The US Congress today began a key weekend session in which the House of Representatives is set to vote on the landmark legislation approving the Indo-US nuclear deal, even as the fate of the bill in the Senate remains unclear.
The House, which completed the debate yesterday, is expected to take up the landmark legislation for voting in the afternoon. If all goes to plan, the outcome of the voting will be known by the time you read this.
In the Senate, an anonymous lawmaker has put a “hold” on consideration of the bill which must be lifted before the agreement is brought to the Senate floor or approved by a unanimous consent agreement.
The schedule of the Senate is still fluid; it is meeting today with a possible meeting tomorrow, and re-convening on Wednesday after taking a break on Monday and Tuesday on account of Jewish holidays.
Senior House staffers have pointed out earlier that there are as many as 45 bills that will have to be debated under the suspension rules prior to the House breaking away for the first vote.
Two postponed votes have been scheduled, the first of which being HR 928 on the Inspector General Reform Act of 2008, followed by HR 7081, the Berman Bill on the US-India Nuclear Cooperation Approval and Non-Proliferation Enhancement Act.
On the Senate side, the Majority leader, Harry Reid, did not mention the US-India Civilian Nuclear agreement approval legislation, which is before the upper House since the time its Foreign Relations Committee marked it up to the floor on September 23.