Democratic Policy Committee Chairman Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said congressional leaders are nearing a deal to finalize the federal budget for the remainder of fiscal 2011.

"We are finally headed into the home stretch," Schumer said on the Senate floor Thursday afternoon. "We are at the doorstep."

Schumer confirmed reports that Republicans and Democrats are working toward $33 billion in spending cuts. 

But even as he hailed progress in the talks, Schumer did not miss a chance to take a swing at the Tea Party.

"There are outside sources that don't like this turn of events," Schumer said, referring to the Tea Party members who rallied outside the Capitol Thursday.

"They want [Speaker of the House] John Boehner [R-Ohio] to abandon these talks even if that means a shutdown on April 8," Schumer said. "This is a reckless and, yes, extreme position to take."

The measure funding the government expires April 8.

A measure that would permanently strip the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of its ability to regulate greenhouse gas emissions was not an “adult amendment,” Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) said Thursday.

“Is this an adult amendment?” Rockefeller asked rhetorically. “It cannot be.”

The amendment, from Sens. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and James Inhofe (R-Okla.), was one of many being offered Thursday to the Small Business Reauthorization Act, which would provide funding for the Small Business Innovation Research program (SBIR) and the Small Business Technology Transfer program (SBTT), initiatives Democrats say are critical for job creation.

Rockefeller ridiculed the amendment as “unrealistic, irresponsible and immature.”

“It’s childlike,” Rockefeller said. “It’s like saying, ‘I'm taking my football. I am going home.’ ”

On the other hand, Rockefeller touted his own emissions-related amendment to the small-business bill, which would impose a two-year moratorium on the enforcement of carbon emissions by the EPA.

“What we need is a time-out,” he said.

Rockefeller said senators ought to vote for his two-year moratorium over Republicans’ permanent ban because his plan has a greater chance of becoming law.

“This bill [the Republican’s proposed amendment] has no chance of becoming law. So why do they do it?” Rockefeller said. “They have to know that. I don’t think it will pass here. It definitely won’t pass the White House.”

House Democrats are plotting a counteroffensive against Republican plans to pass a second version of their budget proposal on Friday.
 
Rep. Jim Moran (Va.), a senior Democrat on the Appropriations Committee, will submit an amendment Thursday that would scrap the GOP bill and replace it with a provision that prevents members of Congress and President Obama from being paid in the event of a government shutdown.
 
The Republican legislation, titled the Government Shutdown Prevention Act, already contains similar language, but the core of the bill would, in the absence of a Senate-passed budget for 2011, declare as law the spending bill the House passed in February, which cuts $61 billion from federal spending through the end of September.
 
The GOP proposal is largely symbolic and has been dismissed as “a political stunt” by Democrats.
 
The Moran amendment mirrors a bill that has already passed the Senate by unanimous consent. He plans to submit it at a Rules Committee hearing Thursday afternoon.
 
It is not clear if Republicans will allow amendments to their bill, but Democrats could use it as a motion to recommit, as a way of pressuring GOP lawmakers into backing a measure that has broad bipartisan support.

The House on Thursday afternoon approved a rule for considering H.R. 658, which would authorize the Federal Aviation Administration for four years. The rule was approved in a 249-171 vote, with 15 Democrats supporting it.

Immediately following that vote, members voted 292-130 to approve H.R. 872, which would lift a court-ordered requirement that certain pesticide users must obtain a Clean Water Act permit. This non-controversial bill was approved under a suspension of House rules and required support from two-thirds of voting members, which it won by about a dozen votes, thanks to the 57 Democrats who voted for it.

With these votes, the House at about 3 p.m. began considering 33 amendments the FAA bill. Work on the FAA bill is expected to conclude on Friday.

Early House debate on a rule for a four-year extension of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) focused on language that Democrats objected to because it would make air and rail unionization more difficult. But Democrats also objected to spending cuts in the bill, which they said would lead to tens of thousands of lost transportation jobs.

The bill, H.R. 658, would reverse a 2010 decision by the National Mediation Board (NMB) that allows unions to be formed based on the votes only of voting workers. Prior to this change, non-voting workers were counted as "no" votes for forming a union.

Rep. Dennis Kucinich said the president has brought about a “constitutional crisis” by usurping Congress’s authority to declare war.

Senate votes slated for Thursday on controversial amendments to the small-business bill might be rescheduled for Friday or Monday, due to an ongoing disagreement between Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) and Senate leadership, according to Senate aides.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said Wednesday he hoped to hold votes on up to 10 amendments to the bill, including one that would strip the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of its power to regulate carbon emissions, another that would repeal some tax reporting requirements for businesses and another that would eliminate some government subsidies to ethanol farmers.

Coburn came to the Senate floor Wednesday night to express his frustration that some of his colleagues were blocking several of his amendments, which would cut billions of dollars in what he deemed to be wasteful spending from the federal budget.

“What is the deal?” Coburn asked on Wednesday night. “This is the Senate. You are expected to make tough votes.”

The rules of the Senate allow Coburn, or any sitting senator, to block proceedings until their grievances have been addressed.

“To say that a sitting senator can't offer amendment on $20 billion cuts in a $3 trillion budget,” said Coburn. “It strikes me that we have lost our balance.”

 “Let’s let this body do its work rather than not let it do its work,” Coburn said.

Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) on Thursday offered a tongue-in-cheek congratulations to Republicans for their plans to vote on a bill that attempts to "deem" that the House-passed budget would become law if the Senate fails to pass a spending bill by next week.

"I was totally outraged — outraged! — when I saw this," DeFazio said on the House floor, noting the apparent unconstitutionality of the measure. "But then I realized, guess what? What's tomorrow? April Fools' Day.

"Hey guys, you got me," he said to laughter on the floor. "Congratulations! Happy April Fools' Day. What are we really going to be doing tomorrow?"

The GOP bill, H.R. 1255, is seen as a symbolic bill aimed at prodding Senate Democrats to pass an FY 2011 spending bill by next week. House Republicans have said failure to approve anything in the Senate puts the House in a position of negotiating by itself on a final budget deal.

Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) criticized Republican Rep. Sean Duffy (Wis.) on Thursday for saying he was having a hard time paying the bills on his $174,000 congressional salary.