Coming Up on This Week with George Stephanopoulos

As Congress heads back to work next week, the debate continues over whether U.S. Senate Appointee Roland Burris will be permitted to take office. The former Illinois Attorney General will join George Stephanopoulos in an exclusive interview to discuss his confrontation with top Democrats over the Senate seat that he claims is now rightfully his.

Then, a pair of exclusive interviews with Sens. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., and Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. The Democratic Whip and Republican Leader will discuss the defiant move by scandal-ridden Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich to appoint Burris to Barack Obama's vacated Senate seat. Looking ahead, they will address the economic stimulus package and the Senate agenda for 2009. In addition, McConnell, the most powerful Republican in Washington, will weigh-in on the challenges facing his party in the upcoming year.

On the roundtable The Nation's Katrina vanden Heuvell, and ABC News' George Will, Jonathan Karl, and Cokie Roberts will debate the week's politics and the escalating violence in Israel.