Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., abruptly cancelled a vote scheduled for Tuesday on a resolution that would have given approval for the U.S. military involvement in Libya. Reid said despite "broad support" for the resolution, "the most important thing for us to focus on this week is the budget."
Reid has scheduled a vote this week on a non-binding bill that would call for millionaires to pay more in taxes.
According to GOP aides, the bill can't come up until Thursday, leaving the Senate with little to do until then.
Reid, nonetheless, has called for a vote at 5 p.m. Tuesday that would instruct the Sergeant at Arms to notify senators that their attendance is required this week in the Senate.
A recess had been scheduled for this week, but Reid cancelled it last week. Many senators grumbled over the move and according to Reid, one Senator called and complained that he had already booked a $10,000 vacation that was non-refundable.
Without votes on the floor, senators are unlikely to show up on Capitol Hill, so Reid will have to fill the calendar with something in order to at least make it appear that the Senate is indeed working.
It's not clear how many votes the Libya resolution would have received. It would have needed 60 to schedule a floor debate on the measure.
Before Reid's announcement, GOP senators lined up to denounce the Libya resolution, saying the Senate should not be taking time to discuss Libya when there are just a few weeks left to resolve the debt ceiling issue. Some Republicans also said they opposed the resolution because it could lead to increased U.S. involvement in Libya.