OVERNIGHT MONEY: Senate vote on CR on hold

By Vicki Needham and Bernie Becker - 09/20/12 06:45 PM ET

FRIDAY'S BIG STORY:

Not so fast: Just when it seemed the Senate was prepared to wrap up its work and recess until after the elections, their engines went into a stall.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) announced Thursday afternoon that there would no more votes for the rest of the day, with a final agreement still out of reach to even take a vote on the must-pass continuing resolution to fund the government.

Instead, the Senate has its eyes on working through the weekend instead of hitting the campaign trail. Sigh.

Or, the upper chamber could take a slew of votes on Friday and get out of town.

The reason for Thursday's delay: Democrats didn't want Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) to have an excuse to skip a debate with his Senate opponent, Democrat Elizabeth Warren.

Brown mentioned to reporters that he might skip the debate if Senate votes ran late, so Reid kindly bid him adieu until Friday.

Threats of weekend votes are a regular chorus when lawmakers near a long break, and they usually strike a chord that leads to a scurrying about and a quick wrap-up of last-minute agenda items.

So, the Senate on Friday could consider a $1.047 trillion six-month continuing resolution that would keep the government running through March.

Meanwhile, an agreement seems close on holding votes on proposals by Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) to nix foreign aid to Pakistan, which isn't likely to get much support, as well as a resolution authored by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) that expresses opposition to a strategy that would focus on containment of nuclear weapons in Iran, an issue for which Graham has repeatedly expressed his support and has plenty of Democratic backing.

Despite an effort by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) to move forward on Thursday, Reid objected, saying he wants to hold a vote on Sen. Jon Tester’s (D-Mont.) bipartisan bill that would open up some federal land to hunters and fishers while also supporting conservation efforts.

On Thursday, Reid set a Sunday cloture vote on taking up the Tester bill unless an agreement is reached.

Tester is in a tight race to retain his seat.

LOOSE CHANGE

A little freshman prodding: Fifty members of the House GOP freshman class are pushing top Republicans on the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee to dispense with the collection of targeted tax breaks known as extenders.

In their letter, the freshmen say an extenders package would give businesses and families certainty.

“While we may not agree on the merits of each and every extender, we are advocating for an appropriate and fiscally responsible transition period to prevent any negative economic impacts,” they write.

But a couple of caveats: the freshmen don’t give a timeline for when they’d like to see the extenders finished, and the three GOP freshmen on Ways and Means didn’t sign the letter.

Lawmakers are about to leave Washington one last time before November’s election.

At the same time, Ways and Means Chairman Dave Camp (R-Mich.) and Rep. Pat Tiberi (R-Ohio), a senior panel member, have for months been looking to deal with extenders in the post-election lame-duck session.

Senate Republicans have also blocked attempts to deal with the issue before the election in their chamber.

WHAT YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED

— House Dems to Senate brokers: Use revenue to make 'down payment'

— Senators: Microsoft, HP avoided paying billions in taxes

— Menendez outraged over proposal to raise guarantee fees

— Paralyzed by elections, tax-writers unable to act on fiscal abyss

— Fed official: Commit to low rates until 5.5 percent unemployment

— Reid, Senate Dems oppose Social Security cuts in debt deal

— Lawmakers face hard choices on taxing capital gains

— Boehner: Congress will tackle stalled farm bill after the election is over

— Pawlenty to take over as Financial Services Roundtable CEO

— Mortgage rates hover near record lows