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111th Congress Further Shifts to Dems; 110th May Consider Stimulus Package
Tuesday's elections will allow the Democrats in Congress to expand their majorities in both the House and the Senate. With several races still to be decided, the exact composition of the House is undetermined, although Democrats picked up at least 18 seats, according to the Washington Post. As of Thursday afternoon, there are 57 seats in the Senate for Democrats and those who caucus with the Democratic party, 40 seats for the Republicans, and 3 seats yet to be decided - with Georgia going to a special runoff later this month, Minnesota heading for a recount, and Alaska too close to call.
When the new 111th Congress convenes in January, it will have two years of budgets to consider. That's because Congress has not completed the budgetary process for FY 2009, which began in October. President Bush signed a continuing resolution the day before FY09 was to start, which outlines appropriations for the Departments of Defense, Homeland Security, and Veterans Affairs, but keeps funding levels at or below FY 2008 levels for all other Departments until March 6, 2009.
Additionally, the 111th will be dealing with new committee assignments and chairs as a result of President-elect Obama's win. With Sen. Biden's elevation to Vice President, the chairmanship of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee will be open, setting off a cascade of changes in committee chairs. This will intensify if as published reports speculate, Sen. Byrd is forced to step aside from the chairmanship of the Senate Appropriations Committee and other senators are appointed to Cabinet posts. On the House side, there will be changes in Republican leadership as two of the House Republican leadership have indicated they are stepping down from their leadership positions.
So will the current lame-duck 110th Congress take any legislative action before it concludes?
Holding a post-election press conference Wednesday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi discussed her desire for the current Congress to approve a stimulus package before the end of the year. The next opportunity to consider the stimulus would be soon, around Nov. 17, as Congressional lawmakers are due back in Washington D.C. to choose party leaders for the next Congress.
While Speaker Pelosi had called for a new $150 billion stimulus package last month, at Wednesday's press conference she said she would settle this month for a $61 billion package. The structure of the package to be debated in the coming weeks may be similar in composition to an earlier $61 billion version, which passed the House in September but did not make it through the Senate.