Both houses finished up their work did what they could last night, and broke camp for the elections.
That's some contrast, eh? A hundred and fifty-seven billion suspension bills, then a quick detour into funding the entire federal government in one bill, and then put out the lights and we're outta here!
The early adjournment was somewhat unexpected, so there are still several committee meetings still scheduled. Some may yet be canceled or postponed, but for now, they're still on the books.
Here's an item that's sure to make you glad to welcome your Senators home:
Senate Democrats agreed Wednesday night to a Republican demand to block President Obama from making recess appointments while Congress is out of town campaigning for the midterm elections.
Democratic leaders have agreed to schedule pro-forma sessions of the Senate every week over the next six weeks, a move that will prevent Obama from making emergency appointments, according to Senate sources briefed on the talks.
How's your forehead doing after that one? I hope you remembered to put your coffee down before you smacked it!
Why in the world would a Democratic Senate do that to a Democratic President? Well, there's sort of a good explanation, at least technically:
Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) had threatened to send Obama’s most controversial nominees back to the president if Democrats did not agree to schedule pro-forma sessions, according to a senior GOP aide.
Senate rules give McConnell this power.
That would have forced the president to resubmit the nominees to the Senate and Democrats to start their confirmation processes (including hearings) all over again.
For some reason -- and here's something ripe for reform when the rule books open up in January -- nominations still pending if the Senate recesses for more than 30 days are returned to the President. Renominating them when the Senate returns means sending them through the whole review process all over again.
So rather than have to go through that, Dems were clearly tempted to agree instead to blocking recess appointments in exchange for an agreement to allow a unanimous consent waiver to keep these nominations on the books.
But I couldn't blame you for wondering what that's really worth, considering that the likelihood of Republicans allowing any of these nominations to actually go forward when the lame duck Congress returns is probably slim to none. Still, I guess miracles do happen, so they left the door open should one turn up. There are no miracles for nominations that aren't actually pending.
Why, besides just being a Republican, would McConnell do this?
His move was seen retaliation for Obama’s decision to give Donald Berwick a recess appointment to serve as the administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
What? Who? Well, Berwick heads up the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which used to be known as the Health Care Financing Administration, or HCFA. That's the agency that some of you may remember Newt Gingrich claimed he was talking about in his infamous "wither on the vine" statement. It's a reasonably important position, with a lot of authority over implementing key provisions of the health insurance reform bill.
So that's what apparently got traded for the right to make any other recess appointments, ever. Just thought you should know.
How's that forehead doing? Put down your coffee, I'm not done!
Democrats agreed earlier in the day to a Republican demand to cut spending levels for government agencies in order to pass a stop-gap spending measure.
That continuing resolution to fund the government's operations? The one that had to pass because they couldn't pass any regular appropriations bills, since they'd all be filibustered? Well, normally they just pass CRs that say everyone gets funded at current levels until we pass a real appropriations package. But Republicans said no, if you want to avoid a shutdown right here and now (forget waiting until after the election), you'll have to accept across the board cuts right away.
So... you know the rest.
Have a nice election, everyone! Let's get out there and fight, fight, fight!
Today's committee schedule, for those of you who haven't had enough of this, appears below.
Committee activity of note today, thanks to Jeremy Koulish of Main Street Insider (and based on topics of interest to the community):
- Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions: The Federal Investment in For-Profit Education: Are Students Succeeding?, 10:00 a.m.
- House Ways and Means: Hearing on Protecting and Preserving Social Security for Generations, 10:00 a.m.
- Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs: Implementing the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, 10:00 a.m.
- House Veterans' Affairs: The True Cost of the War, 10:00 a.m.
- House Budget: Defense Department Initiatives, 2:00 p.m.
- Senate Foreign Relations: Latin America in 2010: Opportunities, Challenges, and the Future of U.S. Policy in the Hemisphere, 2:30 p.m.