Friday: World ends (?), Senate to pass NDAA, House in pro forma

Both the House and Senate will meet Friday afternoon (unless the prophecy about the end of the world turns out to be true).

The Senate plans to meet at 1 p.m. to take up the conference report to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The House passed this bill Thursday, and Senate passage is expected Friday in a 2 p.m. vote.

Immediately after, Senate Democrats are also expected to hold a vote to end debate on H.R. 1, which is a Democratic proposal to provide $60 billion in federal aid to help with the cleanup from Hurricane Sandy. Votes on judicial nominees are also expected.

The House plans to meet at 2 p.m., but only for a pro forma session. The chamber is expected to be out until sometime after the Christmas break.

House Republicans abruptly adjourned the House after it became clear there was not enough Republican support for a bill that would extend lower income tax rates on all income under $1 million. The GOP tried to pair that with a bill to cut spending, but after the spending-cut bill barely passed, Republicans pulled the vote on the tax bill.

House leaders did say members could be called back at any time to pass legislation related to the fiscal cliff.

But none of these events — even the fiscal cliff — will happen if the world is destroyed. Friday is the end of a 5,125-year-long cycle in the Mayan calendar. According to some theories that have found their way onto the Internet, this will mark the beginning of a new era, either through some spiritual transformation or planet-wide cataclysm.

The latter could involve earthquakes or other terrestrial upheaval, or come about through a collision with the rogue planet Nibiru, these theories say.

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