Tuesday: UN treaty in the Senate, forced collegiality in the House

The Senate meets at 10 a.m., and at noon will vote on ratification of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons With Disabilities.

Most of the debate on that treaty happened last week, after 36 Republicans voted against considering the treaty in the lame-duck session. If those same 36 Republicans vote against the treaty today, the Senate will not be able to advance it by a two-thirds majority vote.

But supporters of the treaty, including Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), are hopeful that some of these senators will relent and support the treaty, which commits countries to expanding access and mobility for disabled people. McCain stressed on Monday that the 36 GOP senators said only that "they would oppose consideration" of the treaty, implying that this is different from saying they would vote against it once under consideration.

Former Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole (R-Kan.) may make an appearance in the Senate today to press for passage of the treaty.

After the treaty vote, the Senate will return to work on the National Defense Authorization Act, S. 3254, and may be able to approve it today after considering more amendments.

The House meets at 10 a.m. for speeches, then at noon for work on just two bills. One is H.R. 6582, which would allow manufacturers to use alternative technologies to meet required energy-efficiency goals.

The other is H.R. 5817, which would allow banks and credit unions to only report their data privacy policies to customers when those policies change, rather than every year. That bill was debated Monday, and the only reason it will be subject to a roll-call vote on Tuesday is because of a request by Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Calif.), who said he thinks House members "ought to spend more time with each other."

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