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OVERNIGHT MONEY: Continuing resolution tops congressional agenda
THIS WEEK'S BIG STORY:
Stop in the name of — well, short-term budgets: So Congress is out of session on Tuesday but will come back with a bang on Wednesday — with the Senate set to clear a six-month bill to keep the government running.
Congress is expected to send the bill to President Obama's desk with plenty of cushion before the Oct. 1 start of the 2013 fiscal year. The legislation, essentially, holds the federal government to 2012 spending levels and doesn't give the agencies much, if any, wiggle room on their programs.
The speed at which lawmakers are moving the bill through the halls of the Capitol can be credited to the deal crafted before the start of the five-week August recess.
Lawmakers are loathe to take votes on items of much substance before the presidential election — or for that matter, any elections — for fear it will hurt their campaigns. Thusly, there is an eight-day session with the CR as the major piece of legislation zipping through the chambers.
The bill has a top-line spending level of $1.047 trillion, which was set in the August 2011 debt-ceiling deal.
The Senate also has its eye on legislation that would help create jobs for veterans returning to civilian life. They should get to that Wednesday, as well, and we'll see if they can get any agreement on that bill.
WHAT ELSE TO WATCH FOR
The joys of groundwork: Outside of the CR, Congress might not be doing a ton of substantive lawmaking this week. But the full Ways and Means Committee is scheduled to sit down in private on Thursday to discuss the range of issues — the sequester and expiring Bush tax cuts, among them — that are piled up for the end of the year, according to officials on and off Capitol Hill.
Some top lawmakers are already working on a short-term measure to give Congress breathing room on those issues, and others on the right want to see very little accomplished in the lame-duck, post-election session of Congress.
BREAKING NEWS
Trade takes center stage: The Obama administration filed a trade case Monday against China, which it says has provided auto and auto parts companies with at least $1 billion in illegal export subsidies.
The suit at the World Trade Organization comes as Obama faces attacks from Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, who argues the president has been too weak with China on trade.
Meanwhile, in Ohio, Obama suggested that his GOP opponent "walk the walk" instead of just "talk the talk." Probably not the last we've heard of the United States' stance on China.
ECONOMIC INDICATORS
NAHB Housing Market Index: The National Association of Home Builders will release its May survey that gauges builder perceptions of current single-family home sales and sales expectations for the next six months.
WHAT YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED
— Poll: Slimmer majority sees too much government
— US ambassador touts anti-China WTO suit to push Russia trade deal
— Study: Uncertainty adding to unemployment
— Report: Treasury resists pressure from General Motors to dump shares
— Tax writers fire off warning to NY AG
— Club for Growth warns members against farm bill discharge petition
Catch us on Twitter: @VickoftheHill, @peteschroeder, @elwasson and @berniebecker3
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