The seemingly endless legal and political trouble the Republican party is currently enduring is having a notable impact on the party's ability to push its agenda in Congress. So desperate is the GOP's situation that tomorrow all 231 House Republican members will take a field trip across the street from the Capitol to the Library of Congress, where they will hold a four-hour meeting on a variety of topics, including trying to build consensus on the upcoming budget reconciliation legislation and even the future of their own leadership. Many observers inside and outside of Congress see the upcoming vote on the budget reconciliation bill in the House as a "make or break" moment for the currently upended GOP leadership structure. In fact, some House Republicans who have pushed for harsher budget cuts in the reconciliation bill have promised to force a leadership election in January if Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert (R-IL) and Acting Majority Leader Roy Blunt (R-MO) cannot muster the 218 votes necessary to pass the budget cuts. All signs indicate that the retreat tomorrow may be a pivotal moment for the budget reconciliation legislation this year in Congress and for the future of the House GOP leadership. Contact your Representatives today to tell them to stand up to the radical agenda expressed by the budget reconciliation bill in the House and reject the damage it will cause to communities and neighborhoods across the country. It's time for America to move in a new direction.

The Senate wrapped up work on their final spending bill yesterday. The $145.7 billion HHS appropriations bill is headed to conference with the House, after the Senate added $8 billion in emergency funds to help prepare for a potential avian flu outbreak. The Senate also worked to scale back food stamp cuts in this bill, and included an additional $50 million in food stamp benefits for hurricane victims.

Two proposals to boost LIHEAP funding before what promises to be a very expensive winter for many families failed yesterday in the Senate. Sens. Jack Reed (D-RI) and Susan Collins (R-ME) pushed for a proposal which would have increased FY 2006 LIHEAP funding from $2.2 billion to $5.1 billion. The amendment only received 54 votes, and needed 60 for passage because procedural rules in the Senate required the extra spending be coupled with equivalent spending cuts elsewhere. Additionally, Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH) put forward an amendment proposing to increase funding from $2.2 billion to $3.5 billion. The amendment offset the spending with an across-the-board cut of almost 1 percent to all programs included in the Labor-HHS appropriations bill. The amendment failed 53-46. Washington Post: Bid For More Home Heating Aid Fails in Senate