faces a reckoning this week, after badly underperforming expectations in the midterm elections, with former President Donald Trump expected to announce a 2024 bid tomorrow.
  • President Joe Biden is participating in the G20 Leaders' Summit in Bali, Indonesia, including a meeting with China's Xi Jinping.

HOUSE

  • The House will be in session tonight through Friday, with an agenda including bipartisan legislation aiming to protect sexual assault victims from nondisclosure agreements.
  • House Republicans will hold leadership elections tomorrow, amid uncertainty over whether they will be in the majority – and uncertainty whether presumptive speaker Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., can quell a rebellion after a disastrous election for his party.
  • Newly elected House members – including some candidates whose election outcomes remain undecided – are in Washington for orientation.
  • The committee hearing schedule can be found here.

SENATE

  • The Senate will reconvene with consideration of Biden's judicial nominees.
  • Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and his allies are also working to hold down a challenge to his leadership.
  • Senate Democrats are jubilant after Saturday's projection that their most vulnerable incumbent, Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., won reelection, clinching their majority for two more years.
  • The Senate committee meeting schedule can be found here.

WHITE HOUSE

  • Biden is in Bali for the G20 Leaders Summit, beginning the final leg of his trip to Egypt, Cambodia, and Indonesia.
  • Today's agenda includes Biden and Xi's first face-to-face meeting as leaders of their respective countries amid tense relations between the superpowers.
  • As the president returns, Vice President Kamala Harris will travel to Bangkok, Thailand, for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Leaders Meeting before concluding her trip in the Philippines.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.