Legislative Debate

The House is in at noon today, and will take up legislative business at 2 p.m.

More partisan debate is expected today over the budget. House Republicans will bring up H.Res. 43, which is the rule for a controversial budget resolution that will be taken up on Tuesday. H.Res. 43 itself will be debated for one hour.

The debate should prove contentious, since the underlying budget resolution (H.Res. 38) puts the House on a glide path to a significant drop in spending for the remainder of fiscal year 2011. No one knows exactly how big the drop will be, but the resolution requires discretionary, non-security-related spending to be at 2008 levels "or less." House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) has said it might cut $60 billion from the FY 2010 budget, but it could be more.

Last week, Democrats complained that this uncertainty surrounding H.Res. 38 means they don't know exactly what they're voting for, and that it gives Ryan sole authority to set those spending levels.

Today we expect Democrats to try to make the case that parts of the budget should be spared; Republicans are likely to argue back that tough spending measures are needed, and point out that Democrats failed to pass any budget at all last year.

Following a week of battle over the repeal of last year’s healthcare legislation, the House meets again on Monday to take up the equally divisive issue of deficit reduction. Details of the week follow:

Monday, Jan. 24

The House meets at noon for morning hour and 2 p.m. for legislative business. Votes will be postponed until 6:30 p.m.

The first item taken up will be H.Res. 43, which sets the rule for one hour of debate on a resolution (to be taken up Tuesday) to reduce the spending of the federal government to 2008 levels or less.

Tuesday, Jan 25

The House meets at 10 a.m. for morning hour debate and at noon for legislative business. The House will recess no later than 5 p.m. to provide time for preparation for the State of the Union.

The House will consider the following resolutions under a suspension of the rules:

A resolution from Rep. Tom Lathan (R-Iowa) that allows recipients of Medal of Honor or their families to request and receive flags flown over the Capitol building.

H.R. 366, which temporarily extends federal lending programs for small businesses through May 31.

H.Res. 38, which is the Republican budget resolution to reduce spending levels for the rest of this fiscal year at levels below those of 2008. Under this resolution, the Budget Committee will establish spending levels for FY 2011, and ultimately, a continuing resolution reflecting these spending levels will be voted on by the House.

The House will meet again at 8:35 p.m. for the president’s State of the Union address.

Wednesday, Jan. 26

On Wednesday, the House will meet at 10 a.m. for legislative business and will take up H.R. 359, which would eliminate federal funding for presidential campaigns.

Thursday and Friday, Jan. 27 and 28

The House is not in session.

The signs have said, "Project Funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act" (ARRA) or "Putting America to Work."

With a little more than two weeks under their belt, Republicans in the 112th Congress are slowly affirming their legislative goals through the process of assigning them priority bill numbers.

The Republican majority has control of bills numbered 1 through 10, and as of this week had filled four of those slots. H.R. 2, of course, is the healthcare repeal bill, which was approved on Wednesday.

In the middle of this week, Republicans introduced H.R. 3, the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act. That bill is sponsored by Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.) and boasts 161 cosponsors. The bill has been referred to House Committees on Judiciary, Energy & Commerce, and Ways & Means, but these committees have not yet announced any hearings or markups on the bill.

The House Rules Committee next week will hold a meeting to consider H.R. 359, which would end taxpayer funding for presidential campaigns and party conventions.

The Committee announced tonight that it would take up this bill on Tuesday at 10 a.m. The bill is sponsored by Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.), and Republicans estimate it would save $520 million over ten years.

According to information on House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.), the bill would require all presidential candidates to "rely on private donations rather than tax dollars" through the Presidential Election Campaign Fund. The proposal is featured as part of Cantor's "You Cut" project that allows people to suggest and vote on ways to trim federal spending.

Comparing America's debt situation to the fall of Rome, Rep. Frank Wolf (R-Va.) on Thursday warned that he would vote against a bill to raise the U.S. debt ceiling unless it is tied to measures that reduce the federal debt. Republicans will be forced to consider an increase in the debt limit in the next few months, as a temporary spending measure funding the government is set to expire March 4.

