OVERNIGHT MONEY: IRS stays in the news

Issa and his panel’s report are trying to directly tie the Strong Castle contracts to the broader controversies that have enveloped the IRS in recent weeks, including the agency’s targeting of conservative groups.

Plenty of lawmakers from both sides of the aisle have criticized the IRS for spending millions of dollars on conferences in recent years.

In yet another blow to the IRS’s attempt to claw back some public credibility, a Treasury inspector general report released on Tuesday found that IRS credit cards were used to buy expensive meals and even online pornography.

{mosads}The report did stress that most of the purchases placed on IRS cards were reasonable.

The inspector general said the money was used to entertain foreign guests with lunches and dinners that cost $100 or more a person.

A pair of IRS cards, declared stolen, was used to purchase online pornography, while more than $2,500 in seemingly personal items — including a smartphone, diet pills, steaks and baby bottles and games — was placed on another card. That cardholder, the inspector general said in a release, has since been charged with embezzlement.

That brings us to the next step in the continuing saga of the IRS’s targeting of groups that applied for tax-exempt status. 

The House Oversight Committee has decided it will vote on Friday on whether Lois Lerner, the agency official who disclosed the targeting on May 10, waived her Fifth Amendment rights before the committee last month.

Republican lawmakers said that Lerner’s opening statement acted as a waiver of those rights.

WHAT ELSE WE’RE WATCHING

Driving growth: The House Budget Committee on Wednesday will explore ways the nation’s energy production can drive economic growth with policy experts. 

More Dodd-Frank: The House Financial Services Committee on Wednesday will continue the conversation on whether the Dodd-Frank financial reform law could lead to more taxpayer-funded bank bailouts, a view taken by some Republicans who say the law doesn’t end “too big to fail.”

Panel members will talk to Thomas Hoenig, vice chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation; Richard Fisher, president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas; Jeffrey Lacker, president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond; and Sheila Bair, chairwoman of the Pew Charitable Trust’s Systemic Risk Council and former chairwoman of the FDIC. 

Energy spending: The House Appropriations Committee will mark up the $30.4 billion energy and water spending bill on Wednesday, which is a cut of $2.9 billion below the fiscal 2013 enacted level and a reduction of $4.1 billion compared with President Obama’s request. This level is approximately $700 million below the amount caused by sequestration for these programs.

Budgeting and children: The Senate Budget Committee will examine how automatic spending cuts are affecting children with various experts in the field. 

Cutting the red tape: The Joint Economic Committee will take look at how crafting better regulations can help reduce red tape for businesses with several academics and a business leader. Regulations are regularly a top concerns of all sizes of businesses. 

Trade ideas: The House Small Business Committee will provide export policy recommendations to the U.S. Trade Representative’s office in a hearing with business owners. 

LOOSE CHANGE

Pritzker swearing-in: Vice President Biden will officiate a swearing-in ceremony on Wednesday for Penny Pritzker, who was confirmed on a 97-1 vote by the Senate on Tuesday to head up the Commerce Department.

ECONOMIC INDICATORS 

MBA Mortgage Index: The Mortgage Bankers Association releases its weekly report on mortgage application volume. 

GDP: The Commerce Department will release its third estimate of the nation’s economic activity for the first quarter on Tuesday. The economy posted 2.4 percent growth, according to the second estimate. 

WHAT YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED

— Mortgage finance reform reaches the starting line

— Senate bill to overhaul Fannie, Freddie gets rave reviews

— White House threatens to veto House Agriculture spending bill

— Labor secretary urges minimum wage hike

— Amtrak: $1.45B Senate appropriation ‘workable’

— Boehner promotes economic adviser

— Health advocates press for tobacco control in Pacific trade deal

— Home prices up 12.1 percent; biggest jump in seven years

— Consumer confidence rises to highest level since January 2008

— CFTC counsel lands at Washington law office

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