Congress returns next week for a lame duck session after the midterm elections, which have left party control in the Senate and House uncertain as final votes are tallied in races throughout the country. A new policy landscape for 2023 will take shape as current policymakers work on a funding deal by Dec. 16 to avert a partial government shutdown. (CBS News, “The unresolved 2022 House and Senate races that will determine control of Congress,” Nov. 10) 

Omnibus Riders 

• Lawmakers return Nov. 14 but the official lame-duck session will not begin until Nov. 28, when the top priority will be an “omnibus” spending bill. (BGov, Nov. 7)
  
  
• A diverse array of policy priorities will be considered as possible add-ons to the must-pass fiscal 2023 appropriations package, including several issues of importance to commercial real estate. (Roundtable Weekly, Oct. 21)
  
  
• Among the many tax issues under consideration are recently expired provisions passed as part of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (TCJA), including rules related to business interest deductibility. Also in play are an expired, temporary increase in allocations of low-income housing tax credits (LIHTCs) to states. Additionally, the 100% bonus depreciation benefit starts phasing down at the end of this year.
  
  
• A key element of House Republicans’ Commitment to America policy agenda released in September is to make permanent provisions from the TCJA that have recently expired or are scheduled to sunset. (Tax Notes, Nov. 10 and Bloomberg, Sept. 23)

What’s Next

• Rep. Kevin Brady of Texas, the top Republican on the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee who is retiring at the end of the year, said he is talking with Democrats about a potential lame duck deal on taxes, but is ambiguous about its prospects. According to PolticoPro, Brady said, “It’s so difficult to predict,” noting that lame ducks “can be lightning quick or they can go through mid-December.” [Photo: Brady, right, with Ways and Means Chairman Richard Neal (D-MA)]
  
  
• A massive end-of-year spending package may also include another extension of The National Flood Insurance Program, which is now more than $20 billion in debt and extended on a short-term basis more than 20 times. (BGov, Nov. 7) 

Congress will also need to raise the federal borrowing limit within the next six months to avoid a government default. The 118^th Congress convenes on January 3, 2023.

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