House Cloakroom: July 26-30, 2010

Analysis:

One week remains in the House before members head home for the August recess. There is a variety of legislation that could be coming to the floor, but the main theme of the week will be attempts by the House leadership to pass the FY 2010 War Funding Supplemental to provide emergency funds to military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Senate late last Thursday evening passed the scaled back request they had originally passed in May of $58.8 billion and rejected the House approved version that included domestic spending for programs ranging from bailout money to the states to Pell Grant extensions. The House will more than likely pass the version sent over from the Senate and attempt to find other legislative vehicles to tag the domestic spending to even though they have found no way to offset that spending.

House Appropriations moved forward last week on the first of two appropriation bills to reach the House floor this week. The Military Construction/Veteran Affairs and Transportation/Housing & Urban Development appropriation bills will possibly be considered.

Finally, the House will likely consider legislation in response to the BP oil spill. There are three different bills that could reach the floor involving a variety of energy and safety proposals. The Obama administration’s current deepwater drilling moratorium has resulted in a huge decline of approved shallow-water drilling permits, thus placing more negative economic impacts on an already hard-hit area.

Major Floor Action:

  • H.R. 4899 – FY 2010 War Funding Supplemental
  • H.R. 5822 – Military Construction-Veteran Appropriations Bill
  • Transportation-HUD Appropriations Bill (Text not available)
  • “Oil Spill” Legislation – H.R. 3534 – CLEAR Act, H.R. 5629 – Oil Spill Accountability and Environmental Protection Act, and H.R. 5626 – Blowout Prevention Act could all possibly come to the floor next week.

Major Committee Action:

Senate Cloakroom: July 26-30, 2010

Analysis:

The Senate is scheduled to be in session for only two more weeks until they break for the August recess, and Senator Reid still seems to want to push through as much legislation as possible before the break.

Senator Reid filed cloture on the DISCLOSE Act last Thursday evening, so a procedural vote to proceed to that bill will take place on Tuesday. Also, the Senate rejected the House version of the War Supplemental late Thursday night, forcing Senator Reid to send a less expensive Senate version of the bill back to the House for consideration.

The Small Business Lending Bill is still pending in the Senate, and Senator Reid is still insisting he will try to pass a watered down energy bill next week. The Senate is also scheduled to vote on Solicitor General Kagan’s nomination to the Supreme Court before leaving for August recess.

Major Floor Action:

Major Committee Action: