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Lawmakers
Return November 15
Last week, Congress adjourned until
November 15 to allow Members to concentrate on the mid-term
elections. Both chambers will return for one week of
legislative activity before recessing for the following week for the
Thanksgiving holiday. It is then expected that both the House
and the Senate could be wrapping up business on a number of key
issues through most of December, or
Republicans could make significant gains, likely resulting in minimal
action beyond continuing appropriations.
An outline of future congressional activity during the upcoming Lame
Duck session is starting to form based on publicly available floor
schedules and comments from Democratic Leadership. Republicans
(expecting numerous pick ups) are calling on Democrats to defer major
legislation until the 112th Congress convenes on January 4, 2011,
fearing perhaps that defeated Democrats and retiring
Republicans may be more inclined to vote more liberally in the lame
duck in order to get a few more legislative accomplishments before
leaving office.
However, even Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) has conceded
that the three top issues Democrats want to address in the lame duck
- an omnibus appropriations bill, extension of some of the Bush tax
cuts, and an arms control treaty with Russia - "are major
undertakings" that could steal valuable floor time from other
issues such as energy and immigration. Furthermore, Republicans
are likely to filibuster any major piece of legislation.
To complicate matters further, the recently-created National
Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform is set to release its
first recommendations on December 1, two days before the current
continuing resolution funding government expires and around the time
Congress will begin debating the extension of the Bush tax cuts which
expire on December 31.
All of this
has left scholars like Thomas Mann of the liberal think tank the
Brookings Institution skeptical: "I don't think anything will
get done except the two things that have to be done, which is another
continuing resolution on appropriations to keep the government going
and something on extending some part of the tax cuts. The
filibuster is alive and well during the lame duck. Anything that
Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) objects to, there's probably not going to be
enough time to invoke cloture and get it done."
Issues that could see floor time during the lame duck:
Likely:
- Food
Safety
- Alternative
Fuel Vehicles
- Extension
of Bush Tax Cuts (excluding upper income earners)
- Arms
Control Treaty with Russia
- Continuing
Resolution Through February
- Unemployment
Benefits Extension
50/50:
- Defense
Authorization
- Child
Nutrition
- Child
Immigration
- Omnibus
Appropriations
Unlikely:
- Comprehensive
Energy Legislation
- Broad
Immigration Reform
If you have
any questions concerning these issues, please contact Chris Wagner at
202.772.0924 or cwagner@clarkhill.com.
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