Congress begins its lame duck session this week following the midterm elections. The top issue facing lawmakers is what to do about extending former President George W. Bush's tax cuts.
It's called a lame duck session because many returning lawmakers are soon to be out-of-work once the new session begins in January. That's particularly true for Democrats, who lost huge majorities in the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate.
Quin Hillyer, with The Washington Times, talks about what will likely happen to the Bush tax cuts during this lame-duck session, following this report.
For now, there's still a lot of work to do, including how to resolve an ongoing debate about tax cuts.
"I think they should be extended until we're out of this recession," Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz, said on NBC's "Meet the Press" Sunday.
Republicans want to extend the Bush-era tax cuts for all taxpayers -- including upper-income Americans. GOP lawmakers -- old and new -- aren't showing any signs of compromise.
"I don't think there's any room to negotiate on raising taxes, particularly on smaller businesses," Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., said on "Fox News Sunday." "I hope we can get a permanent extension."
"So I think really the compromise is where you find the reductions in spending," said Senator-elect Rand Paul, R-Ky., on CBS' "Face the Nation." "But I don't think the compromise is in raising taxes."
However, President Barack Obama wants to extend the tax cuts only to middle-class families.
"We cannot afford to go the additional step and permanently raise -- and permanently cut taxes primarily for millionaires and billionaires at a cost of $700 billion for the next 10 years alone," said White House advisor David Axelrod.
On Capitol Hill, some Democrats have hinted that they ultimately may have to compromise.
"What if we moved it up to $1 million?" asked Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y. "Everyone below $1 million will get a tax cut, but the millionaires and billionaires won't."
There are several other debates -- such as like extending unemployment benefits, repealing the military's ban on gay servicemen and women, and ratifying a nuclear arms treaty with Russia. Then there's the fight over congressional earmarks. President Obama has called on lawmakers to limit earmarks, while two top House leaders have challenged the president to take it a step further and threaten to veto any bill containing even one earmark.
Meanwhile, there are plenty of new faces on Capitol Hill going through orientation classes and gearing up for the next session of Congress.
"It's time to hit the ground running and start to do the people's work," said Representative-elect Todd Young, R-Ind.
Most of the incoming freshman Republicans were supported by the Tea Party. They say they made a pledge to reform Washington, D.C. and it's a pledge they intend to keep.