1. CONTINUING RESOLUTION:
Senate spending proposal restores most House cuts
The Senate will hold dueling votes next week on the House-passed plan to fund the government through October and a competing measure from the upper chamber that would cut about $50 billion less, Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said today. Both funding bills are expected to fall short of the 60-vote threshold for passage. But Senate Democrats' introduction of their road map for trimming federal spending -- which strikes all but one of the contentious House-approved riders that would restrict Obama administration environmental policies -- is aimed at coaxing both parties back to the table for more compromises on a long-term fiscal plan, Reid said.