Photo credit: me & my phone
Last Week in Congress
Great week in the House last week! That is to say, the House was in recess last week.
The Senate reported for work, but so did the Senate rules, which means that very little more was actually accomplished there than in the House. Not counting the Senate resolutions passed by unanimous consent, we're talking about the confirmation of a single judge (though it was a Circuit Court judge, nothing to sneeze at) getting through. And then after that, nothing. Well, nothing but the continued filibuster of Goodwin Liu's nomination, the filibuster of one Democratic bill to cut oil subsidies, and the filibuster of a Republican response that would have opened up a drilling free-for-all.
This Week in Congress
The House considers a short list of legislation this week, ranging from the merely boring to the truly disturbing. Six suspensions inspiring varying levels of boredom are scheduled, plus one bill repealing part of the ACA (what week would be complete without one of those?), a defense authorization bill, and depending on the Senate's ability to resolve the matter on their side, the long-term reauthorization of the USA PATRIOT Act.
Yuck!
The Senate starts in immediately on the business of the PATRIOT Act. Or more accurately, on the business of voting on cloture on the motion to proceed to the bill.
This will be the third cloture motion filed on a motion to proceed in four working days in the Senate. You may remember that part of the "gentleman's agreement" reached on rules reform at the beginning of the session provided that Republicans would stop filibustering motions to proceed in exchange for agreement from Democrats not to block Republican amendments from the floor. As you can see, that's broken down some in the past few days. We'll see how important that is to Republicans on the PATRIOT Act. They clearly didn't care much that the Close Big Oil Tax Loopholes Act never made it to the floor, but they probably don't want to be responsible for blocking renewal of the PATRIOT Act. Then again, they might not think they'd catch the blame for this, being that running the Senate is the Democrats' responsibility. That's worked for them in the past. With the current extension of the PATRIOT Act expiring this Friday, we'll have their answer soon enough.
Full floor and committee schedules are below the fold.
In the House, courtesy of the Office of the Democratic Whip:
First Vote Of The Week: Monday 6:30 p.m.
Last Vote Predicted: Thursday 3:00 p.m.
MONDAY, MAY 23, 2011
On Monday, the House will meet at 2:00 p.m. for legislative business with votes postponed until 6:30 p.m.
Suspensions (5 Bills)
- H.R. 1407 - Veterans' Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act of 2011 (Rep. Runyan– Veterans’ Affairs)
- H.R. 1627 - To amend title 38, United States Code, to provide for certain requirements for the placement of monuments in Arlington National Cemetery, and for other purposes (Rep. Miller (FL) - Veterans’ Affairs)
- H.R. 1383 - Restoring GI Bill Fairness Act of 2011, as amended (Rep. Miller (FL) - Veterans’ Affairs)
- H.R. 1657 - To amend title 38, United States Code, to revise the enforcement penalties for misrepresentation of a business concern as a small business concern owned and controlled by veterans or as a small business concern owned and controlled by service-disabled veterans (Rep. Stutzman - Veterans’ Affairs)
- H.R. 1893 - To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to extend the funding and expenditure authority of the Airport and Airway Trust Fund, to amend title 49, United States Code, to extend the airport improvement program, and for other purposes (Rep. Mica - Transportation and Infrastructure)
TUESDAY, MAY 24, 2011 AND THE BALANCE OF THE WEEK
On Tuesday, The House will meet at 10:00 a.m. for legislative business and recess immediately. At approximately 11:00 a.m., the House will convene in a Joint Meeting with the Senate for the purpose of receiving an address from The Honorable Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister of Israel. On Wednesday, the House will meet at 10:00 a.m. for Morning Hour debate and 12:00 p.m. for legislative business. On Thursday, the House will meet at 9:00 a.m. for legislative business with last votes no later than 3:00 p.m. On Friday, the House will meet in pro forma session. No votes are expected in the House.
Suspension (1 Bill)
- S. 990 - To provide for an additional temporary extension of programs under the Small Business Act and the Small Business Investment Act of 1958, and for other purposes, as amended (Sen. Landrieu - Small Business)
H.R. 1216 - To amend the Public Health Service Act to convert funding for graduate medical education in qualified teaching health centers from direct appropriations to an authorization of appropriations (Rep. Guthrie - Energy and Commerce) (Subject to a Rule)
H.R. 1540 - National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012 (Rep. McKeon - Armed Services) (Subject to a Rule)
Possible consideration of legislation relating to expiring provisions of the USA PATRIOT Improvement and Reauthorization Act of 2005 and Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 (Judiciary/Intelligence) (Subject to a Rule)
In the Senate, courtesy of the Office of the Majority Leader:
Monday:
Convenes: 2:00pm
Following any Leader remarks, the Senate will be in a period of morning business until 3pm with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each.
Following morning business, the Senate will resume the motion to proceed to S.1038, a bill to provide for the extension of expiring provisions of the PATRIOT Act until June 1, 2015 with the time until 5pm equally divided and controlled between the two leaders or their designees.
Votes:
At 5:00pm, there will be a roll call vote on the motion to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed to S.1038.