Politics

The Week Ahead in Congress

By Sunlight Foundation & Participatory Politics Foundation

As Congress returns from their week-long vacation this afternoon, all the big items on the Democrats’ legislative agenda remain stuck in the Senate where the Democrats are one vote short of overcoming Republican filibusters due to the passing of Sen. Robert Byrd [D, WV].

Senate Democrats have 59 votes right now for the two big bills they are trying to finish up, the bill to extend unemployment insurance benefits and the financial reform bill, but they are both being filibustered by the Republicans and it takes 60 votes to break a filibuster. Because of that, they will stay on hold for at least the first part of the week as the Democrats wait for West Virginia Governor Joe Manchin to appoint an interim replacement for Byrd and provide them with the 60th vote. Manchin said on Friday that he would not appoint a replacement until after the West Virginia state legislature meets in a special session that has been called for on Thursday, July 15, to vote on a clarification of the state’s law on filling vacant Senate seats.

But it’s still possible that a Byrd replacement will come earlier than Thursday. On Saturday Manchin told Politico that he was meeting with election attorneys over the weekend who would give him “all the pros and cons” on appointing a replacement earlier in the week versus waiting until after the July 15th legislative session. Once Manchin names his replacement, the unemployment insurance bill will still have to jump through several procedural hurdles, which I have outlined in this previous post. The financial reform bill, on the other hand, is in the form of a conference report, which is “privileged,” and will be able to pass a little more quickly.

Anyways, all of that is on hold for now. Please keep checking back in with us here, or at Twitter and Facebook.

In the meantime, here’s what is scheduled to come to the floor this week in the House:

First Vote of the Week… Tuesday 6:00 p.m.
Last Vote Predicted… Friday p.m.

MONDAY, JULY 12, 2010

On Monday, the House is not in session.

TUESDAY, JULY 13, 2010

On Tuesday, the House will meet at 2:00 p.m. for legislative business with votes postponed until 6:00 p.m.

Suspensions (10 Bills)

1. H.R. 3923 – Sugar Loaf Fire Protection District Land Exchange Act (Rep. Polis – Natural Resources)
2. H.R. 3967 – To amend the National Great Black Americans Commemoration Act of 2004 to authorize appropriations through fiscal year 2015 (Rep. Cummings – Natural Resources)
3. H.R. 4514 – Colonel Charles Young Home Study Act (Rep. Clay – Natural Resources)
4. H.R. 4686 – Rota Cultural and Natural Resources Study Act (Rep. Sablan – Natural Resources)
5. H.R. 4438 – San Antonio Missions National Historical Park Leasing and Boundary Expansion Act of 2010 (Rep. Rodriguez – Natural Resources)
6. H.R. 3989 – Heart Mountain Relocation Center Study Act of 2009 (Rep. Lummis – Natural Resources)
7. H.R. 4773 – Fort Pulaski National Monument Lease Authorization Act (Rep. Kingston – Natural Resources)
8. H.R. 689 – Shasta-Trinity National Forest Administrative Jurisdiction Transfer Act (Rep. Herger – Natural Resources)
9. H.R. 4973 – National Wildlife Refuge Volunteer Improvement Act of 2010 (Rep. Kratovil – Natural Resources)
10. H.R. 2864 – To amend the Hydrographic Services Improvement Act of 1998 to authorize funds to acquire hydrographic data and provide hydrographic services specific to the Arctic for safe navigation, delineating the United States extended continental shelf, and the monitoring and description of coastal changes (Rep. Young (AK) – Natural Resources)

WEDNESDAY, JULY 14, 2010 AND THE BALANCE OF THE WEEK

On Wednesday and Thursday, the House will meet at 10:00 a.m. for legislative business. On Friday, the House will meet at 9:00 a.m. for legislative business.

Suspensions (6 Bills)

1. S. 1508 – Improper Payments Elimination and Recovery Act of 2010 (Sen. Carper – Oversight and Government Reform)
2. H.R. 5390 – To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 13301 Smith Road in Cleveland, Ohio, as the “David John Donafee Post Office Building” (Rep. Kucinich – Oversight and Government Reform)
3. H.R. 4840 – An act to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 1981 Cleveland Avenue in Columbus, Ohio, as the “Clarence D. Lumpkin Post Office” (Rep. Tiberi – Oversight and Government Reform)
4. H.R. 5450 – To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 3894 Crenshaw Boulevard in Los Angeles, California, as the “Tom Bradley Post Office Building” (Rep. Watson – Oversight and Government Reform)
5. H.R. __ – To provide for certain clarifications and extensions under Medicare, Medicaid, and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (Rep. Levin – Ways and Means)
6. H.J.Res. 83 – Approving the renewal of import restrictions contained in the Burmese Freedom and Democracy Act of 2003 (Rep. Crowley – Ways and Means)

H.R. 1722 – Telework Improvements Act (Rep. Sarbanes – Oversight and Government Reform) (Subject to a Rule)

H.R. 5114 – Flood Insurance Reform Priorities Act of 2010 (Rep. Waters – Financial Services) (Subject to a Rule)

 

Conference Reports may be brought up at any time.

Motions to go to Conference should they become available.

Possible Motions to Instruct Conferees.

And here’s what we know about the Senate’s schedule so far (updates will show up here when they are posted):

Monday, July 12 — Convenes: 2:00pm Following any Leader remarks, the Senate will proceed to a period of morning business with senators permitted to speak for up to 10 minutes each. Senators should expect a roll call vote at approximately 5:30pm on confirmation of a judge.

As always, the crew at Congress Matters has the full committee schedule for the week.

Full post as published by Open Congress on July 13, 2010 (boomark / email).