Congressional Calendar April 28, 2010

Another day, another financial regulatory reform cloture vote. At approximately 12:00p Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) will once again try to get 60 votes to start debate on the overhaul legislation proposed by Senator Christopher Dodd (D-CT). Senate Republicans are expected to hold firm, and the measure is not expected to receive the necessary 60 votes to proceed.

Prior to that vote, Senate Democrats plan to keep banging the drum for reform. At 11:30, Sens. Reid, Dodd, and others will discuss the protections the Dodd bill has for America’s seniors. We’ll also be expecting to hear if the Democrats and Republicans have found any common ground on what appear to be impasses in the too big to fail and derivatives portions of the legislation.

House Democrats and Republicans hold dueling press conferences on immigration in the morning. Border state Republicans Reps. Ed Royce (CA) and Ted Poe (TX) start the debate at 9:00, we expect them to say that Arizona’s controversial new immigration law is the only way for border states to tackle a problem the federal government has failed to address. At 11:00a, Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL), Chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Immigration Task Force, will speak out against that law claiming that it “lump(s) all Latinos and immigrants into the category of suspected criminals.”

Another one of President Barack Obama’s judicial nominees has his day before the Senate Judiciary Committee at 2:30p. Robert Chatigny, a nominee to serve on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, is expected to have to face tough questions from committee Republicans, who have questions about a number of cases in which Chatigny sentenced sex offenders to less time than normal sentencing guidelines proscribe.

A breakthrough on any of these issues could be just around the corner, so stay tuned to Fox News for the latest…