Wednesday: Jack Lew, sequester and Violence Against Women

The Senate meets Wednesday to start work on the nomination of Jack Lew to be President Obama's next Treasury secretary.

The Senate Finance Committee approved Lew's nomination in a 19-5 vote on Tuesday. The Senate should begin floor work on the nomination Wednesday, and could even be in a position to vote on Lew the same day.

Senate Republicans are expected to introduce an alternative to the sequester on Wednesday, just as the Democrats did on Tuesday. The introduction of these measures could set up votes later in the week, although neither is expected to pass.

The House is also in, and at noon it will start work on the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act, S. 47.

On Tuesday, House Republicans indicated they would allow the House to pass the Senate version of the bill, which is preferred by Democrats and even some Republicans.

But the House won't get to that until Thursday. On Wednesday, the House will pass a rule for the bill, calling first for a vote on the House GOP version of the bill, and then the Senate bill. The House version is expected to fail, allowing the Senate bill to pass.

---