Congress will be out of session next week for Thanksgiving, and will return on Monday, December 8, 2014.  The House and Senate will need to agree on appropriations legislation by December 11, 2014 in order to avoid a government shutdown.  It is unclear at this point whether this legislation will take the form of full-year appropriations legislation, a short-term continuing resolution (CR), or a combination of the two.  The approach of Congressional Republicans is likely to be influenced by President Obama’s Executive Order on immigration that was announced yesterday.  Republicans may use these bills to retaliate for the President’s actions, either by cutting spending, refusing to pass any funding legislation at all, or only passing short-term bills.