Recapping yesterday's action:
The House mopped up behind its light but lagging schedule, completing action on the "Civilian Property Realignment Act," before moving on to the "Budget and Accounting Transparency Act," the latter a collection of budget process tinkering, some of which is inoffensive and sensible, and other parts of which appear mostly designed to fan deficit panic.
The Senate spent its day debating a motion to proceed to S. 1813, the transportation authorization bill, on which a cloture motion was filed. That'll get us to a vote on cloture on Thursday.
Looking ahead to today:
Another whopper of a day in the House, with one bill, two amendments and yet another motion to instruct conferees on the payroll tax cut extension bill, all of the voting on which should fit within a window of three hours or less.
Today's focus: the "Expedited Legislative Line-Item Veto and Rescissions Act of 2011," which obviously didn't get expedited consideration in 2011. This bill is bipartisan in its origins, cosponsored by the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Budget Committee, Reps. Paul Ryan (R-WI-01) and Chris Van Hollen (D-MD-08). Basically, it sets up another attempt to give the President something approximating a line-item veto—something tried before and struck down in the courts in the mid-1990s—by establishing a process for an expedited up-or-down vote on proposed Presidential rescissions. Rescissions are basically reverse appropriations. That is, they're directions to un-appropriate money previously appropriated. And when proposed by the President within 45 days of the passage of an appropriations bill, the Congress must vote yea or nay on the rescissions. And—hey, presto!—it's filibuster proof! As if by magic, the mean, nasty, awful filibuster is defeated again, even though Moses said we couldn't do that, or something. Whatever.
Ironically, the Senate will not even be in session today, instead waiting for time to tick down to yet another cloture vote on yet another motion to proceed, this time on the surface transportation bill. Worth noting on the filibuster magic mentioned above: under the budget bill in the House today, the motion to proceed to expedited rescissions bills proposed by the President would be non-debatable, meaning it's not subject to the filibuster. What a great idea! Someone should suggest that. (Meaning, of course, that it was suggested, and they rejected it last January, but now make sure to include that provision when writing new rules that they think will actually get something done.)
It really does merit special mention, I think, that this is the second time this year that the Senate has declined to even open a daily session, right in the middle of the week. On the surface, the filibuster situation could be said to be improving, in that the numbers of cloture motions filed and cloture votes taken is down by about 30%. But apparently the obstructionism is simply manifesting itself in different ways. Time-wasting filibusters of procedural motions, like the motion to proceed, are now so routinely expected that we're now seeing the leadership simply file a cloture motion and actually close down the Senate for a day while the clock runs. Senate floor time is a valuable commodity. But with the minority now routinely initiating its own Rule XIV procedures and even making its own motions to proceed, it's better for the majority leadership to simply turn off the lights and wait for cloture motions to ripen in the dark, than to open the floor and kill time with the ideologically-driven nonsense the minority wants to try to score political points with.
Broken institution. Why do you think every new piece of legislation designed to "fix" the process includes filibuster protections?
Today's floor and committee schedules appear below the fold.
In the House, courtesy of the Office of the Democratic Whip:
THE NIGHTLY WHIP: TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2012
TOMORROW’S OUTLOOK
On Wednesday, the House will meet at 10:00 a.m. Morning Hour debate and 12:00 p.m. for legislative business.
First votes: 1:30 – 2:30 p.m.
Last votes: 3:30 – 4:30 p.m.
“One Minutes” (15 per side)
H.R. 3521 - Expedited Legislative Line-Item Veto and Rescissions Act of 2011 (Rep. Ryan (WI) - Budget/Rules) (Subject to a Rule)
The Rule provides for one hour of general debate and makes in order the following amendments:
Rep. Ryan (WI)/Van Hollen Manager’s Amendment (10 minutes of debate)
Rep. Alexander Amendment (10 minutes of debate)
Democratic Motion to Instruct Conferees on H.R. 3630 - Temporary Payroll Tax Cut Continuation Act of 2011 (One Hour of Debate) (Offered by Rep. Timothy Bishop)
In the Senate, courtesy of the
Office of the Majority Leader:
The Senate is not in session today.
