Republicans are preventing the Senate from completely adjourning for the Memorial Day recess, preventing any recess appointments.

Tea Party favorite Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) on Thursday night spent five minutes on the House floor in an attempt to justify her vote for the Patriot Act, after admitting to receiving significant feedback from her supporters urging her to reject it.

"We have had calls, we've had requests on our Facebook, Twitter and on our email urging a 'no' vote tonight on the Patriot Act," she said on the floor. "I cast a yes vote on this act."

Both chambers approved the clean extension of three surveillance authorities until June 1, 2015.

The House also approved a measure to prohibit ground troops from being sent to Libya.

The House Rules Committee met at 6:20 p.m. to quickly approve a rule for S. 990, which will extend Patriot Act surveillance authorities until June 1, 2015.

The rule allows for one hour of debate on the bill, and it was approved by voice vote in a meeting that lasted about five minutes. Members adjourned and were moving to the floor to consider the rule and the bill, which must be approved tonight if Congress is to avoid a lapse in Patriot Act authorities.

Earlier in the week, Rules approved a measure allowing the House to consider the extension on the House floor immediately after a rule was approved. The committee met Thursday night to approve a rule for the bill itself.

—This story was updated at 6:28 p.m.

Bill is rushed to House as lawmakers try to get it to President Obama before Patriot Act expires at midnight.

The Senate agreed Thursday afternoon to allow a vote on final passage of the Patriot Act extension bill along with votes on two controversial amendments authored by Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.).

The agreement represents a major victory for Paul, who brought progress on the Patriot Act to a halt this week as he demanded greater time for debate and a floor vote on his amendments, which would curtail the law’s powers.

Paul celebrated the fact that he had managed to wrestle Senate leadership into granting him his amendments, but he said he was not completely satisfied with the agreement.

“It took me three days of sitting down here filibustering but I am going to get two amendment votes,” said Paul. “I am very happy and pleased that we came together to get these but I wish we would do more. I wish there were a week's worth of debate.”

Paul's two amendments would clarify that the authority to obtain information under the Patriot Act does not pertain to firearms records and would limit the federal government's ability to view individuals' bank records. 

The votes will begin at 4:35 p.m.

Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) on Thursday called on the International Money Fund (IMF) to deny its former chief, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, a quarter-million-dollar severance package to which he might be entitled.

Strauss-Kahn, a Frenchman, is facing charges of sexually assaulting and attempting to rape a hotel maid; he was released on bail and is under home detention at a townhouse in New York City’s Tribeca neighborhood. He stepped down last week as IMF chief, saying he wanted to "protect" the institution and would spend his time proving his innocence. 

The Senate on Thursday passed by unanimous consent another short-term extension for Small Business Administration (SBA) funding after failing to clear an eight-year extension earlier in the month.

The extender bill funds the Small Business Innovation Research/Small Business Research Funding Opportunities programs for four months, with two-month extensions for other SBA programs. The House will take up the bill next week.