Votes

The Senate on Monday evening approved H.R. 2715, a bill that would give the Consumer Product Safety Commission new authority to exempt some children's products from strict lead content guidelines that many companies have argued are unwieldy.

The Senate approved H.R. 2715 by voice vote just before adjourning. Earlier in the day, the House approved the same bill in a 421-2 vote.

The House on Monday evening approved H.R. 2480, which would reauthorize the Administrative Conference of the United States (ACUS) through 2014. This independent agency aims to find ways to reduce the federal regulatory burden on companies.

The bill would cut ACUS funding by about 10 percent for the next three years, putting its budget at $2.9 million per year. Members approved the bill in a 382-23 vote.

There were only 11 party defections in the House vote on the Senate Democrats' debt-ceiling plan, and all 11 were Democrats who voted against the bill:

The House voted 173-246 on the bill, well short of the two-thirds majority needed for passage.

Twenty-two House Republicans rejected House Speaker John Boehner's budget proposal, including all South Carolina Republicans:

House Republicans narrowly approved legislation authorizing a limited increase in the $14.3 trillion debt limit.

The House late Friday afternoon approved a rule allowing a modification of House Speaker John Boehner's (R-Ohio) debt ceiling bill, allowing a vote on the bill itself soon thereafter.

The rule was passed 239-187 in a straight party-line vote.

The rule modifies the bill, S. 627, so a potential $1.6 trillion increase that might be needed early next year would be conditioned on congressional passage of a balanced-budget amendment to the Constitution. The bill already allows for an immediate $900 billion increase in the debt ceiling that is not conditioned on the constitutional amendment.

Final House passage was expected shortly after passage of this rule.

Members of the House on Friday afternoon approved H.R. 440, which would establish a special religious envoy position at the State Department. The envoy would help work with countries to limit religious discrimination in 31 Near East and South Central Asian countries.

The bill was approved easily in a 402-20 vote. All 20 no votes were from Democrats.

The House also approved, 418-1, one of several bills to rename post offices that have been considered this week, H.R. 2244.

The House voted 236-186 Friday afternoon in favor of a rule allowing same-day consideration of rules reported by the House Rules Committee. Every Republican voted for the rule, and every Democrat voted against it.

The vote allows the House to immediately take up a rule approved earlier today that would alter House Speaker John Boehner's debt-ceiling plan, the Budget Control Act. The change requires Congress to approve a balanced-budget amendment to the Constitution before a second increase in the debt ceiling can be implemented.

Debate on this second rule was expected to start before 4 p.m.

The House early Thursday afternoon took a brief timeout in dealing with the Budget Control Act to reject seven amendments to the 2012 Interior, Environment and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, H.R. 2584.

Members immediately returned to two hours of debate on the House GOP's budget proposal after amendment votes.