House, Senate recess until Thursday

By Ramsey Cox - 12/21/12 08:49 PM ET

The House and Senate recessed on Friday for a long Christmas weekend, but both will return to work Thursday, Dec. 27.

Both chambers are expected to hold brief pro forma sessions Monday. Lawmakers are waiting for a fiscal cliff deal to be negotiated by Congressional leaders and President Obama before the end of the year.

Before adjournment the Senate passed several measures by unanimous consent — that list follows:

H.R. 1339 would designate the Salem, Mass., as the birthplace of the National Guard of the United States.

H.R. 4212, the Drywall Safety Act, would direct the Secretary of Commerce to ensure drywall imported and exported within the United States meet certain safety standards.

H.R. 5859 would repeal obsolete U.S. code requiring auto insurance cost reporting.

H.R. 6364, the Frank Buckles World War I Memorial Act, would establish a World War I Centennial Commission to plan activities and events commemorating the war and designates the Liberty Memorial at the National World War I Museum in Kansas City, Mo., as the National World War I Museum and Memorial.

S. 3709 would require the Government Accountability Office to report on the concept of banks that are “too big to fail” and the effect it has on the U.S. economy and banking practices.

H.R. 1845, the Medicare IVIG Access Act, directs Health and Human Services (HHS) to establish a demonstration project to evaluate the benefits of providing payment for items and services needed within the homes of Medicare beneficiaries with intravenous immune globin (IVIG) for the treatment of primary immune deficiency diseases.

The Senate also voted to confirm three judicial nominations Friday: Matthew W. Brann was confirmed to be U.D. District Judge for the Middle District of Pennsylvania; Malachy Edward Mannion was confirmed to be U.S. District Judge for the Middle District of Pennsylvania; and Jon S. Tigar was confirmed to be U.S. District Judge for the Northern District of California.

When the Senate returns it is expected to resume amendment work on an emergency-spending bill for Hurricane Sandy relief and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act reauthorization bill, H.R. 5949.