The most consequential weeks of the legislative year may be the ones after the election. But this year, the environment may be even tougher.
Government funding expires December 11. Between now and then, Congress has to pass another stopgap or a full-year funding package, and it will likely try to finish the National Defense Authorization Act. Those are must-pass bills. And historically, must-pass bills are where smaller priorities find a ride.
This year, the lame duck presents the last chance for certain priorities before the agenda changes. With new majorities arriving in January, incoming leaders may have little appetite for locking in a big year-end deal, and a short stopgap that pushes decisions into 2027 is a realistic outcome. Real legislative time may come down to two or three weeks. Priorities that might have moved in a different environment will face a higher bar. If your priority can’t wait for 2027, these weeks are your last real window. If it can wait, they are the best time to build the relationships that will carry it next year.
That doesn’t make the lame duck dead time. It makes it more strategic. There are two jobs to do at once: win what’s possible in December, and set up for success with a new Congress that will have new chairs, new agendas and a lot of new staff.
In health policy, the stakes are familiar. Telehealth flexibilities, community health funding, workforce programs and public health extensions have all lived or died on year-end vehicles.
Some priorities will still move, and which ones will depend on who has been hearing about them. The organizations that win in a lame duck aren’t the loudest. They’re the most present.
Five ways to stay top of mind:
1. Put your expertise in front of policymakers, not just your ask. A well-placed op-ed or byline from a respected leader frames your issue as part of the policy conversation that staff and members are already reading about. In a narrow window, that visibility matters more, and it reaches incoming leaders as well as current ones.
2. Convene, don’t just broadcast. Some of the most productive conversations in Washington happen around a dinner table. Small salon dinners that bring together experts, patients, providers and policy thinkers create space for a real conversation about what’s at stake, and a chance to meet the people who will lead in January.
3. Arm your government relations team. Your GR professionals are doing the work on the Hill. Communications should make their job easier with sharp one-pagers, data-driven fact sheets, compelling patient and provider stories, and digital leave-behinds that travel. Add a new member education package that tells every new office who you are and what you mean for their state or district.
4. Create urgency through earned media. Reporters covering the funding fight are looking for real-world consequences. Help them find yours. A timely story about what happens to patients, clinics or communities if a program lapses shows why your priority matters, in December and in the new Congress.
5. Prepare for the new majorities now. The organizations that do best in January are the ones that start in November. Map the incoming committee leaders and what they have said they will prioritize. Refresh messaging written for the last Congress. Make sure credible voices, including ones who resonate across the aisle, are ready to speak for you.
Integration is the advantage:
None of these tactics work as well alone. The organizations that move fastest in a lame duck have communications, digital and government relations operating as one team, with one message and one goal. At Signal, that integration is how we work every day, across healthcare, energy, conservation, agriculture and more.
The next six weeks will move quickly. The organizations that use them strategically will win what is possible in December and begin the new year with relationships, visibility and momentum.
Download the Lame Duck Congress 2026 One Pager for more.