The Week Ahead: Big primary night; key week for Reid to push energy bill

Tuesday is another big primary night, as Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.) learns whether she’ll fall victim to the anti-incumbent fever sweeping the country. And Sens. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) will learn the identity of their Republican opposition.

Reid, meanwhile, is expected to meet with various Senate committee chairmen at some point to discuss energy legislation.

{mosads}Vice President Joe Biden and Jill Biden will be in Egypt, Kenya and South Africa. Biden, who arrived in Egypt on Sunday, will meet with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga. The couple will then travel to South Africa to represent the United States at the 2010 World Cup — which the vice president has dubbed a “tough assignment.”

Monday, June 7

— Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will be in Peru to participate in the General Assembly of the Organization of American States. She will be in Ecuador and Colombia on Tuesday and in Barbados on Wednesday.

— The Senate is expected to discuss the extension of several benefits packages that expired while it was on Memorial Day recess. Unemployment benefits for hundreds of thousands ended June 2; federal subsidies for COBRA health insurance premiums began to run out on May 31; and the freeze in scheduled cuts to doctors’ Medicare
reimbursements expired May 31.

— Sen. Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) holds a 2:15 p.m. presser to introduce an energy and climate change bill. He’s considered a swing vote on the issue, and his announcement comes as Reid says he wants a vote on legislation in July.

Tuesday, June 8

— President Barack Obama holds a satellite town hall meeting at a senior center in Wheaton, Md., on the Affordable Care Act. Democrats are trying to talk up the benefits of their healthcare legislation, including the $250 “doughnut hole” rebate checks seniors are expected to begin receiving this week.

— The Senate Judiciary Committee meets at 10 a.m. for a hearing on the “Risky Business of Big Oil”: “Have recent court decisions and liability caps encouraged irresponsible corporate behavior?”

— Another big primary night: Lincoln will learn her fate in her race against Lt. Gov. Bill Halter for the Democratic nomination. And Reid and Boxer will learn their GOP opponents. Expect it to be a late night, given the West Coast races. Polls close in Nevada at 10 p.m. ET and in California at 11 p.m. ET. Locally, Virginians will head to the polls. One thing to watch for: who wins the GOP nomination to take on Democratic Rep. Glenn Nye, a top Republican target.

Wednesday, June 9

— Obama will meet with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

— Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke testifies before the House Budget Committee at 10 a.m. on the state of the economy.

— The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee meets at 9:30 a.m. to discuss the safety of offshore oil development. And the Senate Environment and Public Works panel convenes at 10:30 a.m. for a hearing on the Big Oil Bailout Prevention Liability Act, which vastly raises the liability cap on economic damages for companies responsible
for spills.

— A House Science and Technology subcommittee holds a 10 a.m. hearing on what research and technology are needed to ensure effective cleanup of oil spills. Officials from the Environmental Protection Agency, the Interior Department’s Minerals Management Service, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the U.S. Coast Guard are scheduled to testify.

— The American Enterprise Institute hosts a 2 p.m. event on the rise of the Tea Party movement and politics in the age of the Internet.

— The Center for American Progress releases the report “Building a Coast Guard for the 21st Century,” a timely look at one of the key players overseeing the Gulf Coast spill response. The center argues that the Coast Guard’s role has expanded since 9/11, but its resources have not.

— Actress Ashley Judd addresses a National Press Club lunch at 1 p.m. on the controversial practice of mountaintop removal coal mining.

Thursday, June 10

— Obama will greet the family members of those killed on the Deepwater Horizon rig at the White House to offer his condolences in person.

— The Senate Finance Committee holds a 10 a.m. hearing on the economic relationship between the U.S. and China.

— Energy Secretary Steven Chu, an integral part of the Obama administration’s response to the Gulf spill, is the scheduled lunch speaker at the National Press Club. The event begins at 12:30 p.m.

— California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) will be in town for the D.C. premiere of “Gerrymandering,” which examines the redistricting process. The showing is at the Landmark E St. Cinema at 7 p.m.

Friday, June 11

— The Brookings Institution hosts a forum on the role of law enforcement as a counterterrorism tool featuring David Kris, assistant attorney general for national security at the Department of Justice. The event starts at 2:30 p.m.