Defense

The House and Senate next week are once again faced with a vote on a short-term budget bill. This time, the House will vote on a three-week spending resolution, H.J.Res. 48, which would fund federal operations through April 8.

House Republicans plan a Tuesday vote on their resolution, which will cut another $2 billion a week in order to keep pace with their goal of cutting $61 billion from fiscal 2010 levels. A summary of the cuts is provided here.

The three-week bill is expected to pass, since the alternative is a government shutdown. But Democrats are growing impatient. House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) warned on the House floor Friday that is the last short-term spending resolution he would support, and urged Republicans to negotiate a full 2011 bill with Democrats.

A more detailed look at the week follows:

Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) argued Thursday that establishing a no-fly zone over Libya would be an act of war that should require congressional approval.

He said he will introduce a sense-of-Congress resolution saying the administration should seek input from the branch before imposing a no-fly policy.

"Congress should act," Paul said. "I'm preparing to introduce a resolution next week, and it's a sense of Congress, that the executive branch can't do this without approval from the Congress.

"We have to remember, a no-fly zone is an act of war," he added.

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard warned a joint session of Congress on Wednesday that countries must withdraw from Afghanistan cautiously, or they might find themselves having to return at some future date.

"We know transition will take some years," she said. "We must not transition out only to transition back in. We must not."

The Senate returns at 2 p.m. Monday to take up judicial nominations, but all eyes are on Tuesday, when two test votes are expected on spending bills for fiscal 2011.

Both votes are expected to fail — the vote on H.R. 1, the House Republican spending bill, and Senate Amendment 149, a Senate Democratic amendment that would restore most House cuts and shave just $6.5 billion  from current spending levels. While the vote is expected to signal the need for House-Senate negotiations, the contents of the Senate amendment indicate that the two bodies — and the two parties — are still very far apart.

The Senate Judiciary Committee will return next week to resume its consideration of a three-year extension of Patriot Act surveillance authorities, just days after agreeing with the House to a three-month extension.

The committee will meet on March 3 to mark up S. 193, the Patriot Act extension bill supported by committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.). Leahy's bill would extend the government's authorities to access business records, conduct roving wiretaps and monitor individual terrorists until the end of 2013, and would also increase oversight of these activities.

The House will reconvene at 9 a.m. Friday and hopes to complete work on H.R. 1, the fiscal 2011 spending bill.

The chances of completing work on Friday increased when Republicans and Democrats announced a unanimous consent agreement that will restrict debate to a few dozen amendments — as opposed to a few hundred — and limits the debate time on those amendments.

The key amendment of the day is one from Republican Study Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (Ohio) that would cut an additional $20 billion from the bill. But if the past few days are any guide, it seems unlikely that the House will agree to these cuts.

House lawmakers approved a three-month extension of three surveillance provisions in a 279-143 vote.

One example of how difficult it is to cut further from H.R. 1, the FY 2011 spending bill, came at about 12:45 a.m. Wednesday. (The House adjourned shortly after 1:10 a.m., and will reconvene at 10 a.m. Wednesday morning.)

At that time, Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) offered an amendment to end the U.S. Selective Service System, which maintains the system for drafting citizens into the military. DeFazio said about $25 million a year is spent on this program, even though there is no threat of a draft.

He noted that the Selective Service spends the money on meetings and uniforms, but said, "I really don't know who they're purchasing uniforms for." If the U.S. is really in a crisis, he said, Congress should defund this program.

"Here's one where you're not going to get a single call, except maybe a thank you," he said.

But others disagreed. Reps. Jo Ann Emerson (R-Mo.) and Norm Dicks (D-Wash.) argued that ending the program would mean the U.S. would need one or two years to re-organize a draft, if needed. "This could be disastrous," Emerson said.

The House postponed a roll call vote on this amendment early Wednesday morning, but on a voice vote on the amendment, the acting Speaker said the "noes" appear to have it.

The House as early as Wednesday will vote on a bill allowing a three month extension of Patriot Act surveillance authorities.

The Senate on Tuesday approved a three month extension that allows the government to continue to access business records, conduct roving wiretaps, and monitor individual terrorists until May 27. In doing so, the Senate ignored other Senate proposals allowing for three-year or permanent extensions.

The House Rules Committee later on Tuesday approved a rule calling for a vote on the Senate bill, even though House Republicans last week passed an extension until December. A rule for considering the Senate bill is expected to be approved Wednesday, and a vote on the bill will likely follow later that day or Thursday.

The House quickly accepted the shorter Senate extension because without congressional action, the surveillance authorities will expire on February 28. The House and Senate are both out next week, so action is needed this week if these surveillance activities are to continue uninterrupted.

Republican efforts to seek a longer extension ran into complaints from Democrats in the House and Senate, as well as many Republicans in both chambers. Many members were seeking more debate on whether to extend the surveillance authorities further, and an extension to May 27 will allow time for that debate, which many House Republicans promised would happen.

The amendments would have trimmed the Pentagon's budget by several hundred million dollars.