Friday: Coal in the House, spending (maybe) in the Senate

The House meets at 9 a.m. to complete work on H.R. 3409, the Stop the War on Coal Act.

The House got through about half of the amendments to the bill on Thursday night. Members will finish debate on the remaining amendments Friday morning, then approve the bill around noon.

That will finish work in the House for the week — indeed, for several weeks, until after the November elections.

The Senate meets at noon, and has to finish work on the continuing spending resolution that the House approved last week. H.J.Res. 117 will allow the government to operate until late March, letting Congress dodge another debate about a possible government shutdown.

However, it's unclear when the Senate will finish. Without an agreement between the parties, the next vote could be a vote to end debate on amendments to the continuing resolution very early Saturday morning, after which a final vote will still be needed.