Monday: State, DHS nominations in the Senate

The Senate starts at 3 p.m., and it will hold three nomination votes at 5:30 p.m.

The first is on the confirmation of Anne Patterson to be assistant secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs.

{mosads}It will then hold two votes on the nomination of Jeh Johnson to be the next Secretary of Homeland Security. First is a vote to end debate on his nomination, and then a vote on his confirmation.

These Monday votes were agreed to last week as part of a procedural agreement that kept the Senate from staying in all day Saturday. Senate Republicans had been insisting that the Senate stay in constantly, as a protest against a Democratic rule change that prevents filibusters against Obama administration nominees.

Once these nominations are out of the way, the Senate will spend Tuesday working on the budget deal that the House passed last week. The Senate was in Sunday so Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) could file a motion to end debate on that agreement.

The House meets at 11 a.m., when it may try to formally adjourn for the year.