In the House, courtesy of the Office of the Majority Leader:
FLOOR SCHEDULE FOR TUESDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2010
House Meets At: 12:30 p.m.: Morning Hour
2:00 p.m.: Legislative Business
First Vote Predicted: 6:00 p.m.
Last Vote Predicted: 6:30 p.m.
"One Minutes"
Suspensions (16 Bills)
- H.Res. 1687 - Recognizing and supporting the goals and ideals of National Runaway Prevention Month (Rep. Biggert - Oversight and Government Reform)
- H.R. 6400 - To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 111 North 6th Street in St. Louis, Missouri, as the "Earl Wilson, Jr. Post Office" (Rep. Clay - Oversight and Government Reform)
- H.Res. 1642 - Recognizing the centennial of the City of Lilburn, Georgia and supporting the goals and ideals of a City of Lilburn Day (Rep. Johnson (GA) - Oversight and Government Reform)
- H.Res. 1264 - Expressing support for the designation of March as National Essential Tremor Awareness Month (Rep. Moore (KS) - Oversight and Government Reform)
- H.Res. 1531 - Expressing support for designation of 2011 as "World Veterinary Year" to bring attention to and show appreciation for the veterinary profession on its 250th anniversary (Rep. Schrader - Oversight and Government Reform)
- H.Res. 1727 - Recognizing Rotary International for 105 years of service to the world and commending members on their dedication to the mission and principles of their organization (Rep. Smith (TX) - Oversight and Government Reform)
- H.Res. 1704 - Honoring the 2500th anniversary of the Battle of Marathon (Rep. McGovern - Foreign Affairs)
- H.Res. 1402 - Recognizing the 50th anniversary of the National Council for International Visitors, and expressing support for designation of February 16, 2011, as "Citizen Diplomacy Day" (Rep. Moran (VA) - Foreign Affairs)
- H.Res. 1717 - Congratulating imprisoned Chinese democracy advocate Liu Xiaobo on the award of the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize (Rep. Smith (NJ) - Foreign Affairs)
- H.Res. __ - Mourning the loss of life and extending condolences to the families affected by the fire in northern Israel that began on December 2, 2010 (Rep. Klein - Foreign Affairs)
- H.Con.Res. 267 - Congratulating the Baltic nations of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania on the 20th anniversary of the reestablishment of their full independence (Rep. Shimkus - Foreign Affairs)
- S. 3987 - Red Flag Program Clarification Act of 2010 (Sen. Thune - Financial Services)
- H.Res. 1540 - Supporting the goal of eradicating illicit marijuana cultivation on Federal lands and calling on the Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy to develop a coordinated strategy to permanently dismantle Mexican drug trafficking organizations operating on Federal lands (Rep. Herger - Judiciary)
- S. 3998 - Criminal History Background Checks Pilot Extension Act of 2010 (Sen. Schumer - Judiciary)
- H.R. 3353 - To provide for American Samoa and the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas to be treated as States for certain criminal justice programs (Rep. Sablan - Judiciary)
- H.R. 6412 - Access to Criminal History Records for State Sentencing Commissions Act of 2010 (Rep. Scott (VA) - Judiciary)
- Conference Reports may be brought up at any time.
Motions to go to Conference should they become available.
Possible Motions to Instruct Conferees.
In the Senate, courtesy of the Office of the Majority Leader:
Convenes: 10:00am
At 10:00am there will be a live quorum to begin the Court of Impeachment for the trial of G. Thomas Porteous, Jr. Senators are asked to be on the floor at 10:00am.
At 12:30pm, the Senate will proceed to legislative session for a period of morning business with Senator LeMieux recognized to speak for up to 15 minutes. Following his remarks, the Senate will recess until 2:30pm to allow for the weekly caucus meetings.
Court of Impeachment:
At 10:00am on Tuesday, December 7, the Senate will resume consideration of the articles of impeachment against Judge G. Thomas Porteous, Jr. of the Eastern District of Louisiana for the commencement of arguments by the House Managers and counsel for Judge Porteous on motions filed by Judge Porteous with regard to the impeachment articles. The Secretary is instructed to notify the House of Representatives.
Each side will be permitted no more than one hour for arguments on all motions, counsel for Judge Porteous will be permitted to open and close the motions argument, and the parties are permitted to divide their arguments on the motions as they wish.
After recessing for the weekly party caucuses (12:45pm until 2:30pm), the Senate will reconvene on the articles of impeachment at 2:30pm for the parties’ final arguments on the merits of the articles. There will be a live quorum at 2:30pm to resume the Court of Impeachment. Each party will have 1 ½ hours to present argument on all four articles, which, under the impeachment rules, will be opened and closed by the House Managers, with no more than two individuals speaking for each side.
At the conclusion of the three hours allotted for final arguments, the Senate shall immediately meet in closed session to begin its deliberations on the articles of impeachment and the related motions in accord with impeachment Rule XX.
Senators are encouraged to be in the Senate Chamber tomorrow at 10:00am when a live quorum will begin, just prior to the commencement of the impeachment proceedings. This is an important constitutional part of each Senator’s responsibilities, and each Senator has an obligation to the participants in the case and to his or her office to be present and informed and participate.
Well, we're right back in the middle of the end-of-the-session scramble to get done everything that can be done in the last minute. And still, there's really nothing I can add about what's on the schedule that you can't figure out for yourself. The House will spend it's day on 16 suspensions, and the Senate on the impeachment of a judge. That's all there is for today.
What's not on the schedule, but happening anyway, is the "ripening" of four cloture motions in the Senate:
- Calendar #662, S.3991, the Public Safety Employer-Employee Cooperation Act of 2009 (commonly known as Firefighters Collective Bargaining);
- Calendar #655,S.3985, the Emergency Senior Citizens relief Act of 2010;
- Calendar #663, S.3992, the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act of 2010 (DREAM Act); and
- Calendar #641, H.R.847, the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act of 2010.
That, along with the tax cut extensions, the defense bill (with or without DADT repeal) and another CR, probably represents the totality of what they can realistically even try to get done this year. And of course, it's entirely possible that not all of that (or any of it) might actually get done. Frankly, Senate Republicans don't have much incentive to see any of it get finished, since in a month their House colleagues will control that body, and can make the identical legislation (if they approve of it) their own, and claim all the credit for it.
But Senate Democrats are, I suppose, duty-bound to try to hold votes on them, anyway. And who knows? Maybe some of it will slip by after all. But given that Senate Republicans objected to holding votes even on their own preferred tax cut extension plan, I'm not sure how likely that really is.
Today's full committee schedule appears below the fold.
And let's not forget: Just 56 days until Andy Harris (R-MD-01) gets his sweet, sweet government health care. Hang in there, Andy!