Actions in Congress moving toward recess

A look at actions in Congress on Thursday:

IRAQ

The House voted 229-194 to give U.S. troops guaranteed time at home between deployments to Iraq. The legislation is designed to complicate the Pentagon's ability to rotate sufficient troops into the war zone. The bill does not apply to soldiers in Afghanistan, leading Republicans to say Democrats are just trying to force a withdrawal from Iraq. The bill does allow President Bush to waive the requirement for national security interests.

BUDGET

The Senate Budget Committee approved the nomination of former GOP Rep. Jim Nussle to run the White House budget office. Nussle was approved by a 22-1 vote. But Sen. Bernard Sanders, an independent from Vermont, said he would hold up the nomination. Sanders' threat of a filibuster is enough to delay final action in the Senate until September at the earliest.

BRIDGE COLLAPSE

The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee approved legislation that would direct $250 million for Minnesota to help it replace a bridge that collapsed Wednesday night. The measure would waive the $100 million federal limit per state for emergency relief funds. Minnesota's senators want the Senate to do the same thing. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said it was too soon to commit to providing $250 million.

ETHICS

The Senate approved a new ethics package for Congress, which some call the biggest advance in congressional ethics in decades. Senators voted 83-14 to make lawmakers disclose more about their efforts to fund pet projects and raise money from lobbyists. The Democratic-crafted bill would bar lawmakers from taking gifts from lobbyists or their clients. Former senators would have to wait two years before lobbying Congress; ex-House members would have to wait one year. The bill now goes to Bush.

HURRICANE KATRINA

The House Small Business Committee says five government agencies have made little progress on a pledge to do a better job of helping small businesses after Hurricane Katrina. Officials from the departments of Homeland Security, Veterans Affairs, Defense and the General Services Administration and Small Business Administration defended their work. They also acknowledged more could be done for small companies specifically in the Gulf Coast region and pleaded for patience.

FIRED PROSECUTORS

The Senate Judiciary Committee interviewed White House political aide J. Scott Jennings about the firings of federal prosecutors. It was the committee's first public interview with a currently serving aide to Bush. But the session with yielded little more than an appeal for sympathy from Jennings, who made clear he was appearing only to signal good will and to avoid a contempt of Congress citation.

COURT NOMINATIONS

The Senate Judiciary Committee voted 10-9 to advance Bush's nomination of Leslie Southwick to the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals to the full Senate for a vote. Southwick's nomination had been controversial because some Democrats were concerned that his writings were racially insensitive. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., voted with the Republicans. The White House called the Judiciary Committee's move a "refreshing victory for America's judicial system," lauded Southwick's experience and said Bush was happy Southwick would soon receive an up-or-down vote in the Senate.

GUN LAW

The Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously advanced a bill, inspired by the shootings at Virginia Tech, that would tighten requirements for states to pass mental health information to the federal government for background checks for prospective gun buyers.

TERRORISM SURVEILLENCE

Congress is struggling over whether the government should have more power to eavesdrop on suspected terrorists. Democratic lawmakers worry that the person who would oversee the plan is embattled Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. The White House suggested that Gonzales share that power with National Intelligence Director Mike McConnell. Reid said lawmakers are trying to reach a compromise to update the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act before leaving this week.

GLOBAL WARMING

Senators are lining up behind a carbon trading plan to slow global warming. The aim is to cut 70 percent of U.S. emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases by 2050. Sens. Joe Lieberman, a Connecticut independent, and John Warner, R-Va., want to auction pollution credits among electric utilities, transportation and other industries. Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., says it is unworkable.