House set to work on budget, supplemental next week
Dems will push for conference committee approval of budget resolution followed by consideration of $83.4 billion defense supplemental.
When Congress returns from recess on Monday, Democratic leaders will push for conference committee approval of the fiscal 2010 budget resolution, with votes on final passage to follow in both chambers. The House will then turn to an $83.4 billion supplemental spending bill to cover military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., also hopes to bring up the D.C. voting rights bill again next week. The version returning to the House is vastly different than the version the House passed earlier in the year. The Senate version includes an amendment from Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., that would reverse the district's restrictive gun-control laws. Although the gun rider has angered some liberals, House leaders are aiming for the House to pass the bill before the Memorial Day recess.
Also set to come up during the next work period is a bill from Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Colo., to amend the Public Service Act to include embryonic stem-cell research language now that President Obama's executive order last month ended federal restrictions initially imposed by the Bush administration.
Other bills likely to move ahead before the next break are a whistleblower protection measure introduced by Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., and a regulatory reform bill for the financial sector sponsored by House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank, D-Mass. The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee is expected to hold a hearing on Van Hollen's bill as early as next week. Aides say the bill could be marked up by the end of the month and be on the floor at some point in May.