The Week of September 8

Congress returns this week for an - optimistically speaking - brief stint before hitting campaign season full force.

This week's legislative line-up is still taking form, but sure to be at the top of the list are:

Energy: lawmakers may continue July's political stalemating over energy fixes, when Dems and the GOP butted heads over off-shore-drilling, but forces for compromise - that would match off-shore-drilling measures with alternative energy boosts - could actually push through a bipartisan bill this month.

Defense: normally a pro-forma action, the yearly Defense Authorization bill (S 3001) got mired in politicking over the summer, but the Senate hopes to pass it along its merry way this week.

A second stimulus: with a still flagging economy, Congress plans a second - possibly $50 billion - push to stoke the economy, this time with investment in infrastructure.

09's budget: in theory, Congress is supposed to finish a budget by October 1, when fiscal year '09 starts. In practice, Dems have known all year they'd be punting the passage of a final budget to January, when they hope to have a more sympatico president. In the meantime, Congress will have to pass a "continuing resolution" to keep the government funded using 08's budget numbers.