House panel to hear from Treasury Secretary Lew next week

Treasury Secretary Jack Lew will appear before the House Appropriations Committee on Tuesday to discuss his department’s 2015 budget and likely field questions about the IRS.

The IRS has come under fire in recent weeks for an inspector general report finding that the agency had given more than $2.8 million in bonuses and other rewards to workers who had been cited for various types of misconduct, including a failure to pay their taxes.

Additionally, The Washington Post reported earlier this month that the IRS had been intercepting Americans’ tax returns for delinquent debts incurred by their relatives.

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor also said in a memo to fellow Republicans on Friday that the House would vote on a resolution holding former IRS official Lois Lerner in contempt of Congress unless she agrees to testify on her role in the targeting scandal. 

Two other administration officials will testify before House committees this week about their agencies’ budgets on Tuesday. Education Secretary Arne Duncan will appear before the House Education and the Workforce Committee, while Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Mary Jo White will answer questions from members of the House Financial Services Committee.

Details on these and other hearings are below:

House Agriculture Committee

– April 30, “To Review the State of the Livestock Industry”
10 a.m., 1300 Longworth

House Appropriations Committee

-April 29, “Department of the Treasury Budget”
10 a.m., 2359 Rayburn 

House Budget Committee

– April 30, “A Progress Report on the War on Poverty: Lessons from the Front Lines”
10:30 a.m., 210 Cannon

House Education and the Workforce Committee

– April 29, “Reviewing the President’s Fiscal Year 2015 Budget Proposal for the Department of Education”
10 a.m., 2175 Rayburn

House Energy and Commerce Committee

– April 29, “Examining the Growing Problems of Prescription Drug and Heroin Abuse”
10 a.m., 2322 Rayburn

House Financial Services Committee

– April 29, “Oversight of the SEC’s Agenda, Operations and FY 2015 Budget Request”
10 a.m., 2128 Rayburn

-April 30, “Examining How Technology Can Promote Consumer Financial Literacy”
10 a.m., 2128 Rayburn

House Foreign Affairs Committee

– April 29, “Confronting Transnational Drug Smuggling: An Assessment of Regional Partnerships”
10 a.m., 2172 Rayburn

– April 29, “U.S.-Russia Nuclear Arms Negotiations: Ukraine and Beyond”
1:30 p.m., 2172 Rayburn

– April 29, “Effective Accountability: Tier Rankings in the Fight Against Human Trafficking”
2 p.m., 2200 Rayburn

– April 30, “Assessing U.S. Foreign Assistance Priorities in South Asia”
2 p.m., 2172 Rayburn

House Judiciary Committee

– April 29, “The Original Meaning of the Origination Clause”
10 a.m., 2141 Rayburn

House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee

– April 30, “Air Service to Small and Rural Communities”
10 a.m., 2167 Rayburn

House Ways and Means Committee

– April 30, “Ideas to Improve Medicare Oversight to Reduce Waste, Fraud and Abuse”
2 p.m., 1100 Longworth