Scheduling

The Senate meets at 9:30 a.m., and after morning business moves to debate whether states should be required to spend a certain percentage of federal highway funding on beautification projects.

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) has offered an amendment to the transportation spending bill that would eliminate this requirement, and is expected to be opposed by Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and other Democrats. The Senate will vote on McCain's language at about noon.

The House met at 11 a.m. Tuesday for a brief pro forma session in which no business was conducted, and adjourned less than five minutes later.

While the House is out this week, it has convened periodically for pro forma sessions throughout the year during these off weeks in order to prevent the Obama administration from making any recess appointments.

The next pro forma session will be Friday at 10 a.m., and the House returns next week.

The Senate meets at 10 a.m. to continue work on H.R. 2112, the vehicle for the Agriculture, Commerce/Justice/Science and Transportation/HUD spending bill.

The Senate on Monday started by calling up the agriculture portion of the bill; votes on amendments to that portion are expected as early as today. More than 40 amendments were introduced to the bill on Monday, most from Republicans.

One amendment from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) would add language establishing a National Criminal Justice Commission Act, which would review criminal justice costs, practices and policies.

Several others from Republicans would put limits on spending in the bill. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) offered several amendments that would limit spending, as did Sens. David Vitter (R-La.) and Jim DeMint (R-S.C.).

The Senate meets at 2 p.m. to take up a "minibus" appropriations bill funding the departments of Agriculture/FDA, Commerce Justice Science, and Transportation/HUD in 2012.

The Senate is using H.R. 2112, the Agriculture appropriations bill already passed by the House, as a vehicle for the minibus bill.

The entire $182 billion spending package is consistent with the summer debt-ceiling agreement, which sets discretionary spending at $1.043 trillion in 2012. Staffers said they feel confident this package can be approved by Congress, and that the deficit-reduction "supercommittee" will not interfere with these discretionary spending amounts.

The Senate is expected to consider the spending bill for most of the week week; the House is out and returns next week.

The Senate finds itself free of the House for a week, and is expected to spend the bulk of its time on a 2012 appropriations bill for the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce and Justice, and other agencies.

Senate Democrats and Republicans appear to be in agreement that it's time to get a piece of the FY 2012 spending plan passed while they can.

The House on Thursday takes up H.R. 358, the Protect Life Act, which would amend the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) to ensure that new programs under the law are not used to fund abortion or cover any healthcare plans that include abortion coverage.

After a day of some bipartisan cooperation passing three free trade agreements, today is likely to revert to a highly partisan debate in which Democrats will attack Republicans for renewing their attack on federal aid for abortion.

Congress on Wednesday will do something that many industry groups at one time thought may have been out of reach under the Obama administration — approve free trade agreements (FTAs) with Colombia, Panama and South Korea.

The stage was finally set for passage with an agreement to link the FTAs to passage of legislation that would reauthorize the Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) program, which aids workers who lose their jobs due to trade. The House is expected to pass the three FTAs and the TAA bill today; the Senate has already approved the TAA bill, H.R. 2832, but is expected to follow the House's lead and approve the FTAs.

The Senate meets at 2 p.m., but the serious work begins after a 5:30 p.m. vote on a judicial nominee, when the Senate moves to a vote on final passage of the Currency Exchange Rate and Oversight Reform Act, S. 1619.

Consideration of the currency bill led to tense discussions last week, after Democrats decided to limit the right of Republicans to further delay the bill after a successful vote to end debate. That vote riled Republicans, and led to a rare back-and-forth (i.e., debate) between the parties about the state of the Senate, in full view of the membership.

House committees next week plan to mark up several bills in committee that advance the GOP's deregulatory effort, including one bill that takes aim at the Nation Labor Relations Act (NLRA).

The House Education & the Workforce Committee will mark up the Workforce Democracy and Fairness Act, which would amend the NLRA to set new requirements for union elections. One requirement is a finding that collective bargaining units are made up of workers with similar wages and skill sets.

The bill also sets minimum timelines needed to form a union.

The Senate meets at 9:30 a.m., and after an hour will vote to end debate on the so-called China currency legislation. As reported Wednesday night, final passage of the bill, S. 1619, could come sometime today, although there's a chance the vote fades into next week.

The House spent most of Wednesday on amendments to H.R. 2681, which would delay EPA rules on cement plants. Members rejected 10 Democratic amendments, and are expected to reject three more Wednesday morning soon after the chamber starts work at 9 a.m.

Also up in the House today is H.R. 2250, which would delay pending EPA rules governing boiler emissions. Twenty-two amendments have been offered by Democrats, and members are not expected to get to each of these Thursday.