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The outcome of the midterm elections will play a significant role in determining which of these priorities move during the lame-duck session. If Democrats gain control of one or both chambers, President Trump could seek action on several priorities before the current Congress concludes, including supplemental Defense Department funding. The administration could also push legislation designed to avoid difficult negotiations with a Democratic-controlled Congress next year, such as an increase in the debt limit or legislation funding the federal government at current levels through the remainder of the fiscal year. 

At the same time, lawmakers in both parties will continue pressing for consideration of their own legislative priorities. With limited legislative days remaining, Congress is unlikely to consider each of these measures as a standalone bill. Instead, congressional leadership will likely seek to assemble one or two large legislative packages containing multiple priorities. Members will attempt to add as many provisions as possible to those packages, while House and Senate leaders negotiate the combination of policies necessary to secure sufficient bipartisan support—particularly in the Senate, where most legislation requires 60 votes to advance.

The result is likely to be a familiar lame-duck dynamic: leadership will prioritize the most urgent and achievable items, lawmakers will negotiate a series of trade-offs, and many of the remaining issues will be pushed into the next Congress.