The post-election lame duck session of Congress offers a last opportunity to take action on matters that have kept getting put off through the two years of the current Congress. In the current Congress there will be considerable pressure to take some action. A new budget for the 2023 fiscal year has not yet been approved, along with the related spending bill. While the fiscal year began on Oct. 1, 2022, a continuing funding resolution has pushed the current deadline to Dec. 16, 2022. Although there is as usual talk of shutting down the government if agreement cannot be reached, and this has happened in the past, usually there is a lot of pressure to reach a deal to avoid being blamed for a government shutdown.