The Senate meets at 2 p.m., and will stay in morning business mode until 5 p.m., when members will debate a House-passed bill that would repeal the 3 percent withholding requirement for government contractors.

The bill, H.R. 674, was easily approved by the House in a 405-16 vote. However, the bill that paid for the repeal of the withholding rule, which scaled back the healthcare law's expanded access to Medicaid, had scant support from Democrats, and was approved 262-157.

The Senate takes up legislation next week that would repeal the 3 percent withholding rule, which everyone and their contractor brother agrees should be eliminated. The rule would withhold payments to contractors in a bid to ensure taxes are collected, but is seen by most as a costly burden on contractors and their employees, and has never been implemented.

The House (not in session next week) has already approved the bill. To pay for it, members voted to adjust a calculation for Medicaid eligibility that even the White House approved.

Rep. Louie Gohmert said Obama put troops at risk and “now we’ve got the al Qaeda flag flying in Libya.”

“Congress has never allowed emergency unemployment benefits to expire” when the unemployment rate was so high, Rep. Lloyd Doggett said.

The head of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), one of the least popular federal agencies, will testify next week before the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee on his agency’s most “recent efforts.” 

John Pistole’s testimony comes at a time when the TSA has continued to draw criticism for allowing weapons through airport security and for the inappropriate conduct of some of its agents. 

The House on Friday afternoon spiked two Democratic amendments to the Coast Guard authorization bill that would have maintained some degree of state flexibility over the discharge of ballast water.

The underlying bill is H.R. 2838, which includes not only funding for the Coast Guard through 2014, but also includes language that would set a single, national standard for ballast water discharge for commercial vessels. Republicans say a single standard is needed because now, there are two federal standards and more than two dozen state and tribal standards to meet, making compliance difficult.

As Occupy protestors remain rooted in major U.S. city centers calling, in part, for higher taxes on corporations and the wealthy, the Senate followed the House on Thursday in approving a bill that would ease travel restrictions for American businessmen and government officials en route to the Asia-Pacific.

Three members of the House on Thursday proposed legislation that would give states new incentives to use lower-priced generic drugs over brand-name drugs in a bid to save millions of dollars under the Medicaid program.

Rep. Charlie Bass (R-NH), along with Reps. Jo Ann Emerson (R-Mo.) and Peter Welch (D-Vt.), said the bill would reward states for substituting more expensive brand-name drugs with generics.

The House on Friday quickly approved a bill that sets up a certification process for certifying vessels that will participate in and support the America's Cup race in San Diego next weekend.

The measure, H.R. 3321, easily passed in a 387-2 vote. It eases regulations related to the transportation of passengers and other maritime activities related to the America's Cup race.