Next week is the official start of “let’s circle back on that in the new year” season—but not for Congress, where lawmakers have a handful of time-sensitive priorities on their holiday to-do list.
Streaking: Lawmakers are poised to pass the fiscal 2026 NDAA for the 65th year in a row—no small feat in a political environment where legislation becomes more and more difficult to move through Congress. Negotiators from the House and Senate are reportedly expected to unveil a compromise bill soon, to tee it up for passage before the end of the year. While it’s not yet clear what priorities will make it into the final bill, expect the legislation to make changes to streamline the acquisition process, and to include support for Golden Dome.
Seeing double: Jared Isaacman is on Capitol Hill on Dec. 3 for an encore. He will testify before the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee after he was renominated to serve as NASA chief. One significant change since his first confirmation hearing in April? He’s likely going to have to answer questions about the recent leak of his Project Athena “manifesto”—not intended for public release—which would make major changes to the space agency, including relying on industry and academia for some science research.
New Year, Old Me: Congress is also working on a few things that it will punt to 2026, including:
- Funding the government to keep the lights on. The CR passed this month sets a deadline of passing either appropriations bills or a new CR by Jan. 30—or else, we’re looking at another shutdown.
- Passing a NASA authorization act is unlikely to happen before Congress leaves DC for its holiday break—though this has been a leftover item on lawmakers’ to-do list for multiple years.
