Scheduling

Sen. Durbin said that while the legislation "is ready," the Senate would take up the plan after a planned recess.

Spending, budgets and deficits will once again occupy Congress next week, as Congress will start work on a continuing resolution (CR) allowing the federal government to operate through mid-November.

The bulk of the resolution is not especially controversial, as it allows for spending on a pace that’s consistent with the fiscal year 2012 spending levels agreed to in the August debt-ceiling deal. Also, it seems clear that the CR is needed because Congress is nowhere close to wrapping up FY 2012 appropriations bills by the end of this month, when the fiscal year ends.

But there is one likely complication — how to add funding for the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The House Republican resolution gives FEMA $3.65 billion more in funding. Of that, $1 billion could be used in the current fiscal year, and is paid for with cuts to a Department of Energy program funding technology development in the auto industry.

Having successfully approved more funding for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and the Federal Aviation Administration/highway funding bill, the Senate has no plans to hold any votes Friday. However, when it adjourned at about 8 p.m. on Thursday, the Senate had plans to convene at 10 a.m.

The House is not in session, and will return Tuesday for legislative work. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) said Thursday that members can be expected to debate and vote on a rule on Tuesday for a continuing resolution funding the government through Nov. 18.

The House meets at 9 a.m. and will immediately take up H.R. 2587, the Protecting Jobs from Government Interference Act. One hour of debate is planned for the bill.

The legislation would prohibit the National Labor Relations Board from ordering companies to close or relocate employment. It’s a reaction to the NLRB’s attempt to thwart Boeing’s opening of a plant in South Carolina, a move the board says is an attempt to punish union workers in Washington state.

The House is set to meet Wednesday to consider a resolution disapproving of the Obama administration's expected decision to increase the debt ceiling by $500 billion.

The debt-ceiling agreement reached in late July allowed an immediate $400 billion increase to the debt ceiling, plus another $500 billion this month. It also allowed for a congressional resolution disapproving of this second increase.

The House meets at 10 a.m. for speeches and noon for work on two bills. The first is H.R. 2887, which would extend Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) taxes through January, and surface transportation taxes through March. The FAA funding measures expire at the end of this week.

House Republicans on Monday night won unanimous consent to take up the bill on Tuesday. One hour of debate is expected before a vote.

The House on Tuesday is expected to consider H.R. 2887, the Surface and Air Transportation Programs Extension Act.

The new bill, reflecting an agreement reached on Monday, would extend the authority to collect transportation-related taxes through February. That includes taxes that help fund the Federal Aviation Administration, and those that fund the surface transportation bill, which expires at the end of September.

House Republicans on Monday night won unanimous consent to consider the bill at any time, and House leaders scheduled it for Tuesday. The bill is debatable for one hour, after which a vote is expected.

A text of the bill was not available as of Monday night.

The House returns at noon for speeches and then 2 p.m. for work on three bills under a suspension of the rules. Votes are expected on these three bills at 6:30 p.m.:

H.R. 2076, the Investigative Assistance for Violent Crimes Act. This bill allows the Attorney General and Federal Bureau of Investigation to assist states in the investigation of violent crimes, and lets the AG pay rewards up to $3 million in these cases (the current maximum is $2 million).

President Obama this week did everything to sell his American Jobs Act to Congress and the American people except let everyone see a copy of it. By next week, Congress should have something beyond the outline presented by the White House, and then the real debate will begin.

Democrats have already said Congress should approve the entire proposal, and are clamoring for committee hearings to prepare for its passage. House Republicans are prepared to consider the bill, but say they're unlikely to approve the whole bill as presented, and at the same time will continue to pursue their own legislative proposals for creating jobs.

Many of these involve easing federal regulations, and House Republicans next week will put forward their first of several proposals: the Protecting Jobs from Government Interference Act.

Senate committees next week will take up a wide array of topics including tax reform, disaster relief as the nation reels from a series of natural calamities, and of course job creation.

The Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction also meets on Tuesday to consider the history and drivers of U.S. debt.