HJ Res 79 Dies Without Action

OOPS - HR 2686 was amended to be a new version of the continuing resolution so the stuff written below is more or less crap. Sorry about that... (09-21-11 23:15)

Apparently the Republican leadership in the House decided that there weren’t enough votes to pass the FY 2012 continuing resolution they drafted last week so it was killed today without action; ‘placed on the table’ in legislative speak. Actually it was killed yesterday when the House Rules Committee adopted H Res 405, the rule for the consideration of HR 2608, the Small Business Program Extension and Reform Act of 2011.

Section 2 of H Res 405 states that “House Resolution 399 is laid on the table.” Readers will remember that I wrote last week that H Res 399 was the rule that would allow for the consideration of HJ Res 79. Killing the rule effectively kills the bill without forcing a vote that might embarrass people. Hiding the move to kill a rule in another rule just provides additional cover.

Interestingly TheHill.com web site is reporting that “House stunned Republican leaders Wednesday by rejecting a temporary spending bill allowing the government to operate through November 18” by a vote of 195-230. While the official Congressional Record won’t be published until tomorrow morning, the web site for the Clerk of the House reports that the only vote with that tally this evening was taken on HR 2608 not HJ Res 79. HR 2608 provides for a temporary extension of “programs under the Small Business Act and the Small Business Investment Act of 1958”, not the government.