2/7 wrap-up:
Senate Floor Wrap Up for Tuesday, February 7, 2012
No ROLL CALL VOTES
LEGISLATIVE ITEMS
Adopted S.Res.369, congratulating the New York Giants for winning Super Bowl XLVI.
Began the Rule 14 process of S.2079, a bill to extend the pay limitation for Members of Congress and Federal employees (Heller).
EXECUTIVE ITEMS
Confirmed Calendar #545, Colonel Bradley D. Spacy to Brigadier General in the Air Force.
Today's House committee schedule:
APPROPRIATIONS------------------------------------------------------10:00-Open
Defense Subc. On governance of the military health systems. Dept. witnesses. 2359 RHOB.
APPROPRIATIONS-------------------------------------------------------10:00-Open
Legislative Branch Subc. On FY 2013 budget request for the U.S. Capitol Police. Philip Morse, Chief of Police, U.S. Capitol Police. HT-2 Capitol.
ENERGY & COMMERCE----------------------------------------------------9:30-Open
Communications and Technology Subc. On cybersecurity threats to communications networks and private sector responses. Public witnesses. 2322 RHOB.
ENERGY & COMMERCE---------------------------------------------------10:00-Open
Energy and Power Subc. On examining what the EPA’s utility Maximum Achievable Control Technology rule will cost U.S. consumers. Dept. and public witnesses. 2123 RHOB.
FINANCIAL SERVICES----------------------------------------------------10:00-Open
Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit Subc. On legislative proposals to promote accountability and transparency at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Public witnesses. 2128 RHOB.
FINANCIAL SERVICES-----------------------------------------------------2:00-Open
Capital Markets and Government Sponsored Enterprises Subc. On legislative proposals to limit the extraterritorial impact of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. Public witnesses. 2128 RHOB.
FOREIGN AFFAIRS--------------------------------------------------------2:00-Open
Africa, Global Health, and Human Rights Subc. Markup of H.R. 1410 – To promote freedom and democracy in Vietnam and H.Res. 361 – Concerning efforts to provide humanitarian relief to mitigate the effects of drought and avert famine in the Horn of Africa, particularly Somalia, Ethiopia, Djibouti, and Kenya. 2172 RHOB.
FOREIGN AFFAIRS--------------------------------------------------------2:30-Open
Oversight and Investigations Subc. On the conflict in the Balochistan region of Pakistan. Public witnesses. 2200 RHOB.
JUDICIARY--------------------------------------------------------------10:00-Open
Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security Subc. On international money laundering and organized crime. Dept. and public witnesses. 2141 RHOB.
OVERSIGHT & GOVERNMENT REFORM-------------------------------------10:00-Open
Full Committee. On protecting union workers from forced political contributions. 2154 RHOB.
SCIENCE, SPACE, & TECHNOLOGY----------------------------------------10:00-Open
Full Committee. On reviewing the Blue Ribbon Commission’s report to the Secretary of Energy on assessing America’s nuclear future. Dept. and public witnesses. 2318 RHOB.
SMALL BUSINESS---------------------------------------------------------1:00-Open
Full Committee. On reviewing how the Small Business Administration mismanages the modernization of its information technology. Dept. witnesses. 2360 RHOB.
TRANSPORTATION & INFRASTRUCTURE-----------------------------------11:00-Open
Aviation Subc. On reviewing issues associated with protecting and improving the nation’s aviation satellite-based GPS infrastructure. Dept. and public witnesses. 2167 RHOB.
WAYS & MEANS----------------------------------------------------------9:00-Open
Full Committee. On the interaction of tax policies and financial accounting rules, and how the interaction affects how publicly-traded companies respond to tax policies. Public witnesses. 1100 LHOB.