By Vicki Needham, Bernie Becker and Peter Schroeder - 11/15/11 05:47 PM ET
Days until the Nov. 23 deadline for the supercommittee: 8
A shell game of minibuses: There was some confusion on the Senate floor Tuesday night about moving forward on a second minibus spending measure that is expected to come up for consideration on Wednesday.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) offered three different bills — all of which were blocked for various reasons — that contained funding for state and foreign operations, financial services and water and energy, that could be taken up on Wednesday, Josiah Ryan reports.
As it turns out, senators are trying to get an amendment deal between Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) to pass try to only one spending bill — energy and water. So no minibus to catch on Wednesday.
An eclectic group of senators, from the right and left, took issue with the spending bills for various reasons, including opposition to abortion funding, opposition to a measure that would have lowered trade barriers with Cuba and accusations that their price tags were too high.
As the dust started to clear, Reid came to the floor and said, "I am terribly disappointed that we are unable to do the so-called minibus consisting of three appropriations bills as we did a couple of weeks ago.
"It's too bad. It's unfortunate we were unable to do that," he said.
The complex procedural exchange baffled some Senate staff and apparently even the floor managers for the pending measure.
Feinstein conceded at one point on Tuesday night that she was unsure whether "we are on three bills or one bill." Alexander, her Republican counterpart, agreed.
"We have been sitting here for a couple hours ... I guess we just sit here and wait," Feinstein concluded.
In a separate development, late Monday night, House and Senate appropriators released a compromise spending on the first minibus that combines three of the 12 annual appropriations bills and a temporary spending bill to fund the rest of the government through Dec. 16, Erik Wasson reports.
The bill, set for a Thursday vote in the House, is the first conferenced spending bill to go through Congress since 2009. All funding in 2011 was determined through catch-all continuing resolutions. For fiscal 2012, which began Oct. 1, Congress has yet to pass any of the regular bills.
SEC scrutiny: A veritable slew of top officials from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will appear before the Senate Banking Committee tomorrow as lawmakers check in to see how the Wall Street watchdog has changed its ways. The SEC caught plenty of heat in the fallout for failing to detect underlying problems.
Insurance inquiry: The House Financial Services Committee will be talking insurance tomorrow, as a subcommittee discusses with a variety of industry experts ways to improve oversight of the market sector. Another subcommittee will follow that up with an afternoon hearing on legislation aimed at helping community banks drive economic growth.
Defending bonuses, part two: Edward DeMarco, acting director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, is headed up to Capitol Hill for a second day in defense of millions of bonuses given to the top executives at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. He spent Tuesday at the Senate Banking Committee and will testify Wednesday before the House Oversight Committee, as lawmakers continue to demand answers on nearly $13 million in bonuses. The two entities have required roughly $170 billion in federal assistance to stay afloat, so members in both parties want to know why the FHFA is agreeing to be so generous with compensation. DeMarco argues competitive salaries are needed to get and retain talent to handle the multi-trillion portfolio of mortgages managed by the entities.
Before the House panel, he could have some back-up, as the CEOs of both Fannie and Freddie will also be on hand to try and justify their paychecks.
Let's talk about jobs: The Joint Economic Committee takes up the jobs issue and how infrastructure investment could create much-needed jobs and further fuel the manufacturing industry, which relies on various modes of transportation to obtain raw materials and to transport end products to the marketplace.
Press conference circuit: The supercommittee might only have a week or so to unveil its recommendations, but dozens of lawmakers from both parties are still urging them to “go big.” On Wednesday, some of those lobbying — including Reps. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), the minority whip, Heath Shuler (D-N.C.) and Mike Simpson (R-Idaho), as well as Sens. Mark Warner (D-Va.) and Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.) — will pound that drum one more time at Capitol briefing.
Moving to the left, the Congressional Progressive Caucus is set to hold an ad hoc hearing on jobs, with a special concentration on those who they say are flying beneath the supercommittee’s radar. Among the attendees will be members of the Patriotic Millionaires, a group of high earners asking for higher taxes on the wealthy.
And veering to the right, Sens. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), Mike Lee (R-Utah) and David Vitter (R-La.) are set to talk welfare reform.
Export controls: Members of the President’s Export Council will meet to discuss the goal of doubling exports by 2014 at the White House on Wednesday — Commerce Secretary John Bryson, U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk, Labor Secretary Hilda Solis, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, Small Business Administrator Karen Mills and Chairman of the Export-Import Bank Fred Hochberg will participate, along with White House Chief of Staff Bill Daley, senior adviser Valerie Jarrett and other senior administration Officials.
No defense of Defense: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said Tuesday that Democrats would not allow Republicans to save the Pentagon from cuts if the supercommittee fails to reach a deal, Alexander Bolton reports .
The Defense Department is slated for $500 billion in cuts if the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction fails to produce an agreement with at least $1.2 trillion in cuts by Nov. 23.
Call to the bullpen: House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Reid met Tuesday, a sign they might take a larger role in deficit talks, congressional aides say. A leadership aide said Reid and Boehner discussed a range of topics in Boehner’s office but declined to provide any details,
Some congressional sources interpreted the meeting as a sign that the deficit-reduction talks of the supercommittee are moving to the leadership level.
White House opposes balanced-budget amendment: The White House announced it opposes a GOP-led balanced-budget amendment to the Constitution that is coming to a vote in the House later this week.
President Obama does not need to sign a proposed constitutional amendment, which is sent directly to the states for ratification if two-thirds of the House and Senate approve of it. Because of this, the Statement of Administration Policy does not include a veto threat,
Headway made on fraud: The Obama administration announced Tuesday that it has cut improper payments by federal programs by $17.6 billion over the past year. It also launched four new efforts to prevent healthcare fraud.
In the two years since the president's executive order to beef up fraud prevention efforts, the administration said, its Campaign to Cut Waste has avoided more than $20 billion in improper payments in Medicare, Medicaid, Pell Grants and food stamps. As a result, officials said, agencies are on track to meet the goal of preventing $50 billion in payment errors by the end of 2012,
Retail sales bolster market: Modest gains were made Tuesday in U.S. stock markets at retail sales increased 0.5 percent in October.
Consumers Americans spent more on autos, electronics, sporting goods, music, books and building supplies, raising retail sales for a fifth straight month,
European economy slows to a crawl: Europe looks like it is headed for a recession — if it isn't already there. Economic growth has stalled, statistics showed Tuesday. The stall comes just when Italy, Greece and other nations need growth to help them wriggle out of the chokehold of debt,
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