After newly sworn-in Democratic Senator Carte Goodwin (a former counsel of popular West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin, who has announced he will run for the seat in a special election this fall), the Senate finally passed an extension of unemployment benefits which was blocked three times by Republicans and even for another 30 hours after it was obvious it was going to pass. The House of Representatives followed suit today and the checks will go out as President Obama swiftly signed it into the law.

The Senate Judiciary Committee approved the nomination of Solicitor General Elena Kagan, with Sen. Lindsey Graham again being the only Republican to vote in favor of President Obama’s nominee. According to the Washington Post, the full Senate is expected to take up Kagan’s nomination after an energy legislation debate that should begin next week. A confirmation vote is likely in the first week of August, before Congress recesses.

Speaking of the energy bill, reports today sadly indicate that Democrats will be dropping the climate change measures because they do not believe 60 votes are there for passage otherwise.

After weeks of delay, Senate Democrats were finally able to defeat GOP roadblocks and pass the bill to reign in Wall Street, and hopefully, prevent the 2008 crises from happening again. As the House already passed the final version, the bill now goes to President Obama for signature. The Senate’s next big legislative item will be an energy/climate bill that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid will try to bring to the floor in two weeks. The House passed its version last year, but the Senate will scale back the “cap and trade” provision to only limit carbon pollution to power plans.

A Senate vote on extended unemployment benefits has been put off until next week, when Bob Byrd’s replacement (to be announced by Gov. Manchin tomorrow) will be sworn in, giving the Democrats enough votes. Republicans also delayed a commitee vote on Elena Kagan until next week.

Congress passed new sanctions on Iran and the House of Representatives passed the DISCLOSE Act, which came in the wake of the Supreme Court’s Citizen United decision that severely weakened previous campaign finance laws. Unfortunately, groups like the NRA were exempted from having to disclose its top donors on its campaign ads but would still have to put its own name on any of its spots. The Senate still has to pass the bill, so potentially the bill can be strengthened. But despite the exemptions, this is still a big step in disclosure for campaign contributions.

Meanwhile, Senate Republicans again killed a bill to extend unemployment benefits and prevent layoffs of state and local government workers though Congress delayed cuts to Medicare payments for six weeks while they work out the broader bill.

House and Senate negotiators have come to an agreement on financial reform legislation and hope to send it to President Obama by the July 4th recess. A bill has been introduced in Congress to crack down on puppy mills (you can ask your representatives to support the measure here). Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid plans to try and attach broader energy/climate change legislation to an oil industry regulation bill to get it fast tracked before the August recess. Speaker Pelosi is fighting for broader congressional oversight of the CIA and other intelligence agencies. And forgotten-Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan’s confirmation hearings will begin Monday.

The Senate continued to work on the financial reform bill, passing several notable amendments including  one limiting the ability of Wall Street firms to shop around for favorable ratings from now-discredited credit rating agencies, one to audit the actions of the Federal Reserve, and one that would force credit card companies to charge businesses less for debit card transactions than for credit card payments., among others. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid wants to call for a cloture vote to end debate on Monday, but Republicans will try to thwart – as always.

Also, Republican Senator Murkowski of Alaska blocked a bill that would raise the liability caps for oil companies from $75 million to $10 billion in response to the damage caused by BP’s oil spill in the Gulf. And Sens. John Kerry and Joe Lieberman also finally unveiled their delayed climate change/energy bill, but its prospects of passing may be only slightly better than that of immigration reform…

Meanwhile, Republicans in the House of Representatives derailed a technology bill by attaching an amendment that effectively eliminated some of the key initiatives in the technology bill while inserting language supporting the firing of government workers who view or download pornography on the job to make those opposed to the cuts vulnerale to attack ads claiming they supported pornography on the government’s dime. Democrats scuttled the measure for now.

Congress passed a bill providing benefits to veterans’ caregivers that will go to President Obama. The Senate confirmed Judge Denny Chin to fill an opening on a New York-based appeals court.; he will be the only Asian-American currently serving on a U.S. Court of Appeals. However, there are 23 judicial nominations still pending on the Senate calendar. This is just some of the massive obstruction perpetrated by the GOP.

Rep. Chris Van Hollen has introduced the first in what could be a series of legislative attempts to undo some of the damage of the the Supreme Court’s Citizen United ruling to campaign finance reform. The bill is picking up at least some Republican support. Also, Congressional Democrats have begun pushing legislation giving government regulators greater authority to block big increases in health insurance premiums, in what is sure to be one of many legislative improvements to health care reform over the next few years.

And thanks to Sen. Russ Feingold, Congress is likely to wisely deny themselves pay raises this year.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has filed for a cloture vote to take place on Monday for the financial regulatory reform bill. At least one Republican vote is needed, but with Republicans seemingly seeing that the momentum is against them on this issue, it’ll be a big test to see if they can hold firm in opposition. In any case, the bill is likely to pass soon and a conference version will likely be ahead of schedule, with the original thinking being that President Obama would sign this into law around September and the anniversary of Lehman Brothers, etc. Now that they will probably have more time to work on other legislation, a debate is now brewing on what the Democrats should tackle next.

The White House originally indicated their next priority was energy/climate change legislation, but Harry Reid (whom is facing a tough re-elected race in Nevada) and some Latino Democrats are pushing for immigration reform. While some fear taking up such a controversial issue in an election year, they argue that Democrats ought to show Latino voters they care about their issues and not take their votes for granted, especially in light of the draconian immigration law that encourages racial profiling that was passed in Arizona. Sens. Chuck Schumer and Lindsey Graham have introduced a bill in the Senate, and Speak of the House Nancy Pelosi has said that if the Senate can get it done the House would follow.

