Votes

The House on Tuesday afternoon passed a Republican resolution expressing the sense of the House that Congress should approve a bill extending the payroll tax holiday and unemployment insurance along the lines of what House Republicans approved earlier this month.

The resolution is meant to demonstrate support for the House bill, which extends and reforms these programs for a year and pays for the extensions with cuts to discretionary spending. House Republicans spent the day arguing that their proposal is better than the Senate bill, which extends these programs for just two months with different pay-fors.

The 229-193 vote was generally on party lines, with only seven Republicans voting against the conference.

All but one Republican voted for the rule. No Democrats supported it.

The rule to set up the vote was agreed to after a highly partisan debate lasting almost two hours.

The House on Monday evening voted by unanimous consent in favor of H.Res. 497, which would commission the placement of a bust of former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill in the Capitol.

The House adjourned moments after that vote, and members gave no sign as to when votes on the payroll tax bill might take place tonight. House Republicans are expected to caucus at 6 p.m. to discuss how to handle the payroll tax issue.

The Senate on Saturday morning voted 67-32 in favor of the omnibus 2012 spending bill that the House approved Friday, a vote that will free up Congress next year to focus on 2013 spending bills instead of what might have been a string of continuing spending resolutions.

The bill, H.R. 2055, was agreed by House and Senate leaders after last-minute negotiations during the week. But as expected, the bill drew significant opposition from Senate Republicans who thought the bill still spends too much.

The Senate approved a bill to provide further disaster relief funding on Saturday morning, but killed a companion resolution that would have provided off-sets in the federal budget.

In between votes on the 2012 spending package, the Senate quickly approved S.Res. 349, honoring the actions of member of the U.S. Armed Forces in Iraq.

The resolution (text unavailable) was approved by a unanimous vote vote.

The resolution was offered by Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), just two days after the U.S. officially ended its military activities in Iraq.

More Democrats voted in favor of the omnibus than Republicans. It now goes to the Senate.

The House on Friday morning approved H.R. 1892, authorizing intelligence programs for 2012.

The bill passed easily in a recorded vote, 396-23. Most of the "no" votes, 19, came from Democrats, while just four Republicans voted against the bill.

The House also approved S. 278, allowing for a federal land exchange in Alaska. That bill passed 413-0.