Scheduling

The House, Senate and White House narrowly escaped a government shutdown by passing a one-week spending stopgap early Saturday morning (text here, summary here), and agreeing to the outlines of a spending agreement for the rest of FY 2011. While there's always a chance the devil shows up in the details the two parties are hammering out, the federal government finally seems to be working in concert, and next week is expected to conclude all debate on a FY 2011 spending bill.

House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said just before 11 p.m. that Congress would pass a short-term continuing resolution Friday night to ensure the federal government stays open, and would pass a longer term agreement for the rest of FY 2011 next week.

"I expect that the House will vote… tonight on a short-term continuing resolution into next week to allow for time for this agreement to be put together in legislative form and brought to the floor of the House and Senate for a vote," Boehner said in brief comments.

"And so I would expect the final vote on this to occur mid-next week, but I do believe that we'll have what we'll call a bridge continuing resolution passed tonight to ensure that government's open."

The House reconvened at noon to hear one-minute speeches, then recessed subject to the call of the chairman at 12:14 p.m.

The recess was called because House Republicans had scheduled a noon meeting at which House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) was expected to discuss a possible budget agreement with Democrats.

Left unclear is whether the House would have time to take up its planned consideration of a resolution that would disapprove of the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) regulation of the Internet through its net-neutrality rules.

Rep. James McGovern (D-Mass.) called on Republicans to skip the FCC resolution, H.J.Res. 37, and focus on a spending plan in order to avoid a government shutdown, which would occur at midnight Friday if no deal were reached.

By 9:15 a.m. Friday, there was no sign of a budget agreement, and no announced plans in the House or Senate to consider a fiscal 2011 budget bill.

But there were some signs last night that Republicans and Democrats might yet find some solution. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said they "narrowed the issues significantly."

Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said the two sides have essentially agreed on how much more spending to cut, but that Republicans in particular are unwilling to admit this for fear of a backlash from the more conservative members of their caucus.

A spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) indicated on Friday morning that some elements of a deal have been worked out, but not every aspect.

"While nothing will be decided until everything is decided, the largest issue is still spending cuts," Michael Steel said. "The American people want to cut spending to help the private sector create jobs — and the Democrats that run Washington don't."

The House starts legislative business at 10 a.m. Thursday, and has plenty to get to.

The House plans to consider H.R. 1363, a one-week stopgap spending bill, barring a breakthrough at Wednesday night's meeting between congressional leaders.

Members also plan on final passage of H.R. 910, which would restrict the Environmental Protection Agency's ability to regulate greenhouse gas emissions.

Finally, the House might also take up a resolution disapproving of the Federal Communications Commission's net-neutrality rule.

The House Rules Committee on Wednesday announced an emergency meeting at 5 p.m. to approve a rule for H.R. 1363, the one-week spending bill that would cut $12 billion in one week and fund the Defense Department for the rest of FY 2011.

The Rules Committee meeting is a sign that negotiations on a longer-term budget deal are not progressing. House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) on Wednesday said the House would vote Thursday on the bill, and said that while some progress was being made, the talks were "not finished."

Democrats on Wednesday said they could not support H.R. 1363, which cuts too much and yet increases defense spending by 1.5 percent.

The House returns at 10 a.m. for general speeches, which could once again give members a chance to vent about the apparent lack of a budget deal for fiscal 2011.

As of Wednesday morning, House Republicans had not announced plans to pass their one-week spending bill, H.R. 1363. But that announcement could come at any time, as Republicans made the bill public on Monday, and their three-day rule would allow House consideration any time Wednesday.

House Republicans on Monday night were prepping a new one-week fiscal 2011 spending bill, H.R. 1363, for passage this week in the event that Republicans and Democrats are unable to come to a final agreement on a full-term spending bill. The bill would cut $12 billion from current spending levels, much more than the usual $2 billion in cuts per week that Republicans have sought in the last two continuing resolutions.

As of Tuesday morning, the House Rules Committee said the chamber "may" consider this bill, and no meeting had been announced to approve a rule for the bill. Introducing the bill Monday night will allow the House to consider it as early as Wednesday, given the Republicans' practice of making bills public for three calendar days before bringing them up for a vote.

According to a summary of the bill, the continuing resolution funds the Defense Department for the rest of the year, and increases defense funding by 1.5 percent over fiscal 2010 levels.

Republicans over the weekend hinted they would release a 2012 spending plan that seeks to cut $4 trillion over the next 10 years, including dramatic changes to Medicare.

But in the meantime, Congress this week will find itself saddled with the grim realities of trying to reach agreement on a fiscal 2011 budget. Congress faces almost immediate pressure to reach a deal, since House Republicans have pledged to make public any bill it votes on for three days.

This means, for example, that if a deal can be reached and a bill made public by Wednesday, a House vote on Friday is possible.

Congress and the White House have until the end of next week to reach a long-term budget deal for FY 2011, punt with a short-term funding deal or watch the government shut down — or possibly some fourth option that no one can imagine yet.

Because of the uncertainty surrounding the budget, the House schedule is a little more hazy than usual, based on the expectation that legislators at some point will have to start work to pass an agreement, or possibly another stopgap funding bill.