The Week Ahead: Spending and cuts

President Obama will release his 2012 budget proposal
Monday, his first since Republicans took control of the House.

Obama said he is prepared to cut $400 billion in domestic
spending from the federal budget. Office of Management and Budget Director
Jacob Lew previewed some of the cuts last week, including programs focusing on
cleaning up the Great Lakes and heating programs for low-income families.

{mosads}In addition, House Republicans will be dealing with spending
issues as they scramble to put together a continuing resolution (CR) to fund
the government beyond March 4. An original CR had to be shelved last week,
after freshman Republicans argued the cuts did not go deep enough. Republicans
are hoping to vote on a new package, containing $100 billion in cuts, towards
the end of the week.

Look for budget news to dominate news coverage this week,
especially as Obama’s cabinet will be out in full force testifying before
Senate and House committees on the 2012 proposal and Republicans deal with 2011
spending.

Check back at digital-release.thehill.com and its various policy blogs
throughout the week for complete budget coverage.

Monday, Feb. 14

Obama will travel to Baltimore County, Md., to speak with
students at Parkville Middle and Center of Technology. He’ll be joined by
Education Secretary Arne Duncan and Lew. They will discuss key priorities in
the budget proposal and the importance of investing in education. The event is
scheduled to begin at 10:15 a.m.

Lew, along with Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers
Austan Goolsbee, will hold a press conference in the South Court Auditorium of
the Eisenhower Executive Office Building to discuss Obama’s proposed budget.
The event starts at 12:15 p.m.

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates will conduct a briefing at
2 p.m. at the Pentagon to discuss the budget proposal.

The Senate will meet to continue debate on the FAA
re-authorization bill at 2 p.m. The body will then go into executive session to
discuss the nominations of Edward Davila to be U.S. District Judge for the
Northern District of California and James Graves to be U.S. Circuit Judge for
the Fifth Circuit. They will come out of executive session at 5:30 to vote on
the nominations with a voice vote and roll call vote, respectively.

Dr. Jill Biden will meet with military families to show her
appreciation for their service at the Fort Stewart military base in Georgia.
Biden will be accompanied by Army Chief of Staff General George Casey and his
wife, Sheila Casey, who is Chief Operating Office at The Hill. While in Fort
Stewart, Biden will also visit a local elementary school.

Tuesday, Feb. 15

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner will testify before the
House Ways and Means Committee on the proposed 2012 budget at 1 p.m. in
Longworth 1100.

Lew will start his day testifying before the House Budget
Committee on the budget at 10 a.m. in Cannon 210. He will later testify before
the Senate Budget Committee at 2 p.m. in Dirksen 608.

The Senate Finance Committee will also meet to discuss
Obama’s proposed budget at 2:30 p.m. in Dirksen 215. Health and Human Services
Secretary Kathleen Sebelius will testify.

Obama will honor the recipients of the 2010 Medal of Freedom
in a ceremony at the White House Tuesday. The ceremony begins at 1:30 in the
East Room. Fifteen civilians will be honored for their contributions to
national security, world piece or significant endeavors that benefited the
United States.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will deliver a
speech on “Internet Rights And Wrongs: Choices & Challenges In A Networked
World,” at George Washington University’s Media and Public Affairs Building at
approximately 12:30 p.m. The State Department is billing it as a “major”
address.

The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
Committee will hold a hearing about the lessons learned from the failure to
prevent the Fort Hood attack. Former Undersecretary of Homeland Security for
Intelligence and Analysis Charles Allen and others will testify at the hearing,
which starts at 10:30 a.m. in Dirksen 342.

Wednesday, Feb. 16

Geithner will testify before the Senate Finance Committee on
the proposed 2012 budget. The hearing starts at 10 a.m. in Dirksen 215.

Gates and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen
testify before a full committee hearing in the House Armed Services Committee
on the defense budget. The hearing begins at 10 a.m. in Rayburn 2118.

The Senate Energy and National Resource Committee will hold
a full committee hearing on the budget for the Department of Energy. Energy
Secretary Steven Chu will testify at the hearing in Dirksen 366 at 10 a.m.

Sebelius testifies before the House Ways and Means Committee
on the budget. The hearing begins at 10 a.m. in Longworth 1100. At 2 p.m., Lew
will testify before the committee on the budget.

Obama will meet with state legislators at the White
House.  Later in the day he will
deliver remarks at the White House on the America’s Great Outdoors Initiative.

The Senate Judiciary Committee will meet to discuss the
nominations of five federal judges at a 3 p.m. hearing in Dirksen 226.

The House Energy and Commerce Committee holds a hearing on
net neutrality and Internet regulation. Federal Communications Commission
Chairman Julius Genachowski and FCC commissioners will testify. The hearing
begins at 10 a.m. in Rayburn 2322.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie will speak about budget
reform at the American Enterprise Institute. The event begins at 1 p.m. in the
Wohlstetter Conference Center of the AEI building, located at 1150 17th St. NW.

Thursday, Feb. 17

Gates and Mullen will testify before the Senate Armed
Services Committee on the 2012 budget proposal. The hearing starts at 9:30 a.m.
in Dirksen G-50.

Geithner will testify before the Senate Budget Committee on
the budget in Dirksen 608 at 10 a.m.

Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke and Mary
Schapiro, chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, will testify
before the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee on the progress
in implementing the Dodd-Frank bill, six months after its passage. The hearing
starts at 10 a.m. in Dirksen 538.

Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack will testify before the
Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee on ways agriculture can
help build America’s economy. The hearing begins at 2:30 p.m. in Russell 328-A.

The House Veterans Affair Committee holds a full committee
hearing on the Veterans Affairs Budget Request for the budget. The hearing
begins at 9:30 a.m. in Cannon 334.

The House Science, Space, and Technology Committee holds a
full committee hearing on the Federal Research and Development Budget Request
for 2012. John Holdren, director of the Office of Science and Technology
Policy, testifies. The hearing begins at 10 a.m. in Rayburn 2318.

The House Homeland Security Committee will hold a full
committee hearing on the bidget. The hearing begins at 10 a.m. in 311 Cannon.

The House Armed Services Committee will hold a full
committee hearing on the national defense authorization budget. Air Force
Secretary Michael Donley testifies. The hearing begins at 1 p.m. in Rayburn
2118.

Friday, Feb. 18

Obama will visit Intel Corporation in Hillsboro, Ore., where
he will tour a semiconductor manufacturing facility with Intel CEO Paul
Otellini.

Clinton will be in New York to give a speech on Afghanistan
and Pakistan at the Asia Society. Her speech will launch the Asia Society’s
Series of Richard C. Holbrooke Memorial Addresses. She is scheduled to speak at
11 a.m.

-Alicia Cohn, Peter Schroeder and Emily Goodin contributed
to this report.