Spending debate resumes in Senate this week

The House is on recess this week, but the Senate is in session and takes up a trio of spending bills focusing on the budget issues that have defined much of this year on Capitol Hill.

The Senate has packaged three appropriations bills – transportation, commerce and agriculture – into a $243-billion “mini-bus” measure. It will provide a political shot across the bow to the House, which has already passed funding bills for several agencies at much lower spending levels.

Even though the fiscal year is already well underway, the chambers face a Nov. 18 deadline to resolve government funding for 2012. That’s when the existing stop-gap spending measure expires. Failure to reach an accord would threaten a government shutdown – again.

The Senate begins debate today, before pivoting temporarily to vote on the nomination of Cathy Bissoon to be a United States District Judge for the Western District of Pennsylvania.

House members are mostly returning to their home districts at a time when jobs and the economy are tops on voters’ minds, and Occupy Wall Street protests are spreading to cities across the country.

House Speaker John Boehner sent his rank-and-file home with a reminder that the GOP has, in fact, presented a jobs plan alternative to President Obama’s proposal. He dusted off the 10-page booklet last week.

The Senate has yet to schedule votes on Obama’s jobs bill, but Press Secretary Jay Carney told reporters this morning that he expects one of the first votes to be on a provision that would provide $35 billion in federal funds to put state teachers and firefighters back to work.

Obama takes his jobs plan on the road in a multi-state bus tour that includes a stop in Virginia, home state of Rep. Eric Cantor, the Republican majority leader. Cantor and Obama have tussled much of the year, and are likely to proffer a few sound bites again this week. Stay tuned.