In the words of Majority Leader Reid (D-NV), “magic can happen on Thursdays” in the Senate. That’s because Thursdays are getaway days for members when a recess is forthcoming. The possibility of an early jump start to a week-long break can be just what the Senate needs to break its gridlock and begin compromising on legislation.
So with that being said, today could be a busy and productive day in the Senate. It could also be a day filled with endless quorum calls which will all but confirm that the Senate will leave town before passing any of the major pieces of legislation it was to consider this week.
The Senate has been stalled most of the week because of objections to moving forward with the Housing Bill (H.R. 3221). The main source of objection came from Senator Ensign (R-NV) who continues to insist that he be given a vote on his amendment dealing with an extension of renewable energy tax credits. That amendment is also sponsored by Senator Cantwell (D-WA).
Although the Senate agreed to move forward with one piece of the housing legislation yesterday by a vote of 79 (Y) to 16 (N), the bill was sent to the Senate in three procedural pieces. That means that the bill could be further delayed by requiring two additional procedural (cloture) votes on each remaining piece, which would obviously take work on the bill well into next week’s scheduled recess.
The week started with promising announcements of compromise agreements on several bills, but only time will tell if the objection of a few can keep those agreements from moving forward.
Legislation which could be passed today includes:
- Housing (H.R. 3221) – providing modernization of the Federal Housing Administration and the ability of the FHA to offer some $300 billion in refinanced, government supported fixed-rate mortgages to those facing foreclosure; expected to help some 400,000 homeowners. Senate leaders have pulled this bill from consideration until after the July 4 recess. More on that decision in this post.
- FISA (H.R. 6304) – updating the FISA program and providing more oversight of the government’s wiretapping activities; currently would give federal courts the authority to determine liability of telecommunication companies and their assistance to the wiretapping program from September 11, 2001 to January 17, 2007. The Senate has kicked the FISA bill past the July 4 recess as well. Read more about that decision here.
- War Funding (H.R. 2642) – would provide over $160 billion for war activities in Iraq and Afghanistan through 2008 and part of 2009; also includes provisions for a new $52 billion GI bill providing a four-year education to returning war veterans and a 13-week extension of unemployment benefits if a person has worked at least 20 weeks on the job. The Senate passed the war funding bill late this evening. They went 1 for 4 on major pieces of legislation today!
- Medicare Fix (S. 3101) – bill would provide a fix to the upcoming doctor payment cuts scheduled to begin in July; Senate Republicans will not agree to take this up unless cuts in payments to private insurers in order to pay for the doctor fix are removed. Further work on this bill has also been pushed back past the July 4 recess after a procedural motion on the measure was defeated. More on that situation here.
We enjoyed this quote per The Crypt and a post they made describing the current situation in the Senate: “The Senate schedule often mirrors that of a college student’s semester, with loads of procrastination, followed by all-nighters on term papers due right before the holidays.”
