Wednesday: House moves to continuing resolution

The House is also trying to pass the resolution in a way that makes it possible for the Senate to approve it more quickly than usual. It does so by treating the resolution as a “message” between the House and Senate, which makes it privileged in the Senate and could save the upper chamber several days.

Saving time is everything, as both the House and Senate plan to be out next week, which means they need to approve a temporary spending measure this week.

{mosads}But plans by Senate Democrats to add more funding for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) could disrupt House plans for speedy consideration. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said the Senate would not budge on FEMA funding, added he is not sure that the government will avoid a shutdown over the issue, and implied that work next week to resolve this fight might be needed.

After debating the rule for the spending resolution Wednesday afternoon, the House will debate the resolution itself for an hour.

The House meets at 10 a.m. for speeches and then noon for legislative work, and also plans to take up four suspension bills:

S.Con.Res. 28, authorizing the use of Emancipation Hall to award the Congressional Gold Medal to several military units that served in World War II.

S. 846, to name a Missouri courthouse after former Sen. Kit Bond (R-Mo.).

H.R. 2943, the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Act.

H.R. 2883, the Child and Family Services Improvement and Innovation Act.

The Senate returns at 9:30 a.m. to resume consideration of legislation extending the Generalized System of Preferences. In the middle of the day, the Senate will consider two amendments — one to add a renewal of Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) to the bill, and another to allow TAA to resume only if Congress approves free trade agreements with Colombia, Panama and South Korea.

Republicans have been resisting a renewal of TAA, which offers benefits to workers who lose their jobs to trade, before approving the free trade deals, which have languished for several years.