My personal preference, however, is to go with the climate bill. A version already passed the House and Sens. John Kerry, Graham and Joe Lieberman are introducing “compromise” legislation in the Senate on Monday, so it’s already closer to getting done. Plus, I think immigration reform might actually be more moveable with a potential Republican Congress next year than climate change… But hey, why not shoot for both? The Democrats ought to get as much of their agenda passed as possible while they have the votes.

UPDATE: A bad sign for the energy bill,  but it doesn’t look good for immigration reform either. Reid says he’s committed to both and Kerry says the EPA is studying the climate bill.

UPDATE II: A compromise to move both along?

Congress finally passed an extension of unemployment benefits and health insurance subsidies (which President Obama immediately signed) after being blocked several times by Senate Republicans. Congress also passed a Haiti debt relief bill.

Meanwhile, Senate Democrats are paving the way for a Wall Street reform bill , a version of which passed the House of Representatives last year. Senate Republicans are having trouble getting the votes on their side to block it. And as early as next week, the House may bring back a bill to give D.C. residents a representative who can actually vote on bills.

Sen. Kerry is also about to introduce a new climate change/energy bill that has the support of Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham. The House passed a version last year, but unfortunately, it’s unlikely Congress will get back to it before the midterms either because they lack the time or because it’s an election year, as is the issue with immigration reform. That’s too bad since whether the Republicans can flip either chamber or not, Democrats almost certainly won’t have as many seats in the next Congress and it’ll be even harder to get such legislation passed.

UPDATE: It looks as if the D.C. voting rights bill is dead.

On a 219-212 vote, the House of Representatives passed a historic climate change and energy bill (an earlier, a EPA funding bill). You can read about its major provisions here. Many have said it doesn’t go far enough in cutting greenhouse gas emissions and certainly a lot of lobbyists got their hands on it, but given its very narrow passage here and the fact that it must also get 60 votes in the Senate, it’s clear that this is the best bill we could get and at least it’s a start. I say we celebrate any triumph over the global warming deniers and for energy reform.

The House also passed a $44 billion spending bill Wednesday that awards the Homeland Security Department a 7 percent budget increase, with money for more border patrol agents and for anti-piracy efforts off the coast of Somalia. The bill requires the department to conduct threat assessments for the terrorist suspects being held in Gitmo. It also requires that the department ensure that detainees are placed on its “no-fly” list and denied an array of immigration benefits, including admission into the United States and refugee status.

After lots of stalling from the GOP, the Senate finally confirmed Harold Koh as the legal adviser of the U.S. Department of State. Congresswoman Ellen Tauscher was confirmed as undersecretary of state for arms control and international security. A special election will be held for her house seat. The Senate also confirmed Julius Genachowski as head of the Federal Communications Commission and Robert McDowell for a second FCC term.

The Senate passed a sweeping aid package for Pakistan that must now be reconciled with the House version. The chamber also passed a resolution calling on President Obama to pardon black heavywight champion Jack Johnson who was sent to jail for having a romantic relationship with a white woman. And the Senate accepted the House’s articles of impeachment against federal judge Samuel Kent, who has resigned. Six Democrats and six Republicans, led by Sen. Claire McCaskill, will gather evidence for Kent’s Senate prosecution, but a trial is not set to begin for several weeks.

Congress sent President Obama two bills this week aimed preventing foreclosures and regulating the credit card industry, though with the price of allowing guns in national parks.

Both chambers of Congress also quickly and unanimously passed and President Obama signed into law a bill aimed at saving billions of dollars in wasteful spending on weapons systems often delivered late and hit by ballooning cost overruns. The armed forces have also submitted to Congress their “wish lists” of spending priorities that did not make the president’s Defense budget request, and the items on the list are about one-tenth as expensive as last year’s.

The Senate passed $91 billion in war funding, including financing for the International Monetary Fund that may be a sticking point for the House. The Senate also voted 90-6 to strip funding to close the detention center at Guantanamo Bay from a supplemental spending bill and bar funding for the transfer of prisoners to the United States. However, many Democrats said they were just waiting on a more specific plan from the Obama administration that the president began to lay out on Thursday.

The Senate confirmed President Obama’s nominees for the FDA and the Bureau of Indian Affairs, while his pick to run the census moved toward confirmation as well. But Republicans, who used to believe in “up or down” votes for judicial nominees, blocked action on President Obama’s first judicial appointment.

The House Energy and Commerce Committee voted in favor of the climate change bill currently under consideration by a 33-25 vote.

Finally, the full House rejected a GOP resolution that called for investigations into Speaker Pelosi’s accusations against the CIA. Perhaps to mend fences, Pelosi is considering appointing a Republican on an economic crises panel. The Speaker will also be visiting China next week.

The White House and Congressional Democrats have come to a budget deal that includes reconciliation instructions for health-care legislation later this year. This would allow Democrats to pass a reform measure with a simple majority in the Senate, but the changes would have to renewed after 10 years. Republicans have cried afoul over this possibility, despite the fact that they used it to pass the Bush tax cuts, but Rep. Ryan admitted today it is within the Democrats rights to do so having won the election. My concern is that the changes expire and we could have a Republican president and/or Congress again in ten years, but the political calculation is probably that it is better to get it now and, if it’s successful, it’ll be too hard to let die.

The Senate voted 92-4 to create an independent bipartisan commission to investigate the causes of the financial crisis and the House of Representatives voted 342-78 to send billions of dollars to thousands of communities to help them hire and retain 50,000 police officers, reviving a Clinton-era “cops on the streets” program that withered under the Bush administration.

Senate Republicans blocked a confirmation vote on Kathleen Sebelius as HHS Secretary over her pro-choice views. A cloture vote could happen on Tuesday.

Lastly, former Vice President Al Gore has come out in support of the climate change bill that is being worked on in the House.