Today in Washington D. C. - Feb 7, 2008

President Bush is scheduled to speak this morning on the large number of judicial, executive branch, and other nominations stalled in the Senate. The Wall Street Journal asks: "Is it too much to ask the Senate to do its job of advice and consent, and allow up-or-down votes on the more than 180 vacancies in the executive branch that remain in a state of suspended nomination? . . . There are also 28 pending nominees to federal judgeships, including key appellate courts. . . . Democrats are also using these nominees as leverage to dictate executive branch policy and score election-year political points."

On The Floor: Senate reconvenes at 10:30 AM and could resume consideration of either the economic stimulus bill (H.R. 5140) or the FISA reform bill (S. 2248). Reid said on the floor this morning that he intends to finish the FISA bill this week. An amendment to the FISA bill by Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD) failed to reach the required 60 votes yesterday. The Cardin amendment would have imposed a 4 year sunset on the FISA revisions. Yesterday, Democrats failed by one vote to get cloture on the Reid amendment, which would have added around $40 billion in extra spending to the stimulus package, according to The New York Times. Reid may try to force another vote on the Senate Democrats’ proposal.

From Senate & News Sources: Despite spending a week playing politics with the economic stimulus bill, Senate Democrats failed to garner enough votes for their plan in a cloture vote last night. The Senate now has the opportunity to actually pass a bill that would be acceptable to the House and the president by adopting a Republican amendment that would prevent illegal immigrants from getting rebate checks while granting them to disabled veterans and some senior citizens. The AP reports that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi indicated she’s “receptive” to the Republican amendment and went on to note, “she seemed to praise McConnell's approach and was silent on Democratic add-ons . . . .”

CQ Today writes, “House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer, D-Md., warned the Senate not to load up the legislation with so much extra spending that President Bush would veto the package. ‘Having a veto fight with the president doesn’t enhance the American people’s confidence in our ability to get something done,’ Hoyer told reporters.” It remains to be seen whether Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid will decide to work with Republicans and get something done or if he will force another vote on the Democrat package. According to Roll Call, Reid could decide to stall the bill even further in the hopes of pressuring Republicans into voting for the Democrats’ bill.

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