This Week on Capitol Hill

Congress pops back into town for a quick lame-duck session this week (with its '07-'08 members), before heading home for the holidays.

A new lease for GM: The House and Senate will wrestle over whether - and how - to toss automakers a cash life-line to keep Detroit in business. The US car industry won a $25 billion loan in September to help it transition its fleet from gas-guzzlers to green-lovers, but carmakers will only see those dollars will after certain milestones are met. Meanwhile, sputtering sales has GM, Ford and Chrysler wondering if they'll have the cash flow to make it through '09. Dems would like to extend a second loan of $25 billion, taken from the $700 billion bailout bill, to tide the Big Three over; the administration and GOP would rather change the terms of the auto-industry's September loan to make that cash available today. Whether congressional leaders can push an agreement through this week - or leave Detroit on the hook until January 20 (when a new, more rescue-friendly administration comes to town) is up in the air.

This Week on Capitol Hill

Congress had plans to head off for the campaign trail last Friday - but it'll stick around a couple days this week to try to greenlight what is - by all accounts - the nation's largest bailout in history. As long as they're there, lawmakers may also knock out some tax extensions, as well as bills on transportation and an India nuclear energy deal.

This Week on Capitol Hill

Congress could go out with a bang this week - okaying a $700 billion safety-net for Wall Street - before hitting the campaign trail on Friday. Before they take off, though, lawmakers will have to wrap up a budget tide-over bill, while also aiming to cram in energy fixes, a second stimulus package and popular tax extenders.

The mother of all bailouts: After putting out Wall Street fires at mortgage giants Fannie and Freddie and insurance behemoth AIG, the federal government decided last week it needs to fund a bailout to end all bailouts. The administration is asking Congress to give it the go ahead to buy up to $700 billion in mortgage-backed securities (the bum debt that has finance firms teetering) over the next two years. Congress is on board, but Democrats may also add some demands of their own - like limiting the golden parachutes of CEOs - which could slow up passage of a final bill.

This Week on Capitol Hill

Congress will have to work at lightspeed to cover its wish list - of energy fixes, economy boosts, tax extenders, defense authorization and a budget tide-over - before its target head-home date of September 26. It may end up colliding a few measures together, fusing exotic bills that can win enough votes for passage - or, of course, end up in a legislative black hole.

Energy: Both the House and Senate could unfold energy packages this week, mixing off-shore drilling measures with any number of other energy reforms, including tax breaks and cash for alternative energy development, mandates for electricity companies to use renewable energy, tighter regulation on oil speculation, heating assistance and taxes on the oil industry. First up is likely to be a House bill that allows drilling 50 miles off shore in approving states (although states wouldn't get any share in oil revenue). Hill watchers are suspicious of how genuinely the pols want to pass bipartisan legislation - versus how much the compromise bills are really about political grandstanding.

This Week on Capitol Hill

Congress returns this week for an - optimistically speaking - brief stint before hitting the campaign trail full force.

The week's legislative line-up is still taking shape, but sure to be at the top of the list are:

This Week on Capitol Hill

With an historic housing bill under its belt, Congress turns this week to tie up as many loose legislative ends as it can before heading home for a month of sun and fun (and, yeah, some campaigning).