Wednesday: Stop government abuse, student loans, Iran, spending

Also on the list is consideration of the Senate-passed bill to lower interest rates on student loans. The Senate passed legislation last week that would peg the rate to the government’s borrowing rate, which would in some cases allow rates to exceed the current 6.8 percent.

Additionally, members will consider legislation to expand sanctions against Iran. The bill targets human rights violators, and would increase sanctions on entities that trade with Iran.

{mosads}All of these bills are suspension bills, which means they will get less debate and be subject to a two-thirds majority for passage. (A full listing of the bills can be found at the bottom of this story.)

Elsewhere, the House is expected to finish work today on H.R. 2610, the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act.

In Tuesday votes, members rejected proposals to cut the Essential Air Service program, which subsidizes air travel to rural areas of the country. The House also restored about one quarter of the $1.6 billion cut to the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Community Development Block Grant program.

Finally, the House will start work on H.R. 1582, the Energy Consumers Relief Act, which would only allow Environmental Protection Agency rules with an impact of more than $1 billion to take effect after being approved by Congress. Members will finish up that bill on Thursday.

The Senate starts at 9:30 a.m., and by 10:45 a.m. it will start a vote on an amendment from Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) that would limit foreign aid to Egypt.

The Senate is expected to vote on whether to table his language. Paul’s amendment would be attached to the Senate’s version of the 2014 transportation and housing spending bill, S. 1243.

After that vote, the Senate is expected to vote to end debate on the nomination of Todd Jones to lead the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

At some point in the day, the Senate is expected to vote on the nomination of Samantha Power to be the United States ambassador to the United Nations. A vote on Power is likely in the afternoon.

Suspension bills up in the House today are:

— H.R. 2711, the Citizen Empowerment Act,

— H.R. 313, Government Spending Accountability Act,

— H.R. 2579, the Government Employee Accountability Act,

— H.R. 1541, Common Sense in Compensation Act,

— H.R. 1660, the Government Customer Service Improvement Act,

— H.R. 2769, the Stop Playing on Citizen’s Cash (SPOCC) Act,

— H.R. 2768, Taxpayer Bill of Rights Act,

— H.R. 2565, the STOP IRS Act,

— H.R. 1911, the Bipartisan Student Loan Certainty Act, as amended by the Senate,

— H.R. 850, the Nuclear Iran Prevention Act, and

— H.R. 1897, the Vietnam Human Rights Act,

— H.Res. 222, recognizing the partnership between the U.S. and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.

— H.Con.Res. 41, encouraging peace and reunification on the Korean Peninsula.