Last week, ML Strategies shared our thoughts on what to expect in the post-election lame duck Congress. The unknown factor at that point in time was who would be elected President on November 8th, which party would be in the majority in the House and Senate, and how those ballot box decisions would impact the legislative agenda for the remainder of the current 114th Congress. With the votes in and counted, Donald Trump is now the president-elect and will be sworn in as the 45th President of the United States on January 20, 2017. The Republican party also fared well in the elections and has retained majorities in the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives.

The outcome of the presidential election was, for most observers, unexpected leaving the lame duck agenda somewhat up in the air. Last week we outlined a number of measures likely to see action in the lame duck, with four – a spending bill for the current fiscal year, a defense supplemental funding request, an annual defense authorization bill, and a water resources bill – topping the list. Two big casualties of the election are Senate action on the Supreme Court nomination of Merrick Garland and the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).