December 13, 2021
Congress has a long list of action items and not much progress has been made. And there’s not a lot of time left before the close of the year.
The US government is set to default on its debt “on or about” December 15th. That’s this Wednesday. So far, the Senate is allegedly supposed to move on legislation to avoid the debt default and raise the debt ceiling tomorrow (Tuesday) but that’s not a guarantee. Plus, the House is on recess.
As for the other major priorities?
The Build Back Better bill has passed the House but it has stalled in the Senate. And that bill includes the extension of the very popular monthly child tax credit program. Unless that bill gets passed December 15th will be the final monthly child tax credit payment.
Congress is also supposed to be passing the National Defense Authorization act, also known as the NDAA. That’s the legislation that sets the spending limits, budget and policy for the Defense Department. It also includes a small pay increase for our military members. It’s supposed to be passed by the end of the year.
There are no solid plays to accomplish any of this, and as I said, time is running out.
