The following is a roundup of political activity going on in Washington and across the nation. It’s courtesy of Scott Wilk, Community Organizer, and Anchor Consulting group. The Beacon will be posting these daily as they become available.

In the House:

  • The House will convene at 12:30pm for Morning Hour, proceeding to legislative business at 2:00pm.
  • The following votes will be considered under suspension:
    1. H.Res. 448 – Congratulating the University of California, Davis, for a century as a premier public research university and one of our Nation’s finest institutions of higher education (Rep. Thompson (CA) – Education and Labor)
    2. H.Res. 386 – Commending the University of Georgia Gymnastics Team for winning the 2009 NCAA National Championship (Rep. Broun – Education and Labor)
    3. H.Res. 300 – Congratulating Camp Dudley YMCA of Westport, New York, on the occasion of its 125th anniversary (Rep. McHugh – Education and Labor)
    4. H.Res. 297 – Recognizing May 25, 2009, as National Missing Children’s Day (Rep. Biggert – Education and Labor)
    5. H.Res. 347 – Congratulating Averett University in Danville, Virginia, for 150 years of service and leadership to the United States (Rep. Perriello – Education and Labor)
    6. H.Res. 442 – Recognizing the importance of the Child and Adult Care Food Program and its positive effect on the lives of low income children and families (Rep. George Miller – Education and Labor)
    7. H.Res. 374 – Recognizing the roles and contributions of America’s teachers to building and enhancing our Nation’s civic, cultural, and economic well-being (Rep. Graves – Education and Labor)
    8. H.Res. 438 – Expressing support for designation of September as “National Child Awareness Month” (Rep. Loretta Sanchez – Education and Labor)
    9. S. 386 – Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act of 2009, as amended (Sen. Leahy – Judiciary)
  • Markup of the extensive climate and energy strategy begins today in the House Energy and Commerce Committee. Democrats are confident they have worked out enough intraparty deals to get a bare majority on the committee this week.

In the Senate:

  • The Senate convenes at 10:00am
  • Resume consideration of HR 627, the Credit Card legislation, and proceed to vote on the motion to invoke cloture on the Dodd-Shelby Substitute amendment #1058. If cloture is invoked on the substitute, the Senate would consider any pending germane amendments. The only other amendments in order to the bill prior to the cloture vote is a managers’ amendment which has been cleared by the managers and the leaders.
  • Upon disposition of those amendments, all post-cloture debate time would be yielded back and the substitute amendment agreed to. The Senate would then proceed to vote on passage of HR 627, as amended.
  • The Senate is expected to pass the above legislation by tomorrow, which would place new restrictions on credit card fees and interest rate policies that have been labeled abusive by consumer groups.  Wide bipartisan support is expected after Senate Banking Chairman Christopher Dodd (D-CT) and ranking member Richard Shelby (R-AL) reached an agreement to support the bill.
  • With the House taking up climate change legislation this week, Senate Energy and Natural Resources Chairman Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) is trying to report an energy strategy through his panel this week as well.
  • This week, the Senate will also take up a $91.3 billion supplemental spending bill Tuesday for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and other needs.

Other News

  • With large Democratic majorities in both houses of Congress, “several Republicans acknowledge that it is unlikely they will be able to derail the nomination” of SCOTUS Justice David Souter’s replacement “absent some startling revelation about the candidate.” (NYT)
  • On Saturday, President Obama announced Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. (R) “as his choice as U.S. ambassador to China.” (Deseret News)
  • “The Obama administration is seeking $12.8 billion in new tax revenue from life insurers over the next decade, even as the federal government offers the struggling sector bailout funds…The provisions in the Treasury Department tax plan released last week would restrict several products that have drawn attention from regulators in recent years because of the way they use life-insurance policies as vehicles for minimizing taxes on investments.” (WSJ)
  • “Amid a scattering of angry protests over his support for abortion rights, President Obama addressed the issue head-on Sunday at the University of Notre Dame, calling for ‘open hearts, open minds, fair-minded words’ in the pursuit of ‘common ground.’” (WaPo)
  • Stephanie Cutter, a “seasoned Democratic political operative” will be leaving her post at the Treasury Department to move over to the White House to shepherd through President Obama’s Supreme Court nomination. (AP)

Today in History

  • On May 18, 1860 Abraham Lincoln, a one-time U.S. representative from Illinois, is nominated for the U.S. presidency by the Republican National Convention meeting in Chicago, Illinois. Hannibal Hamlin of Maine was nominated for the vice presidency.

Source and thanks to  www.anchor-consult.com | For more information, contact Jamie Gregorian at 571-205-1393 or jgregorian@anchor-consult.com