Scheduling

The House meets at 9 a.m., and is expected to pass a debt ceiling contingency plan before noon, then leave town for the weekend.

The bill is H.R. 807, the Full Faith and Credit Act. It would allow the government to borrow money above the debt ceiling to pay interest on the debt and make payments related to the Social Security Trust Fund.

The House and Senate will start work together at 10:30 a.m., in a joint session to hear remarks from Park Geun-hye, president of the Republic of Korea. Both the House and Senate will convene separately early in the morning, but then quickly adjourn to gather in the House chamber for Park's speech.

After the House chamber returns to normal, members will take up legislation on overtime pay and the debt ceiling.

The House starts work in the afternoon on legislation that would give private sector workers the option of using overtime hours for time away from work instead of overtime pay.

Members are expected to approve the rule for the Working Families Flexibility Act, H.R. 1406, and then complete work on the bill by Wednesday.

The Senate on Monday hopes to wrap up work on a bill that could boost state tax revenues by millions of dollars.

Senators meet at 2 p.m., and will vote at 5:30 p.m. on S. 743, the Marketplace Fairness Act. The bill gives states the choice of collecting sales taxes for the purchase of goods online.

Congress returns from a week off to consider an issue that could dominate the agenda for much of the summer — the debt ceiling.

The House will start the process by considering a Republican bill that would let the government borrow money in excess of the debt limit, in the event the government bumps up against that limit. But it would only allow this borrowing to help pay for interest on the national debt or to make interest payments related to the Social Security trust fund.

The House is expected to vote today on a bill that would let the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) dodge the sequester, which could end the battle over rising flight delays around the country.

Late Thursday, the Senate passed S. 853, the Reducing Flight Delays Act. The bill gives the secretary of transportation to move up to $253 million to the FAA to help avoid furloughs of thousands of air traffic controllers.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) announced Thursday that he would force senators to vote at 1 a.m. Friday in order to complete work on the online sales tax bill this week.

“This leaves me with no alternative but to look at the next alternative to move things on the bill,” Reid said on the Senate floor Thursday. “After midnight tonight … we will have a vote on cloture to the bill. … After that, of course, it’s only a majority vote to complete this legislation.”

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) announced Thursday that the Senate will take up a five-year farm bill in May.

The upper chamber passed a full farm bill last year on a 64-35 vote, but one was not enacted before the 2008 farm bill expired in September. The House Agriculture Committee marked up a bill, but GOP leaders prevented it from coming to the floor.

The Senate Agriculture Committee has not announced an exact date for a markup of the bill. This time around, Chairman Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) will be working with a new ranking member Sen. Thad Cochran (R-Miss.), who is sure to seek a stronger safety net for southern growers of rice and peanuts.

The Senate starts work at 9:30 a.m. and will resume debate on S. 743, the Marketplace Fairness Act.

On Wednesday, Senate Democrats filed a motion to end debate on the bill, which would allow states to collect sales taxes on purchases made online by residents. Without an agreement to go forward earlier, the vote to end debate will happen Friday, although Democratic leaders are hoping to finish work on the bill quickly — today, if possible.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) warned senators that they would work through the weekend if necessary to finish work on the online sales tax bill.

“I know this sounds like me crying wolf, but this might be the time the wolf is coming,” Reid said Wednesday. “If we have to be here Friday, Saturday, we’ve got to finish work on this bill.”