Tuesday: Dodd-Frank reform, possible debt ceiling prep

The House meets in the afternoon to start work on a Dodd-Frank reform bill, but could also try to push ahead on a bill to suspend the debt ceiling for 13 months.

Late Monday, GOP leaders released the text of a bill to suspend the debt ceiling. That gives them the option of trying to pass it on Wednesday, although Republicans will first have to assess whether enough Republicans support it.

{mosads}Among other things, the bill creates a doc-fix fund, and repeals a $6 billion cut to military pensions.

If the GOP decides to press ahead, it could set up a Rules Committee meeting to set a rule for the bill, which would come up Wednesday on the floor. But leaders could also decide to pull the bill and think it over, or change it to address GOP opposition.

Last week, GOP leaders said only that work on the debt ceiling was “possible” this week.

The House’s scheduled work on Tuesday is H.R. 3193, the Consumer Financial Protection and Soundness Improvement Act. This bill would restructure the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, including by making it a five-person board.

The House will start by passing the rule for this bill, which allows for consideration of four amendments. But as of late Monday night, the plan was to pass this on Wednesday.

Up to two suspension bills may also be considered:

— H.R. 3578, requiring a formal rulemaking process for regulations on the sleep testing of air traffic controllers, and

— H.R. 3448, the Small Cap Liquidity Reform Act, which would allow small companies to adjust the “tick size” of their stock value in an effort to draw more investors and market makers.

The Senate starts at 10 a.m., and just after noon, it will swear in Montana Lieutenant Governor John Walsh to replace Max Baucus, who was confirmed last week as the next U.S. ambassador to China.

Senators will break for their caucus lunches, and otherwise will spend the day considering S. 1963, a bill to repeal the $6 billion cut to military pensions. On Monday, the Senate voted 94-0 to end debate on a motion to proceed to the bill.

Senate work on that bill was expected to take the week, but it’s conceivable that this work could be overtaken by the new effort in the House to repeal the cuts as part of a bill extending the debt ceiling for a year.