After House's '100-hour' rush, a Senate slowdown

But the final 96-to-2 vote masks deep disagreements, which are likely to resurface when House and Senate reconcile differences over competing versions of lobby reform later this year.

"What about the innocent spouse? We're in such a free fall here we're not even worried about what we are doing to innocent spouses," says Sen. Trent Lott (R) of Mississippi, who nonetheless voted for the legislation.

Sen. Tom Coburn (R) of Oklahoma, one of two GOP senators voting against the bill, predicts that these and other "strengthening" amendments won't make it through conference. "I came here to change the culture of Washington, and this ethics reform doesn't do it," he says.

While praising the Senate for passing the most comprehensive lobby and ethics reform since the Watergate era, several public-interest groups regretted that it again voted down an amendment to create an Office of Public Integrity to shift responsibility for investigating ethics complaints from members to an independent group outside the Senate.

"With more time and education, we are hopeful that both houses of Congress will come to recognize how vital a more independent, professional enforcement entity is to regaining the trust of the American people in their elected officials in Washington," said Meredith McGehee, policy director for the Campaign Legal Center, a public-interest group in Washington, in a statement. "We hope all members of Congress who support real reform will remain vigilant against the inevitable attempts to drop key elements in a House-Senate conference."

The next item on the House agenda to come before the Senate will be an increase in the minimum wage to $7.25 an hour – the first boost of the wage floor in 10 years. House Democrats want the bill to go through as is, but Senate Finance Committee chairman Max Baucus (D) of Montana plans to add tax breaks for small businesses – a move he says is needed to get the bill to the president's desk. Senate Republicans say they will support the wage increase only if they have assurances that any harm to small businesses will be offset by tax breaks.

Other House measures face strong prospects for a presidential veto. While there is strong bipartisan support in the Senate for the House move to lift limits on federally supported embryonic stem-cell research, supporters doubt they have the two-thirds vote needed in both chambers to override a veto.

Similarly, the House move to lift a ban on the US government's negotiating lower prescription-drug prices for seniors through the Medicare system faces a likely presidential veto and strong Senate opposition. Senator Baucus, who helped draft the negotiating ban that the House bill removes, says his committee will hold hearings on the issue, but he is not committing to backing House Democrats' bill.

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