Scheduling

The House meets at 9 a.m. Wednesday and will immediately start work on legislation that would require President Obama to estimate when the federal budget will balance again.

Members approved the rule for this bill Tuesday, and then debated the bill for 30 minutes before adjourning for the day. The bill was hotly opposed by Democrats and led two Democrats to call the legislation "stupid."

The House meets at 10 a.m. for speeches, then at noon to start work on the Require a PLAN Act, H.R. 444.

The bill calls on President Obama to submit a 2014 budget that balances in some future year. If Obama fails to do this, he would be required to submit a supplemental budget estimating when the budget will balance, and outlining the steps needed to get to that point.

The Senate meets at 2 p.m., and will start work on the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act, S. 47.

The bill is a second attempt at passing a bill to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) after the bill stalled in the last Congress. Both the House and Senate passed their own versions, but neither chamber took up the other's version.

The House and Senate both return next week, but with dueling agendas. The House will pass a bill pressuring President Obama to produce a balanced budget, while the Senate starts work on a bill reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA).

House Republicans will pass the Require Presidential Leadership and No Deficit, or Require a PLAN, Act by Wednesday. That bill would essentially require Obama to estimate when the federal budget will come into balance again, and to describe what it will take to get there.

Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) said he was "pleased" that the Senate would begin work next week on his bill, the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act (VAWA).

“I am pleased the Senate will next week turn its focus to reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act,” Leahy said Friday. “The Leahy-Crapo VAWA bill seeks to protect all victims of domestic and sexual violence, including tribal women, immigrants, college students, and members of the LGBT community.”

The Senate late Wednesday reached an amendment agreement that will allow the upper chamber to pass the No Budget, No Pay Act on Thursday. The bill suspends the debt ceiling until mid-May.

Under the agreement, four amendments will get a vote before the Senate passes the bill. But all of them need 60 votes to pass, making it highly unlikely that any will.

The Senate meets at 9:30 a.m., and will start work on the No Budget, No Pay Act, H.R. 325.

The House passed this bill last week. It suspends the debt ceiling through May 18, providing more time for Congress to work out a longer-term agreement.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said that the Senate will likely vote on the House’s three-month extension of the debt limit Wednesday. 

The No Budget, No Pay Act, H.R. 325, suspends the debt ceiling through May 18 and requires each chamber to pass a budget by April 15 or have its members face a pay suspension. The House passed the measure last week in a 285-144 vote.

“On Wednesday, we’ll take it up here in the Senate," McConnell said on the Senate floor Monday. "If the House bill passes here and is signed into law, the Finance Committee should immediately begin laying the foundations for a solution. Negotiations should begin, hearings should be scheduled, and legislation should be marked up.

The Senate meets at 2 p.m. for speeches, and at 4:30 p.m. will start debate on H.R. 152, the Disaster Relief Appropriations Act.

The House bill would spend $50.7 billion to help with Hurricane Sandy relief efforts. While it is not exactly what the Senate approved earlier this year, the upper chamber will likely pass it today.

The Senate returns Monday to take up a House-passed bill offering more than $50 billion in federal aid for those affected by Hurricane Sandy.

The Senate failed to take up the bill over the last week, as it was wrestling with changes to procedural rules in the 113th Congress. But with that out of the way, the Senate is now free to start work on high-priority issues like the Sandy bill.