With the election past, attention is turning to the next Congress (with final margins and control of the House not officially called as of this writing).

First, both parties will hold leadership elections in each chamber. Little drama expected as both parties appear likely to keep their current leadership, with the exception of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) stepping aside. The frontrunners for that role are John Thune (R-SD) and John Cornyn (R-TX); Rick Scott (R-FL) is also running but is an underdog.

Meanwhile, the current Congress returns on Tuesday for a lame-duck session. Questions abound as to what the remaining five legislative weeks (per the current calendar) will look like.

A potentially long and time-consuming list of bills could become quite short if President-elect Trump persuades congressional Republicans to delay action until the next Congress, where the GOP is expected to control both chambers. Some in the GOP would prefer to “clear the decks”—finalize all FY2025 funding bills by year-end and start fresh with FY2026 funding.

In addition to finalizing FY2025 funding, we are urging Congress to repeal GPO/WEP—a decades-long priority for NEA members. As you may recall, we succeeded in getting a majority of the House to sign a “discharge petition” to force a floor vote on the Social Security Fairness Act (H.R. 82). The bill has 330 cosponsors—more than any other bill in the 118th Congress.

During a pro-forma session on Election Day, former Freedom Caucus Chair Bob Good (R-VA)—a lame duck himself—moved to table H.R. 82 and new Freedom Caucus Chair Andy Harris (R-MD) agreed. They were the only members present and ignored parliamentary staff who indicated the motion was not in order. Neither GOP nor Democratic leadership agreed to the maneuver and were not privy to it.

The bill’s champions are working to resolve this issue. We expect a floor vote on H.R. 82. Join us in urging members to VOTE YES!

In solidarity,