Scheduling

The Senate meets Wednesday to reject two balanced-budget amendments to the Constitution, and might also find time to reject the House-approved bill extending the payroll tax cut holiday and unemployment insurance.

Killing the competing balanced-budget amendments has long been expected, as each party has put forward language that the other can't support.

The House meets Tuesday to pass the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act, H.R. 3630.

The bill seems destined for passage largely along party lines, although some conservative Democrats will join Republicans in supporting it. The bill extends the payroll tax holiday, extends but reforms unemployment insurance, maintains Medicare physician reimbursement rates, reforms the federal flood insurance program — and does it all not with a tax hike, as Democrats prefer, but through further cuts to federal spending.

The House and Senate have a few things to do today, but the real work of the day will be done in the House Rules Committee, which meets at 5:30 to approve a rule for the GOP tax extension bill.

The bill, H.R. 3630, would extend and reform unemployment insurance, extend the payroll tax holiday and pay for it with rescissions and includes other language Democrats oppose, such as a provision that sets a 60-day deadline for permitting the Keystone XL pipeline. Democrats oppose the bill and President Obama has hinted he'd veto it — ingredients for an entertaining Rules Committee hearing.

Starting Monday, they’ll work until the work gets done.

Congress next week will try to cram what is arguably a year’s worth of work into just one week, as it races to put together a deal on spending for the rest of 2012, plus a package that extends the payroll-tax cut and unemployment insurance benefits.

The Senate is out, and the House meets at 11 a.m. for a brief pro forma session.

Next week, the House will take up extensions of the expiring payroll tax cut, expiring unemployment benefits and the Medicare physician reimbursement rate, in addition to a bill keeping the government open past Dec. 16.

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) said Thursday that the House would remain in session until these items are completed, and warned of possible weekend work.

The Senate meets at 2 p.m. Monday to take up nominations, and will of course need to either approve or alter (or, possibly, fail to find support for) any of the key end-of-the-year bills the House approves.

The Senate meets at 9:30 a.m. and will spend the first hour on the controversial nomination of Richard Cordray to be the director of the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection. Democrats plan a 10:30 a.m. cloture vote on the motion to proceed to Cordray's nomination.

If cloture fails (as it might, given GOP opposition to Cordray and the bureau itself), the Senate will consider a motion to proceed to the Middle Class Tax Cut Act, S. 1944. That bill is the revamped Democratic proposal to extend payroll taxes.

Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) told House members that they could have to stay in Washington to finish up Congressional business — including a vote on extending the payroll tax cut — before returning home for the holidays.

"Beginning next Monday, the House will not adjourn again until we have concluded our legislative business for the 1st Session of the 112th Congress. While our goal is to complete all legislative business by Friday, December 16, Members are advised to keep their schedules flexible into the weekend of the 16th," Cantor said in an email. "Saturday and Sunday sessions are possible."

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said earlier Wednesday that the Senate would not adjourn until the payroll tax cut extension was brokered.

The House Wednesday is expected to approve two motions to go to conference with the Senate on 2012 spending bills, as well as consider several other House bills.

The first spending bill is H.R. 2055, the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies spending bill. The second is H.R. 1540, the National Defense Authorization Act. In both cases, Democrats will put forward a motion to instruct conferees.

House and Senate appropriators are still working to find an agreement to fund the government for the rest of the year, an effort that for now is slowing down floor action in both chambers.

Appropriators are hoping to introduce a spending bill by next week, which makes next week the time to pass either an omnibus bill or another continuing resolution. Whichever happens, that makes this week the calm before the final storm of the year.

Washington, D.C.'s plan to retool its Southwest waterfront area is expected to get a boost this week when the House approves legislation that would officially transfer authority over sections of the area to the District.

The House plans to take up H.R. 2297, offered by Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.), under a suspension of House rules as early as Tuesday.