Democrats' Agenda Running Up Against August Recess

With only two and a half weeks left before the Senate's expected departure for their August recess, the clock is ticking away on the Democrats' to-do list.

There are certain must pass items topping the list such as jobless benefits, funding of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and confirmation of Solicitor General Elena Kagan to the Supreme Court. That leaves very little time to act on other issues Democrats hope to get to before recess - such as energy legislation, a small business lending bill, the campaign finance reform bill known as the DISCLOSE act and FAA reauthorization.

The Senate approved a bill last night providing unemployment compensation after months of a stalemate on it. Senate Democrats broke a Republican filibuster Tuesday, setting up Wednesday's vote, but not before 24 hours had passed, an example of how much time it can take to move things in the Senate. The bill now goes to the House for final approval and then to the White House for the President's signature.

Following passage of unemployment insurance, the Senate returns to consideration of the small business jobs bill which includes a $30 billion dollar treasury lending facility and $12 billion in tax breaks for small businesses.

Movement on the small business jobs bill has stalled over a dispute regarding amendments to the bill and Republican objections to the $30 billion dollar lending fund. Small Business Committee Chairman Mary Landrieu (D-La.) says she believes they have the 60 votes for the provision and "the Democrats will deliver this as promised to the country," hopefully having a vote before Friday.

But again, getting past procedural hurdles on the bill may take more time than expected.

Congress has yet to pass the supplemental funding bill for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, which the Pentagon wanted before the July Fourth recess. The Senate passed a $59 billion war funding bill in May. The House passed a version that added 22.8 billion in domestic spending to the Senate passed bill.

The Senate is expected to vote on the House passed supplemental spending bill in the next week, but they do not have the votes to pass the supplemental with the House added domestic funding, which includes money to prevent teacher layoffs. The Senate is expected to pass a bill stripped of most if not all of the domestic spending and send it back to the House.

Majority Leader Reid said the full Senate will vote on the Kagan nomination in the coming weeks: "Before we leave for August , we're going to have her voted on."

The Senate Judiciary Committee voted 13 to 6 to send the nomination to the full Senate for consideration. Republican Senator Lindsey Graham (S.C.) broke ranks with his party and was the lone Republican who voted in favor of Kagan. Yesterday, Senator Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) became the second Republican to announce support for Kagan's nomination. It's expected the first week of august will be devoted to floor debate and a vote on the nomination.

All of this seems to leave little time for FAA reauthorization, campaign finance reform legislation or an Energy bill.

Reid said he wanted to introduce an energy proposal by next week. However, after a closed door meeting of Democrats on Tuesday, Reid was noncommittal about when he might bring up an energy bill or what it might contain.

"We're really not at a point where I can determine what I think was best for the caucus and the country at this stage," he said. A Senate Democratic Caucus is scheduled for Thursday to talk about energy legislation and how to proceed.

John Nolen is a CBS News Capitol Hill Producer. You can read more of his posts in Hotsheet here.