Business

Week ahead: Budget talk, tax reform dominate Congress

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

Wednesday:

Thursday:

 

Senate hearings:

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

 

Recent stories from The Hill’s team:

-Prospects fade for GOP budget, by Sarah Ferris: http://bit.ly/1QpCKZl

-Lawmakers eye crackdown on illicit trade, by Sylvan Lane: http://bit.ly/21eDrGp

-Farm groups plow into trade fight, by Vicki Needham: http://bit.ly/1otaIiL

-Online sales tax supporters hope gamble pays off, by Mario Trujillo and Naomi Jagoda: http://bit.ly/1OkfFj1

-Banks still ‘too big to fail,’ says Fed official, by Peter Schroeder http://bit.ly/1Tr1Eqn

 

Write us with tips, suggestions and news: slane@digital-stage.thehill.comvneedham@digital-stage.thehill.compschroeder@digital-stage.thehill.com, and njagoda@digital-stage.thehill.com. Follow us on Twitter: @SylvanLane@VickofTheHill@PeteSchroeder, and @NJagoda.