Congressional leaders return from Thanksgiving recess on Dec. 1 determined to pass a long-term spending bill — effective through the end of September 2015 — by Dec. 11, despite pressure from some Republicans to punt until the new GOP-controlled Senate takes over in January.

Key points of contention include aid to Egypt and the Palestinians, with the House and Senate appropriations panels passing distinct spending bills over the summer that must now be reconciled. Lawmakers are also debating the wisdom of renewing — and funding — President Barack Obama's request to train and equip Syrian rebels in the wake of lingering questions about that strategy's wisdom.

On Egypt, Senate appropriators — led by leading Cairo critic Patrick Leahy (D-VT) — voted in June to cut military aid by $300 million and impose tougher restrictions on aid disbursement, including a requirement that Abdel Fattah al-Sisi's government release "all persons detained for exercising their rights to free expression, association, and peaceful assembly." Leahy's House counterpart, Rep. Kay Granger (R-Texas), instead favors relaxing those restrictions, even as the Nov. 29 court ruling to drop criminal charges against former President Hosni Mubarak adds another wrinkle to the debate.

The two chambers passed similar language on Palestinian aid over the summer, voting to reduce funding by about $70 million to offset the payments going to families of prisoners in Israeli jails. The recent uptick in violence in Jerusalem, however, could result in new restrictions as lawmakers debate ways to avoid direct payments to the Palestinian Authority following its reconciliation with Hamas.