Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) told reporters Thursday that he does not expect Congress will come back for a lame-duck session following the November election.

“I don’t anticipate that,” Reid said.

He reiterated his intention to punt most of the 12 annual appropriations bills to the 111th Congress if they are not passed or signed by President Bush. Reid’s comment came on the heels of senior appropriators’ in the House, who also predicted slim prospects for spending bills moving this year.

“I would hope that before we would leave here this year we would do a continuing resolution that would get us until after Sen. Obama becomes president,” Reid said, referencing presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.).

Reid held out little hope that the Senate would be able to consider more than a few bills before adjourning for the year at the end of September or the beginning of October. He noted that he hopes to be able to take up appropriations bills funding the Defense Department, the Veterans Affairs Department and military construction before recessing at the beginning of August.

“The rest, we’ll just have to wait and see,” he said.