House and Senate Cloakroom: May 24-28, 2010

Dan Holler / May 22, 2010

House Cloakroom:  May 17 – 21

House Analysis:

The House potentially has a full plate this week as Leadership tries to clear it’s plate before leaving for Memorial Day recess.  For a second week in a row the House failed to pass the Competes Act, which would authorize $48 billion over three years (originally $85.6 billion over five years) for the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the National Science Foundation, and research programs at the Department of Energy. Despite many Republican concerns that the bill spends too much, creates too many new programs, and shifts money to climate change efforts, House Leadership may make a third attempt to pass the bill this week.  The tax extenders bill discussed in the Cloakroom last week was pulled from floor before consideration. The bill is reported to be $190 billion but only some of it is paid for, resulting in increased deficit spending estimated at around $100 billion.  Additionally, the temporary extensions that are paid for are done so with permanent tax increases. Expect this to be a very close vote as Democrats who anticipate close races in the fall are hesitant to support a bill that will add billions more to the deficit. The Defense Authorization bill was passed out of the House Armed Services Committee last week and will be brought up on the floor for a vote this week.  It authorizes budget authority for the Department of Defense, national security programs at the Department of Energy, overseas operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, and also disaster assistance to Haiti. (more…)