Wednesday: Firing federal workers, NDAA in the House

The House meets at 10 a.m. for speeches, then at noon for work on up to 23 suspension bills, including one that would give federal agencies the option of firing workers who misappropriate funds.

It was unclear Tuesday night when roll call votes would be held, although as usual, many of these bills may be approved by voice vote. Fourteen of these bills would name post offices or other federal buildings — details on the others are below.

Also on the House side, the Rules Committee will meet at 3 p.m. to approve a rule for the conference report to H.R. 4310, the National Defense Authorization Act. House and Senate conferees agreed to a $633 billion NDAA bill.

Approving the rule in committee on Wednesday will allow the House to pass the rule and the bill on Thursday.

The Senate returns at 9:30 a.m. and will continue work on H.R. 1, which Senate Democrats are using as the vehicle for a Sandy spending bill.

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said Tuesday that the bill is "full of pork," a sign Democrats may have trouble moving the bill out of the Senate. House Republicans have also said they want to assess the Obama administration's $60 billion request for Sandy aid to make sure it does not contain non-Sandy items.

Suspension bills that could be up Wednesday in the House, other than those naming post offices and other buildings, are below. Bills newly added to the agenda this week have links to text:

H.Res. 668, authorizing the Quapaw Tribe in Oklahoma to pursue Indian trust-related claims in the U.S. Court of Federal claims,

H.R. 6672, reauthorizing programs under the Public Health Service Act and the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act dealing with public health security,

S. 1440, the PREEMIE Reauthorization Act, reauthorizing a program to study factors related to premature births,

H.R. 1509, the Medicare Identity Theft Prevention Act, preventing the printing of Social Security numbers on Medicare cards,

H.R. 1845, the Medicare IVIG Access Act, to assess the benefits of having Medicare pay for home IVIG treatments,

H.R. 6655, establishing a commission to develop a national strategy and recommendations for reducing fatalities resulting from child abuse and neglect,

H.R. 6016, the Government Employee Accountability Act, giving federal agencies the specific option of firing workers who misappropriate funds,

S. 3564, the Public Interest Declassification Board Reauthorization Act, extending the board's authority through 2018, and

S. 2170, the Hatch Act Modernization Act, allowing state and local officials to run for partisan elective office.

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