Reid sets Dec. 21 as target date for ending session

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said Wednesday he wants to conclude the first session of the 110th Congress by Dec. 21, adding that he hopes the laundry list of items left for the Senate to tackle will not keep lawmakers on Capitol Hill through the week of Christmas.

“We would like to finish the business of this body by two weeks from Friday. That's our goal. I hope we can do that,” Reid said on the Senate floor. “I hope we don't have to work on Christmas week. It's possible we might have to do that.”

{mosads}Reid’s statement likely throws out any hope that the Senate might adjourn by Dec. 14, when the current stopgap measure funding the government expires. Reid wants to tackle a patch of the Alternative Minimum Tax, a farm bill, an overhaul of the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and an omnibus bill that will cobble together 11 of 12 appropriations measures before Congress leaves town. Additionally, the Senate will act on temporary funding for the Iraq war and an energy bill currently being considered by the House.

“I would hope that we can hold hands here a little bit, in the next couple weeks,” Reid said in a plea for GOP cooperation. “It’s a lot of work to do.”

Reid complained that Republicans were going to lengths in stalling Democratic efforts to move legislation swiftly. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) denied the obstruction charge, saying that the packed end-of-year agenda is a result of Democrats trying to ram bills through without Republican consent.

“We have nearly a full year’s worth of work to do until we leave for Christmas,” McConnell said, arguing that a narrow Democratic majority is repeatedly trying to dictate the terms of debate without working with Republicans.