Scheduling

The Memorial Day holiday will cut the workweek in half for the House next week, but Republicans nonetheless will get a jump on three major 2013 spending bills.

The House is expected to pass an intelligence authorization bill by Thursday, and a military construction/Veterans Affairs bill by Friday. These bills are expected to be covered by a rule that also governs consideration of spending bills for the Department of Homeland Security and an energy and water spending bill, both of which are expected to pass later in the month.

A Friday memo from House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) to House Republicans says a spending bill for military construction and Veterans Affairs and an Intelligence authorization bill are both expected to pass the House next week.

Cantor said the military spending bill, H.R. 5854, should pass by Friday, and that the intelligence authorization bill, H.R. 5743, should be approved Thursday. Both of these bills will be covered by a rule that covers two other spending bills.

The House next week is likely to advance three 2013 spending bills, including one that chops more than $200 million from the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), and another that gives a significant boost to veterans programs.

The House Rules Committee has set a Wednesday meeting to approve rules for the three bills, which means the House could consider the rules by Thursday and perhaps start work on one or more of them.

The Senate meets at 9:30 a.m. for one last round of debate on a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) reauthorization bill, and looks ready to pass it Thursday afternoon.

The bill was the subject of yet another amendment debate, and in a move that's becoming typical of the Senate, both parties, after several days, finally agreed to allow votes on several amendments as part of a deal to let the bill move ahead.

The Senate meets at 9:30 a.m., and will try once again to advance a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) bill that supporters say will help save lives, but which is still the subject of a fierce debate on amendments that has prevented progress so far.

On Tuesday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) scheduled the adoption of a motion to proceed to the bill, S. 3187, by unanimous consent. But Reid set up the same event for Tuesday, which failed to materialize.

The Senate meets at 10 a.m. to again take up the Food and Drug Administration Safety and Innovation Act, S. 3187.

After some debate and the regular party lunches at 12:30 p.m., the Senate will approve a motion to proceed to the bill at 2:15 p.m., as amended by sponsors Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) and Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.). That version will be considered for further amendment.

The Senate meets at 2 p.m. to debate the Food and Drug Administration Safety and Innovation act, S. 3187, and may hold a procedural vote later in the day.

At 4:30 p.m., the Senate will start considering the nomination of Paul Watford to be a U.S. Circuit Judge for the 9th Circuit. At 5:30 p.m., senators will hold a roll call vote on the motion to invoke cloture (end debate) on the nomination.

The Senate returns Monday to take up a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) bill, and will have the Washington stage to itself, as the House is out for the week.

The Food and Drug Administration Safety act, S. 3187, would allow the FDA to charge user fees to makers of generic and biosimilar drugs when they are submitted for approval. The FDA has a similar process in place for brand-name drugs and medical devices, and the user fees are supported by industry because they help fund FDA staff that consider the applications, which speeds up the decision-making process.

The House meets at 10 a.m. for speeches, then at noon to start work on the 2013 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), H.R. 4310. After debate and approval of the rule, likely around 1 or 2 p.m., the House will start work on scores of amendments to the bill.

To be precise, the House Rules Committee made seven score and two amendments in order.

Consideration of 142 amendments makes for a long day. Each amendment is eligible for 10 minutes of debate, which means if all are considered and debated, the House faces nearly 24 hours of debate.

The Senate meets at 9:30 a.m. to begin debate on five different budget resolutions, and after six hours of bitter debate is expected to reject them all in party-line votes by the end of the day.

Republicans have increasingly criticized Democrats for failing to pass any budget resolution in the last three years. As Senate rules are interpreted, the failure to pass a budget resolution by April 15 gives any senator the ability to call up a resolution and debate it.