The dash to Memorial Day

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) was one of many on Capitol
Hill who were running on empty as Democrats pushed to pass healthcare
reform last month.

He acknowledged being “exhausted” during the endgame on the health overhaul but, following a two-week break, will no doubt be ready to go for the seven-week stretch that starts Tuesday and ends at the next recess of Memorial Day.

{mosads}Much of the action, at least this month, will be in the Senate.

Democratic leaders in the upper chamber want to pass a measure increasing the regulation of Wall Street, plus climate change legislation and an immigration reform bill.

Chances of the financial bill moving are high, but the odds are against climate and immigration legislation. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) is, however, committed to all three.

During a campaign rally in Las Vegas on Saturday, he emphasized his commitment to changing the immigration laws: “We’re going to come back, we’re going to have comprehensive immigration reform now … We need to do this this year.”

If it’s going to happen in 2010, it must make significant progress between now and the end of May.

Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) recently said the biggest obstacle his financial regulatory reform bill is facing is “the 101st senator, and that is the clock, particularly in an election year.”

The House has indicated it is tired of passing tough bills only to see them die in the Senate.

A top House aide told The Hill last week, “If it’s not getting through the Senate, it’s not getting through the House.”

While some anxious Democrats want to avoid controversial votes between now and the election, there is much that needs to be addressed in the coming months. 

Issues that are expected to be debated this spring on Capitol Hill include the budget, a war supplemental, mine safety, net neutrality, extensions of some of President George W. Bush’s tax cuts, additional jobs packages and food safety.

Speculation about whom President Barack Obama will select for the Supreme Court will be rampant this week. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) said on Monday he hopes to have the nominee approved by the fall.

Player of the Week: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has been extraordinarily busy lately.

In recent weeks, she has called on Congress to back a new arms treaty with Russia, stressed that the U.S. will keep nuclear weapons as long as there are countries that have access to weapons of mass destruction and tiptoed around Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision to skip this week’s conference in Washington on nuclear issues.

The conference, aimed at convincing world leaders to tackle the threat of nuclear arms falling into the hands of terrorists, could be a defining moment in Clinton’s tenure at the State Department.

What is most pressing on Clinton’s mind is convincing the necessary two-thirds of the Senate to approve the U.S.-Russia nuclear arms pact.

During a Friday speech in Louisville, Ky., with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) in the audience, Clinton said the new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) merits bipartisan support. She said the START agreement “is the latest chapter in the history of American nuclear responsibility, a chapter that has been co-authored by Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and even further back.”

Clinton will need at least eight Republicans to sign on — and that will not be easy.

Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) said on “Fox News Sunday” this weekend that Clinton does not yet have 67 yes votes.

In order to get the votes, Lieberman said, the Obama administration should commit to modernizing America’s existing nuclear stockpile and reject Russia’s demand that the U.S. halt plans for a European missile defense system.

As she is looking for senators to endorse the treaty, Clinton will need to deal with speculation that the president will tap her for the Supreme Court. The White House on Monday sought to dispel that possibility, but it will still be a topic of conversation in the halls of the Senate this week.