House Democrats late Tuesday will attempt to add language to the full FY 2011 spending bill that would prohibit further military action in both Libya and Afghanistan. While the measures are expected to fail, the attempt shows continuing unease about U.S. military involvements overseas, including among some Republicans.

The House Rules Committee at 5 p.m. will take up H.R. 1473, which would fund the rest of FY 2011 according to last week's agreement between Congress and the White House. Democrats have filed seven amendments to that bill that they are expected to argue in favor of tonight.

Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) used his maiden speech on Tuesday to call for a reduction in the size of government and urge his Senate colleagues to carry on the fight against government spending.

“Time is running out, “ warned Johnson.  “Last week, the government almost shut down because we were arguing over a few billion dollars. But our debt and deficits are measured in the trillions. Our problem is a thousand times larger than the current debate.”

Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) signaled Tuesday that leadership is close to reaching a deal on amendments that would allow the pending Small Business Administration (SBA) funding bill to go forward.

"There are just a few issues outstanding, and we'd really like to get that done and we're going to do our utmost to get that agreement so we can complete that bill at the earliest possible date," the Senate majority leader said.

The SBA funding bill is in its fourth week pending in the Senate. Although the underlying legislation is fairly non-controversial, senators from both parties have taken advantage of the open amendment process to file more than 125 amendments — of which only about 20 are germane. To avoid time-consuming votes on those amendments and allow the bill to proceed, senators offering them must agree to combine or drop their requests.

The Small Business Reauthorization Act, or S. 493, would provide funding for the Small Business Innovation Research program and the Small Business Technology Transfer program, which Democrats say will create jobs.

The Senate will be in a period of business until 5 p.m., when Reid has reserved time to address the body.

The Senate voted unanimously Tuesday to confirm its 16th and 17th pending nominations to fill judicial vacancies in New York and California.

Vincent Briccetti was confirmed as a district judge for the Southern District of New York, and John Kronstadt was confirmed as a district judge for the Central District of California. 

There are now 15 judicial nominations pending on the Senate’s executive calendar.  So far this year, the Senate has confirmed at least two nominees per legislative week.

The Senate stands in recess until 2:15 p.m., at which time Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) will deliver his maiden speech on the floor.

The Democratic and GOP leaders in the Senate both sought to take credit for last week’s spending bill in dueling floor speeches on Tuesday.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said a "sea change" had taken place in Washington because of GOP efforts to tackle the deficit. The House and Senate will vote this week on a spending measure to reduce this year’s spending by $39.9 billion.

"It wasn’t that long ago that both the White House and the Democratic leaders in Congress were doing everything they could to grow the nation’s $15 trillion in debt," McConnell said. "Spending cuts that Democrats were recently calling 'extreme' and 'draconian' they are now calling 'historic' and 'common sense.'"

House Republican Study Committee (RSC) Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) said Tuesday he would oppose the FY 2011 spending agreement reached late last week because it does not cut enough.

"While I respect that some of my Republican colleagues will ultimately support this spending deal, I believe voters are asking us to set our sights higher," Jordan said. "Americans want us to reach higher, act bolder, and remember the job we were sent here to do."

The House Rules Committee at 5 p.m. Tuesday will meet to approve rules for several bills, including two resolutions aimed at defunding last year's healthcare law and Planned Parenthood. The panel will also attend to the FY 2011 spending bill, which the House will now consider on Thursday, not Wednesday as originally planned.

Rules will consider all three of these bills on an "emergency" basis, meaning the committee is giving short notice of the meeting.

Tuesday could give House members a chance to vent over Republican spending plans, in particular plans to vote this week to defund Planned Parenthood and last year's healthcare law. But the serious work on spending bills will wait until later in the week.

The House returns Tuesday at noon for morning debate, and then at 2 p.m. takes up two non-controversial bills under a suspension of House rules.

The first is H.R. 1308, which would extend the duration of the Ronald Reagan Centennial Commission Act. The second is S. 307, which names a West Virginia courthouse.

The Senate returns at 10 a.m. to consider two district judgeships.

The House bill implements the accord reached between Republicans, congressional Democrats and the White House to cut about $40 billion.