OVERNIGHT MONEY: Paging Ms. Schapiro

Schapiro has an appointment in the morning with the Senate Banking Committee, which is scheduled to discuss the SEC’s budget request for fiscal 2012. The Obama administration requested hundreds of millions more dollars for the SEC and other regulators trying to implement Dodd-Frank for next year, but Republicans, eager to cut spending and diminish the impact of the law, don’t appear inclined to open up the pocketbook.

In the afternoon, the SEC chairwoman is set to appear before a pair of House Oversight and Government Reform subcommittees who are trying to keep a watchful eye on the agency.

That’s in part because Republicans have repeatedly bashed the SEC for whiffing on Bernie Madoff. Tomorrow’s hearings will almost certainly carry a little extra Madoff-related intrigue, given the recent revelation that David Becker, the SEC’s former general counsel, inherited funds linked to the Ponzi schemer.

Becker has maintained that he told the SEC all about the windfall. But Republicans have mounted multiple probes of the issue, asking how the agency could have ruled that Becker could work on Madoff-related matters.

WHAT ELSE TO WATCH FOR:

Welcome, comrades: Vice President Joe Biden is set to make a Thursday speech in Moscow, where he is expected to call for the speedy accession of Russia to the World Trade Organization. (The speech is scheduled for the morning, Eastern Standard Time.)

Russia has been trying to get into the WTO for 17 years, and will have to win the agreement of member Georgia, with which Russia fought a bloody 2008 war, in order to join. For its part, the U.S. sees granting Russia WTO accession as part of its reset” of relations.

Once Russia joins the WTO, U.S. exports like meat, services and intellectual property should gain sales there, while Moscow hopes to benefit from greater foreign investment. One thing to remember: Should Russia get its member card to the WTO, Congress would need to extend permanent normal trade relations to Moscow — or risk retaliation. 

“Lifting the crushing burden of debt”: So goes the title of a House Budget Committee hearing on Thursday on how to deal with the nation’s budget problems. The panel will hear testimony from both the left (John Podesta of the Center for American Progress) and the right (Douglas Holtz-Eakin, an adviser to Arizona Sen. John McCain’s 2008 presidential campaign.)

Let’s go budgeting: Schapiro’s far from the only administration official headed to the Hill on Thursday. In fact, it’s practically a parade, with a full six members of the Cabinet expected to talk about fiscal 2012 purse strings. (For those scoring at home, that would be Secretary of State Hillary Clinton; Shaun Donovan, the Housing and Urban Development secretary; Education Secretary Arne Duncan; Attorney General Eric Holder; Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack).

Durbin talks Durbin: His Amendment, that is. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), the majority whip, is expected to attend a Capitol Hill event on Thursday touting his debit-card fee amendment to the Dodd-Frank reform bill.

Economic Indicators:

— The Labor Department is set to circulate weekly jobless claims and January data on state and regional employment. 

— The Bureau of Economic Analysis is scheduled to release January data on international trade. 

— The Census Bureau is slated to drop its services survey for the 2010 fourth quarter. 

— Freddie Mac is set to release weekly mortgage rates.

— The Treasury Department is expected to drop the February federal budget. 

BREAKING WEDNESDAY:

Hey, what about the CR?: The debate on 2011 spending looks likely to recede into the background somewhat on Thursday — at least publicly — after the Senate rejected both the House’s $57 billion in cuts and its own Democratic alternative. 

Democrats will likely discuss their Plan B, which looks to include proposals like cutting subsidies to oil companies and some other mandatory spending cuts, at the Democratic Policy Committee lunch Thursday. On Wednesday, Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) also said that, instead of concentrating on discretionary spending, “the next offer and counteroffer should incorporate mandatory cuts and revenue raisers into the mix.”

For their part, House Republicans are set to unveil another short-term continuing resolution on Friday, which would likely fund the government for as little as two weeks as talks continue. 

And the White House late Thursday issued a statement to show it is getting more involved in the process, after receiving criticism from some lawmakers for being MIA. In the statement, Jay Carney, the White House press secretary, said President Obama and the vice president had productive talks with a variety of congressional leaders, and declared that last year’s tax-cut compromise was proof the two parties could work together.

It takes a while to hammer HAMP: The House Financial Services Committee — at this hour still pushing forward on a marathon markup — appears poised to pass a pair of bills rolling back Obama administration housing programs, including the signature Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP). 

On Thursday, the full House is scheduled to consider the first of the measures that aim to eliminate housing relief programs — this one a bill shuttering a mortgage refinancing program administered by the Federal Housing Administration.

WHAT YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED:

On the Money’s Wednesday:

— Slow down, you’re moving too fast: Top GOP lawmakers reach out to regulators on Dodd-Frank.

— Max Baucus and Orrin Hatch don’t think the Obama administration is moving fast enough on the Colombia and Panama trade pacts. 

— House Oversight Republicans lit into public employees.

— Dave Camp wants the 1099 repeal done — and fast; Senate says probably not this week.

— Kent Conrad: Expansion of budget talks “healthy” …

— Tom Harkin: … but keep Social Security out of it. 

— The Social Security chief, meanwhile, says the House spending cuts would hurt the delivery of benefits. 

— A bipartisan group in the House wants to add permanence to the R&D tax credit. 

— The IRS could better handle rental real estate activity. 

— Mortgage applications spiked up last week. 

Feedback? Shoot it to bbecker@digital-release.thehill.com.