Week ahead: Budget talk, tax reform dominate Congress

by Sylvan Lane - 02/22/16 6:00 AM ET

Lawmakers plan to press administration officials on their fiscal 2017 budget requests, and the House Ways and Means Committee is scheduled to start the push for international tax reform as Congress returns from its Presidents Day recess.

Secretary of State John Kerry, Attorney General Loretta Lynch and Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson will all spend some quality time with lawmakers on various House and Senate Appropriations subcommittees. Expect plenty of fireworks as Republicans press the Obama administration officials on policy differences and the money funding them.

{mosads}The House Ways and Means Committee is also set to lay the groundwork for international tax reform push on Thursday, a bipartisan priority that could get halted by election-year legislative skittishness.

Lawmakers will hold a hearing “on the global tax environment in 2016 and how recent developments are further escalating the immediate need to reform and modernize the U.S. international tax system,” according to a committee notice.

Executive and agency action

The House Financial Services Committee is scheduled to also turn its attention overseas. Lawmakers are holding hearings on the Puerto Rican debt crisis and its impact on bond markets, and how international regulatory standards affect U.S. insurers on Thursday. On Wednesday, they plan to hold a hearing on how Dodd-Frank and Basel III capital requirements affect securities.

The Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors is scheduled to meet in D.C. on Tuesday, and Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer is on hand to speak in Houston on monetary policy.

The Internal Revenue Service’s National Taxpayer Advocate is set to host a public forum on Tuesday about the agency’s future.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s Consumer Protection Board is scheduled to hold a public meeting Thursday, featuring remarks from CFPB Director Richard Cordray.

House hearings:

Tuesday

Appropriations subcommittee on financial services: Budget hearing for the Office of Management and Budget, 3 p.m.
Appropriations subcommittee: Budget hearing for the Department of Commerce, 4 p.m.

Wednesday:

Ways and Means: The Global Tax Environment in 2016 and Implications for International Tax Reform, 10 a.m.

Thursday:

Agriculture Committee: State of the Rural Economy featuring Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, 10 a.m.
Appropriations subcommittee on State Department: Budget Hearing — Department of State and Foreign Assistance featuring Secretary of State John Kerry, 10 a.m.
Appropriations subcommittee on Homeland Security: Budget Hearing — Department of Homeland Security featuring Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson, 10 a.m.
Financial Services: Hearing titled “The Impact of the Dodd-Frank Act and Basel III on the Fixed Income Market and Securitizations,” 10 a.m.
Appropriations subcommittee on health: Budget hearing for the Department of Health and Human Services featuring Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell, 10 a.m.
Natural Resources: The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Analysis of the Situation in Puerto Rico, 10 a.m.
Financial Services: Hearing titled “The Impact of International Regulatory Standards on the Competitiveness of U.S. Insurers: Part II,” 2 p.m.

Senate hearings:

Tuesday

Energy and Natural Resources: Department of the Interior Budget featuring Interior Secretary Sally Jewell, 10 a.m.
Foreign Relations: State Department budget featuring Secretary of State John Kerry, 10 a.m.
Finance: Solutions to the opioid crisis, 10 a.m.

Wednesday