As the election draws closer, speculation in Washington about a possible Kerry cabinet or a newly shaped Bush cabinet has begun. National Journal assembled a large list of possible nominees for both teams.

On the Bush side, there won't be a huge shake-up on the domestic side of the cabinet. Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson, who was earlier rumored to be on the outs, now may stay on for another tour, or possibly attempt to move to the Department of Tranportation, where he originally wished to reside. If Thompson leaves, current deputy secretary Claude Allen or the head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Mark McClellan (brother of current White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan) may both vie for the top spot. On the transportation front, DOT Secretary Norm Mineta, the lone Democrat in the cabinet, may be moving on, which would free up his slot for current Labor Secretary Elaine Chao or current Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham. Others mentioned by National Journal include former deputy secretary Michael P. Jackson and current FAA chief Marion Blakely. On the education front, with Rod Paige likely stepping down, current White House education adviser Margaret Spellings is the front-runner for replacement. For labor, if Chao leaves, EEOC chair Cari Dominquez or George Salem (who was a part of Labor during the Reagan administration) are rumored to be interested.

The Kerry contingency brings a much higher amount of speculation, given that all of the spots would have to be filled with new faces. Starting with HHS, some names rumored to be in the mix include former New Hampshire Governor Jeanne Shaheen and Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack, both of whom have been campaigning vigorously for Kerry. Some names mentioned from the hill include retiring Senator Bob Graham (Florida) and Representative Dick Gephardt (Missouri), Minority Leader Tom Daschle (South Dakota) if he loses his re-election bid, Rep. Denise Majette (Georgia) and Rep. Gregory Meeks (New York). Outside of the Capitol, some possibilities are Kansas governor Kathleen Sebelius, Missouri governor Bob Holden, former Oregon governor John Kitzhaber, former representative Tom Downey (New York), or Jim Mongan, who currently heads a health care system in Massachusetts.

On the transportation side, several names were mentioned in the National Journal. From the hill, there's Representative James Oberstar (Minnesota), Mike Honda (California) and Earl Blumenauer (Oregon). Some Peyser clients were also mentioned, including Seattle Mayor Greg Nickles and Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell. Finally, former FAA chief Jane Garvey and Michigan governor Jennifer Granholm rounded out the list of possible DOT replacements for Mineta.

Kerry has promised to bring a labor leader in to head the Labor Department, with longtime labor friend Dick Gephardt included, as well as Richard Trunks, the current AFL-CIO secretary treasurer or Rep. Stephen Lynch (Massachusetts). Finally Harold Schaitberger, head of the International Association of Fire Fighters, which loudly backed Kerry from the beginning, has been mentioned as a strong contender for the top spot.

On the Housing and Urban Devlopment front, several mayors have been mentioned including Detroit's Dennis Archer, Boston's Tom Menino, Louisville's Jerry Abramson, former Seattle mayor Norm Rice, former New Orleans mayor Marc Morial and Atlanta's Shirley Franklin.

As the election day draws closer, jostling for position on both sides is expected to increase.

HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson announced this week that there will be an additional 1 million does of the FluMist nasal spray flu vaccine. Medimmune, the maker of FluMist, notified the Secretary of the additional doses of the nasal spray vaccine. The Health and Human Services announcement can be accessed here.

Without action, the national debt will exceed the statutory limit within a month. Lawmakers must clear a debt-increase limit by the week of November 22, or the government will be forced to default on its obligations for the first time ever.

The current debt limit of $7.4 trillion was reached on October 14, according to Treasury Secretary John Snow. Since that time, Snow has made a number of accounting moves to keep the government debt below the limit, including a suspension of payments to certain federal retirement plans.

Congress has always found time to raise the debt limit in the past, although each time the process has been politically painful. By moving the increase to after the election, the leadership hopes to reduce pressure and make the process easier, although most appropriators will resist attempts to include the debt-measure into a pre-existing appropriations bill.

As Congress left town last week they left behind a huge stack of unfinished business on issues that had been top priorities for both parties. Despite GOP control of both houses of Congress and the White House there were stalemates on energy, highways, welfare, and prescription drug costs. Serious divisions between the conservative House and the more centrist Senate contributed to the impasses.

Republicans were thwarted on legislation to curb big awards from liability lawsuits and on a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriages. Democrats were thwarted in efforts to raise the minimum wage, overturn new overtime pay rules and allow the importation of cheaper prescription drugs from overseas.

A post election lame-duck session is scheduled to begin on November 16 and will be devoted mainly to the nine spending bills for the new fiscal year that Congress has not yet passed; it has approved only four.

The congressional session did have some achievements, including the approval of bills to cut corporate and middle class taxes and pay billions of dollars for hurricane, drought and flood relief. It also approved a bill making it a separate crime to kill an unborn child and legislation to expand DNA testing in crime cases and to provide new rights for crime victims.

A final compromise on intelligence prompted by the recommendations of the independent commission that investigated the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, would add to the record, although it is not clear whether agreement can be reached before the elections or by the time of the post-election session.

It was a second year in a row that legislation to spur energy production, foundered in the Senate, although some of its provisions, including support for a natural gas pipeline from Alaska were included in other bills. The multibillion dollar highway and transit bill got caught up in disputes between lawmakers and the White House over cost and among states over how the money would be distributed.

Legislation to reauthorize and update the 1996 welfare bill, including new work rules and funding for child care, was sidelined by Senate Republicans after Democrats threatened to add some of their own legislative priorities including a minimum wage increase.

House bills targeted at curbing class action lawsuits and limiting damages from medical malpractice lawsuits died in the Senate, and lengthy negotiations on the creation of a fund to compensate asbestos victims failed to produce an agreement.

The Senate rejected a bill to protect firearms manufacturers and dealers from lawsuits after gun control advocates attached provisions to extend the ban on assault weapons and require background checks at gun shows. A White House proposal to provide new tax breaks for contributions to religious and other charities failed in the Senate, and Democrats lost efforts to extend unemployment benefits. A bipartisan Senate bill to expand the federal hate crimes statute was rejected by House Republicans in a conference committee. Immigration initiatives, including proposals by the President, went nowhere.

Congress failed to agree on a budget for the year, contributing to the delay in passing appropriations bills. Only bills dealing with defense, military construction, homeland security and the District of Columbia have been passed. With the government running out of borrowing authority, Congress will also have to raise the federal debt ceiling, which lawmakers were reluctant to tackle before the elections.

With Congress departing this week, only to return after the election, it's a good time to recap what has been accomplished this year on the hill.

So far, only 4 of 13 appropriations bills have been passed, with Military Construction and Homeland Security joining the DC and Defense bills yesterday. The only remaining measure to be taken up is a revamp of the nation's intelligence services, despite strong differences between the House and Senate versions.

During the past year, a few major pieces of legislation have been adopted. A Medicare prescription drug bill, two different tax cut packages and a disaster relief bill have been the largest efforts to succeed. Many key bills have been delayed or abandoned altogether, including an energy bill, the reauthorization of TEA-21 and the reauthorization of welfare. Efforts to pass all of these measures before the election fell apart due to time considerations and differences between the House and Senate, which have been stark throughout the year.

Both parties will now turn their full focus to the elections, and the expected lame duck session is unlikely to resolve many of the bigger issues that have derailed legislation over the past year.