Lame Duck Session Tackles Spending Bills

This photo provided by the White House shows President Bush, center, rear, having breakfast with Republican Leadership, Thursday, Nov. 9, 2006, at the White House in Washington. Clockwise, from the president are, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist of Tenn; Senate Majority Whip Mitch McConnell, R-Ky; Vice President Dick Cheney; House Majority Whip Roy Blunt of Mo.; House Majority Leader John Boehner of Ohio; and House Speaker Dennis Hastert of Illinois. (AP Photo/White House, Paul Morse) (Paul Morse - AP)

In the House, Republican leaders are leaning toward passing a bill, known as a continuing resolution, that would fund federal programs at the 2006 budget year levels into January.

That would shift the burden of dealing with these bills to the Democrats at a time when they are moving into the majority and trying to launch action on their agenda.

The eavesdropping measure sought by Bush stalled in the Senate because of a Democratic filibuster threat. And another presidential priority, winning confirmation of John Bolton to be U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, also faces probably insurmountable obstacles in the Senate.

Bolton has held the post on a temporary basis for more than a year. If opposition to his confirmation continues, he would have to leave the job in January.

Prospects are better for confirmation of former CIA Director Robert Gates to succeed Donald H. Rumsfeld as defense secretary. Hearings are tentatively scheduled for early December, when the Senate returns from its Thanksgiving break, with a goal of a Senate vote before the end of the year.

The tax relief legislation, supported by both parties, includes deductions for state and local sales taxes and student tuition, plus business tax credits for research and development.

Efforts to extend the breaks stalled before the election when GOP leaders tried to link the extensions to lower taxes on multimillion-dollar estates and the promise of a minimum wage increase pushed by Democrats.

One possibility is combining the tax proposals with a measure to overturn billions of dollars in Medicare payment cuts to doctors now scheduled to begin in January.

In an unpleasant reminder of the problems that contributed to Republican losses at the polls, the House ethics committee is expected to report soon on how GOP leaders handled the case of former Rep. Mark Foley, R-Fla., and sexually charged computer messages he sent to former male pages. The report could have harsh things to say about Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., who announced Wednesday he will step down as his party's leader when the Democrats take over in January.