Recapping yesterday's action:
The House hit no snags in its calendar full of suspension bills, and even managed to get all their voting done, with nothing postponed for the first time in recent memory.
The Senate got through its expected votes as well, confirming the nomination of Henry F. Floyd to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, and invoking cloture on the motion to proceed to consideration of S.1619, the Currency Exchange Rate Oversight Reform Act. The floor wrap-up doesn't reflect the confirmation by unanimous consent of the other judges listed in yesterday's schedule as among those expected to be considered, but the ever-vigilant Wikipedia editors assure me that four of the other five nominations were indeed confirmed by unanimous consent. For some reason, the profile of Marina Garcia Marmolejo was not yet updated, but Teh Google tells me she's been confirmed as well.
Looking ahead to today:
The House first moves to set up what appears to be tomorrow's work, by adopting a rule for the consideration of this week's regulatory ritual sacrifice bills, the "Cement Sector Regulatory Relief Act" (who knew cement was its own sector?) and the "EPA Regulatory Relief Act." But before knocking off for the day, the House will have to dispose of H.R. 2608, the slightly longer-term continuing appropriations bill approved by the Senate last Monday, which would continue government operations through November 18th. Yeah, you didn't know that we're technically on the brink of yet another shutdown, did you? The fact is, we're operating under an extremely short-term, emergency continuing appropriations bill designed just to get us from last week to this week—specifically, through today. No one anticipates any serious problems getting this through the House today. But then again, no one expected the Spanish Inquisition, either.
The Senate has a blockbuster lineup today: they'll debate their having voted yesterday to close debate on whether or not to begin debate on the currency manipulation bill, then break for lunch. But the good news is that they've agreed not to debate their vote to end debate on beginning debate for the entire 30 hours they're entitled to. Instead, after lunch, they'll yield back the remaining time and vote on whether or not to start debating the bill. Or at least they'll consider that question, and maybe just dispose of it by unanimous consent now that they're done voting on ending debate to start debate, and have agreed unanimously to stop debating the vote on whether they should vote to start debating the bill.
I remind you of what the Senate is actually doing here only to illustrate for those of you frustrated by the decision-making process adopted by the Occupy Wall Street movement that, well, we've seen worse. And the fact that the Senate wears suits and ties doesn't appear to help them make their decisions any more quickly or understandably.
At any rate, once things sort themselves out after lunch, then the Senate is expected to move on to the actual currency bill. Whether they'll get to any additional votes, though, is an open question.
Today's floor and committee schedules appear below the fold.
In the House, courtesy of the Office of the Democratic Whip:
THE NIGHTLY WHIP: MONDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2011
TOMORROW’S OUTLOOK
On Tuesday, the House will meet at 10:00 a.m. for Morning Hour debate and 12:00 p.m. for legislative business.
First/Last votes are expected between 2:00 and 3:00 p.m.
“One Minutes” (15 per side)
H.Res. 419 – Rule providing for consideration of H.R. 2681 - the Cement Sector Regulatory Relief Act of 2011 and H.R. 2250 - the EPA Regulatory Relief Act of 2011 (Rep. Nugent – Rules)
Motion to Concur in the Senate Amendment to H.R. 2608 - Continuing Appropriations Act, 2012 (Unanimous Consent Agreement, One Hour of Debate)
HOUSE FLOOR WRAP-UP FOR OCTOBER 3, 2011
Bills Adopted Under Suspension of the Rules (7):
- H.R. 686 - Utah National Guard Readiness Act (Rep. Bishop (UT) - Natural Resources)
- H.R. 765 - Ski Area Recreational Opportunity Enhancement Act of 2011 (Rep. Bishop (UT) - Natural Resources)
- H.R. 489 - To clarify the jurisdiction of the Secretary of the Interior with respect to the C.C. Cragin Dam and Reservoir, and for other purposes (Rep. Gosar - Natural Resources)
- H.R. 473 – Help to Access Land for the Education (HALE) of Scouts Act (Rep. Boren - Natural Resources)
- H.R. 470 – Hoover Power Allocation Act of 2011, as amended (Rep. Heck - Natural Resources)
- H.R. 670 - To convey certain submerged lands to the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands in order to give that territory the same benefits in its submerged lands as Guam, the Virgin Islands, and American Samoa have in their submerged lands (Rep. Sablan - Natural Resources)
- S.Con.Res. 29 - Authorizing the use of the rotunda of the United States Capitol for an event to present the Congressional Gold Medal, collectively, to Neil A. Armstrong, Edwin E. `Buzz' Aldrin, Jr., Michael Collins, and John Herschel Glenn, Jr., in recognition of their significant contributions to society (Sen. Nelson – House Administration)
In the Senate, courtesy of the Office of the Majority Leader:
Senate Floor Schedule for Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Convenes: 10:00am
Following any Leader remarks, the Senate will be in morning business for one hour with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each with the Majority controlling the first half and the Republicans controlling the final half.
Following morning business, the Senate will resume consideration of the motion to proceed to S.1619, the Currency Exchange Rate Oversight Reform Act, post-cloture.
The Senate will recess from 12:30pm until 2:15pm for the weekly caucus meetings.
At 2:30pm, the all post-cloture time on the motion to proceed to S.1619 will be yielded back. Following the reporting of the bill, the Majority Leader will be recognized.
The Senate will begin consideration of S.1619 during Tuesday’s session of the Senate. Senators will be notified when votes are scheduled.
Roll Call Votes
- On the Nomination (Confirmation Henry F. Floyd, of South Carolina, to be United States Circuit Judge for the Fourth Circuit ). Nomination Confirmed, 96-0.
- On the Cloture Motion (Motion to Invoke Cloture on the Motion to Proceed to Consider S. 1619, Currency Exchange Rate Oversight Reform Act of 2011 ). Cloture Motion Agreed to, 79-19.
Other Business
No LEGISLATIVE ITEMS
EXECUTIVE ITEMS
Confirmed Executive Calendar #359, Robert Stephen Ford to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Syrian Arab Republic.