"We can no longer ignore the albatross of debt around our collective necks," Wolf said in a speech on the House floor this afternoon. "That is why, unless there is a firm commitment to deal with the larger financial crisis, or the vote itself is tied to a possible debt solution, I will vote against the debt limit increase."

Wolf's comments reflect the sentiment of other Republicans who would prefer to cut federal spending rather than support an increase in the amount of debt the U.S. can legally hold. Wolf said he is aware of the possible dangers of not raising the debt limit, citing warnings from Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, but said he would continue to press for something beyond a simple increase in the debt limit.

"Even if just a fraction of his [Geithner's] analysis is accurate, it is clear that this isn't a decision to be made casually," Wolf said. "It is precisely because the stakes are so high that I believe the debt limit vote can serve as a trigger to force congressional action, action that otherwise will not be taken."

Wolf also warned that the U.S. needs to act sooner rather than later, or the choices will be tougher down the road. "The longer it takes to address this issue, the more draconian the options when the nation is forced to change course," he said.

The House adjourned immediately after Wolf's remarks, and will reconvene Monday at 2 p.m.

In a floor discussion with Hoyer, GOP leader says cuts could go below 2008 spending levels.

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) this morning outlined a House schedule for next week.

On Monday, the House will convene at noon and conduct legislative business starting at 2 p.m. Votes are expected at 6:30 p.m.

On Tuesday, the House will convene at 10 a.m. and start legislative business at noon. The House will recess at 5 p.m. to allow for a security sweep in preparation of President Obama's State of the Union address that night.

On Wednesday, the House will meet at 10 a.m. for legislative business.

Cantor said the House would consider one vote under a suspension of the rules, and H.Res. 38, which would start the process of assembling a budget for the remainder of FY 2011 that is at or below 2008 spending levels for discretionary non-security items. Cantor said a vote on a "You Cut" bill would also be held. You Cut is the Republican program that allows taxpayers to suggest federal programs to cut.

The House has just approved a resolution instructing four committees to work on alternatives to last year's healthcare law. The measure, H.R. 9, was approved by a 253-175 vote, a wider margin than Wednesday's 245-189 vote to repeal the healthcare law.

Fourteen House Democrats voted for the resolution: Reps. Jason Altmire (Pa.), John Barrow (Ga.), Dan Boren (Okla.), Corrine Brown (Fla.), Ben Chandler (Ky.), Mark Critz (Pa.), Tim Holden (Pa.), Larry Kissell (N.C.), Lipinski (Ill.), Jim Matheson (Utah), Mike McIntyre (N.C.), Collin Peterson (Minn.), Mike Ross (Ark.), and Heath Shuler (N.C.).

The mostly partisan vote came amid Democratic complaints that the resolution is simply an instruction to work on alternatives, and is not an actual healthcare plan. That, coupled with yesterday's repeal vote, has Democrats worried that Republicans were quick to repeal last year's law but will be slow to come up with alternatives.

H.R. 9 was approved with an amendment that also asks committees to come up with a permanent solution to the Medicare physician reimbursement rate (see post immediately below).

Updated at 11:45 a.m.

The House has just overwhelmingly approved language in support of finding a permanent Medicare physician payment schedule that does not require periodic legislation in order to avoid steep cuts in Medicare reimbursement rates to doctors.

In a 428-1 vote, the House agreed to amend H.Res. 9 with the so-called "doc fix" language from Rep. Jim Matheson (D-Utah). H.Res. 9, which the House is expected to approve in the next few minutes, asks the committees to meet a series of objectives, such as lower costs, coverage for people with pre-existing conditions, and preserving doctor choice. The Matheson amendment adds to those objectives a permanent Medicare reimbursement solution.

Only Rep. John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.) voted against the amendment.

Speaking in defense of his amendment, Matheson said the current reimbursement system is "flawed," in part because it has forced Congress to repeatedly pass bills to avoid steep cuts in physician payments. He noted that last year alone, the House had five votes to avoid scheduled cuts.

At the same time, Matheson said he does not support Republican efforts to repeal last year's healthcare law.

House Rules Committee Chairman David Dreier (R-Calif.) said he supports the Matheson language, a sentiment that was clearly echoed in the final vote tally, as no Republicans voted against the Matheson amendment.

Updated at 12:17 p.m.