Post-2012 Election Look at Lame-Duck Session and 2013

President Obama will head into his second term in January facing a divided Congress that looks a lot like the Congress of the last two years of his first term – with the Democrats controlling the Senate and conservative Republicans solidly controlling the House of Representatives. With the country facing immense and immediate fiscal challenges that require complicated political negotiation and compromise, and with many of his top financial advisers expected to announce their resignations by the end of the year, there is no time or opportunity for the president to take a victory lap. This memorandum summarizes the challenges the president and Congress face during the final weeks of 2012 (and the path most likely to be taken that will provide temporary resolution) and highlights some of the major issues a second Obama administration and the 113th Congress will most likely address in 2013.