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The Senate returned to Washington this week with a busy agenda, facing major legislative action on Medicare, Iran, education policy, and President Obama's attorney general nominee. On some issues, lawmakers are up against an imminent deadline - doctors will face a 21 percent cut in government reimbursements for treating Medicare patients unless the Senate can pass a so-called "doc fix" before Wednesday, for example. (Miller, 4/14)

Curbs on amendments and a desire to resolve an issue that has long plagued lawmakers added momentum Monday to Senate leaders' push toward final congressional approval of legislation reshaping how Medicare reimburses doctors. Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., said he and other conservative senators want to amend the Medicare legislation to force Congress to eventually find a way to pay for the entire bill. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office says the measure would drive up federal deficits by $141 billion over the coming decade. (Fram, 4/13)

The Senate is working on a deal to allow each party to put up a very limited number of amendments to the Sustainable Growth Rate repeal bill, but a final agreement hasn’t been reached even as Wednesday’s deadline draws near. (Haberkorn and Mershon, 4/13)

Congress appears to be on the brink of passing a long-anticipated permanent “doc fix” to change the way Medicare pays physicians. But the House-negotiated deal may not be as permanent as the moniker implies. (Attias, 4/13)