This article reports that members of Congress were poised to leave Washington last week with some major higher-education accomplishments to campaign on and a slate of unfinished business important to colleges. Topping the higher-education to-do list for the next Congressional session is federal spending for the 2009 fiscal year, which began October 1. While both chambers have made some headway on the education-and-research spending bill, neither the U.S. House of Representatives nor the Senate has passed the measure. Until they do, federal science agencies and student-aid programs will continue to operate at current spending levels. At the same time, lawmakers will have to contend with a severe shortfall in the Pell Grant program, expected to exceed $5-billion by the end of the 2009 fiscal year. Some student-aid advocates worry that appropriators might reduce the maximum award, now at $4,731, to cut costs, though most advocates say that is unlikely, given Congress's sensitivity to the financial difficulties that families are facing.