CQ Roll Call: Obama's Jobs Bill Faces Senate, Maryland Redistricting Makes Members Nervous

David Hawkings, editor of the CQ Roll Call Daily Briefing, gives an analysis of this week's top stories on Capitol Hill, including the Senate's scheduled vote on President Obama's jobs bill Tuesday and how Maryland's congressional redistricting affects Roscoe Bartlett political career.

Slim chance of Senate passing Obama's jobs bill Tuesday

The Senate is set to vote on President Obama's jobs bill on Tuesday, and David Hawkings, editor of the CQ Roll Call Daily Briefing, says the chances of it passing are slim. He says it'll be nearly a party line vote, and both sides are aware of this.

"Almost all democrats will vote for it, almost all republicans will vote against it. And that will be the end of that," he says. Hawkings says there's a chance that parts of the President's jobs proposal could be included in the Super committee's plans.

"That's what would happen legislatively," he says. "Politically, the Democrats have now created a campaign issue for themselves because they have changed the way this jobs bill would have been paid for. They changed what the President had proposed paying for it with tax increases on anybody making more than $250,000 a year. Several lawmakers from urban and suburban areas, including our own, said $250,000 isn't all that rich in our areas."

Maryland redistricting increases democratic presence

Redistricting is another political issue at the moment, making some races around the country more competitive than they might have been before. And according to Hawkings, that could be the case for Roscoe Bartlett, the republican representative in Maryland.

Gov. Martin O'Malley is scheduled to receive the state legislature next week to redraw the congressional district lines.

"O'Malley will likely redrawn the lines in a way that makes Roscoe Bartlett's future in Congress almost non-existent," says Hawkings. "He's represented the Western Maryland panhandle and the Cumberland Gap area for almost 20 years. His district would be redrawn to come all the way down and almost touch the District line. It would come into a lot of Montgomery County and down into Rockville, which is overwhelmingly democratic."

State Sen. Robert Garagiola from Montgomery County will likely run against him, and according to Hawkings, he'd become the solid favorite.