The Senate adjourned on Thursday night shortly before 7 p.m., just after it quickly passed a one-year extension to the Small Business Act.

The Senate approved the bill, S. 990, by unanimous consent. It extends certain authorities of the Small Business Administration from May 31, 2011 through May 31, 2012.

The Senate also approved three minor resolutions, and adjourned until 2 p.m. May 23.

Senate Assistant Majority Leader Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) on Thursday night blasted for-profit colleges that he said don't always provide quality education and can leave prospective students in debt. In particular, he criticized an advertisement saying you can get an education while staying at home in bed in your pajamas.

"The ad that just really troubles me shows a lovely young woman who says you can go to college in your pajamas," he said. "You don't even have to get out of bed to go to college, and she's got a computer on her bed there."

House and Senate leaders have reached a deal to extend three expiring Patriot Act surveillance authorities for four years. 

Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) on Thursday called on the Obama administration to adopt "more robust rules of engagement" in the ongoing U.S. battle against piracy in the Gulf of Aden.

"My hope for the future is that we can have far more robust rules of engagement empowering … commanders … to eliminate the threat of piracy," said Kirk.

Sen. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.) said he is working on bill that would allow the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to wave debt owed by individuals who were mistakenly given disaster assistance by the government.

The bill would allow FEMA to forgive debts from individuals who benefited from their services under the following circumstances:

House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairwoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.) on Thursday said President Obama's speech on the Middle East and North Africa did not answer any of the key questions members of Congress are asking and said she hopes Obama can work closely with Congress to put forward a "comprehensive and consistent regional policy."

One detail many members of Congress were listening for was the extent to which the U.S. military would stay involved in Libya. Obama committed U.S. forces to Libya without congressional approval, but many believe approval is needed under the War Powers Resolution after the first 60 days, which elapses late this week.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Thursday he believes University of California Professor Goodwin Liu has a "repugnant" view of how judges should act and that he therefore will vote against his confirmation to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

On the Senate floor Thursday afternoon, McConnell said Liu wrote recently that the 2010 election gives liberals a "tremendous opportunity" to implement the "progressive vision" of the Constitution and U.S. law.

House Republicans next week plan to approve another bill targeting the automatic federal funding of healthcare programs that was established in last year's healthcare law.

Republicans plan to take up H.R. 1216, which would terminate more than $200 million in funding over the next decade that is currently slated to fund training for graduate-level medical students. That funding was put in place by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act last year, through language that amended the Public Health Service Act.

Two senior Republican senators on Thursday noted that the Senate had not passed a full year's budget for 750 days and suggested Democrats are incapable of producing a plan that works.

"I think they are paralyzed, actually, by putting a plan on paper," said Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), ranking member on the Senate Budget Committee. "They are not able to produce a budget that their caucus supports, that the American people would support that would get a job done.