Scheduling

The House meets at 10 a.m. for speeches and noon to start work on H.R. 2218, the Empowering Parents through Quality Charter Schools Act.

Members will begin by debating the rule for the bill, then start debating the bill itself, then move to debate the eight amendments made in order. One of these, from Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa), could prove controversial because it would eliminate language in the bill that defines "high-quality charter schools" as those that demonstrate success in increasing academic achievement for economically disadvantaged students, students from major racial and ethnic groups, students with disabilities, and students with limited English proficiency.

The House meets at 2 p.m. for legislative work, and plans to take up three bills under a suspension of House rules.

One of these bills, H.R. 2832, would extend the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP). This bill would reauthorize an expired program giving duty-free access to the U.S. market for several countries.

Congress has returned from its August break, but has little in the way of significant plans on Tuesday.

The Senate meets at 2 p.m. for speeches, and soon afterward will consider Bernice Bouie Donald of Tennessee to be U.S. Circuit Judge for the 6th Circuit.

The House meets at 10 a.m. for a pro forma session, its last of a string of pro forma sessions held over August aimed at preventing the Obama administration from making any recess appointments.

The House meets at 2 p.m. Wednesday to begin work on suspension bills, and later in the week takes up a bill to extend the federal charter school program, as well as an intelligence authorization act. The House and Senate will meet Thursday in a joint session to hear a speech from President Obama on the unemployment situation.

The House on Friday morning held a pro forma session that lasted about five minutes, good enough for a prayer, the Pledge of Allegiance and a quick reading of the six House members who will serve on the spending-cut supercommittee.

Earlier in the week, House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) chose Republican Conference Chairman Jeb Hensarling (Texas), Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-Mich.) and Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) to serve.

A handful of House committees are continuing their work over the summer break by holding field hearings across the country on several key issues.

On Aug. 24, the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources holds a hearing titled "American Jobs and Energy Security: Domestic Oil Shale, the Status of Research, Regulation and Roadblocks." That hearing in Grand Junction, Colo., will assess the jobs that could be created by developing oil shale deposits in the Green River formation in Colorado, Utah and Wyoming.

Members of the Republican Study Committee (RSC) are behind the effort to ensure no recess appointments are made.

The Senate meets at 9:30 a.m., and by noon is expected to begin voting on the compromise debt-ceiling agreement. The vote will end weeks of drama over the debt ceiling, allow an immediate $400 billion increase to the ceiling and send the Senate on its way to an August recess that the House is already enjoying after its Monday vote on the deal.

Senate passage of the bill, S. 365 as amended, is a foregone conclusion, even though some Senate Republicans have already said they would oppose it, and will likely be joined by some Democrats.

House leaders on Monday night announced that with passage of the debt ceiling agreement, the House will be out for the remainder of August and next returns to votes on September 7.

The House adjourned just before 9:30 p.m., with the announcement that the House will adjourn at 10 a.m. Tuesday. But this is expected to be a pro-forma session.

House and Senate leaders now have two days to sell their members on a Sunday agreement to raise the debt ceiling and cut spending.

The legislative text of the deal was released Monday morning. The agreement is similar to the bill House Republicans approved last week in some ways — it would cut nearly $1 trillion in planned spending over 10 years and create a committee tasked with finding another $1.5 trillion in cuts over 10 years.

The Senate meets at noon, after having adjourned Saturday night without taking a vote on a plan from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) to raise the debt ceiling.

Senate passage of Reid's plan or any plan has always been in doubt, and word of a new deal between the White House and congressional Republicans may let the Senate escape a series of failed votes.