1 as lawmakers have been unable to pass the detailed spending bills that are supposed to be approved on an annual basis. GOVERNMENT FUNDING The federal government has been operating on a series of temporary spending measures since the fiscal year started on Oct. Outside of Congress, Trump could trim benefits on his own by reducing the time people are eligible for government aid and requiring them to provide more frequent updates on their efforts to find work, said Robert Doar, a welfare specialist at the conservative-leaning American Enterprise Institute. With congressional elections looming in November, Democrats already are portraying the effort as an attack on the poor, coming on the heels of a tax rewrite that delivered its biggest benefits to businesses and wealthy people. That could run into a brick wall in the Senate, where Republicans' narrow 51-49 majority requires them to work with Democrats on most issues, and Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said last month that he did not think welfare reform would make much headway. Lawmakers could add work requirements for able-bodied recipients or lump a range of programs together to give states more control over how they are administered. WELFARE REFORM After passing a massive tax-cut package, House Speaker Paul Ryan and other conservative Republicans are eager to overhaul food stamps and other anti-poverty programs. Republicans have yet to lay out how they would pay for such an ambitious project when traditional funding mechanisms, such as an increase in the gas tax, remain politically unpopular. INFRASTRUCTURE Business groups are eager for Trump and Congress to tackle a major transportation bill that would spur construction of highways, airports, and other infrastructure. Following is a rundown of the major items on the legislative agenda.

Lawmakers also have must-pass budget bills and other unfinished business they need to tackle after the holiday break.

President Donald Trump and the Republican-led Congress have set their sights on an infrastructure initiative and welfare reform as two of their top legislative priorities for 2018.

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