Might as well start getting you people in the habit of tuning in to Daily Kos Radio weekday mornings from 9-11 EDT (with podcasts available soon, in case you can't make it). Yesterday we spent a little time talking about the mechanics and use of filling the amendment tree in the Senate. You know you wanted to hear that! So click here to listen (or on the player button at the bottom of this section), and don't miss out! Recapping yesterday's action:
The House made its way through the raft of amendments to, and final passage of, the "Conservation and Economic Growth Act." So presumably, the economy is going to grow now, which is awesome. But it's going to do so without requiring that the gift shops in our National Parks sell only items made in America, because that was in the motion to recommit the bill that Republicans rejected. Just thought you might want to know.
The Senate also moved a pile of amendments today, these to the farm bill. Just 47 left to go! Among those considered: one from Rand Paul (R-KY) forbidding any subsidy payments to anyone with more than $250,000 in income (failed), and one from Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) restoring some of the cuts made in SNAP (also failed). Two others that would have cut SNAP even more also went down.
And just so you know, the Senate also agreed to congratulate the Los Angeles Kings for winning the Stanley Cup, and to declare today (the 20th) "American Eagle Day." So for those of you who were perhaps thinking of assaulting an eagle, maybe you want to put that off for now, out of respect for the day.
Looking ahead to today:
The House today considers the "Domestic Energy and Jobs Act," so by this time tomorrow, there should be a whole bunch of jobs and stuff. Maybe. I mean, the Republicans in the House keep adding the word "jobs" to every bill they bring up (this one was known as the "Strategic Energy Production Act" as recently as Monday), but for some reason it doesn't seem to do anything. Maybe running a government isn't really all that much like ordering a sandwich, after all. Oh well. Anyway, there are 27 amendments to the bill to deal with before we get to final passage, so it looks like this one will stretch out into tomorrow's schedule, too.
Oh, and P.S., I heard yesterday afternoon that the Oversight Committee might take up the contempt of Congress resolution that Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA-49) has been threatening against Attorney General Eric Holder, in connection with the "Fast & Furious" probe. More about that on today's radio show. Tune in and I'll tell you all about the problems with contempt of Congress proceedings. Or, if you can't, well, search my archived posts on it. I'd do it for you, but it's 1:00 in the morning as I write this.
The Senate will start the day with some debate on, and then a motion to proceed to, the resolution of disapproval of the EPA mercury rule. The expectation is that the motion will fail, and the plan thereafter is to return to the amendments to the farm bill, and hopefully to final passage as well. But there are still 47 amendments standing in the way of that, and even though not all of them are likely to require roll call votes, there's still a substantial number that will, and we could be in for a long night. The expected sequence of the votes can be found here.
Today's floor and committee schedules appear below the fold.
And don't forget to check in with Daily Kos Radio for commentary on all this and more, every Monday through Friday, from 9-11 a.m. EDT. Just click on the player below.
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