On deck: Unemployment update, housing-finance overhaul

On Tuesday, the Senate Banking Committee will discuss ways to reform the housing market, hearing from economists and housing experts.

On Wednesday, top policymakers and business leaders will meet at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce for its Capital Markets Summit to discuss competitiveness now that the Dodd-Frank financial reform is law.

Elizabeth Warren, the assistant to the president in charge of establishing the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), will deliver remarks, while Financial Services Committee Chairman Spencer Bachus (R-Ala.) will offer Capitol Hill’s perspective. Chamber President Tom Donohue will also speak.

Dodd-Frank will also be the subject of a pair of congressional hearings Wednesday, as House Republicans delve into potentially negative repercussions from the law. The oversight panel of the Financial Services Committee will discuss the costs and economic impact of Wall Street reform, hearing from regulators implementing the law, as well as Douglas Elmendorf, the director of the Congressional Budget Office.

Elsewhere, the House Oversight Committee’s subcommittee on bailouts will discuss whether Dodd-Frank succeeded in its mission to prevent future instances of ailing institutions becoming “too big to fail.” Neil Barofsky, the outgoing special inspector general for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), and Assistant Treasury Secretary Timothy Massad are slated to testify.

The House Budget Committee will accelerate the 2012 budget process with a Wednesday discussion among members on the 2012 budget resolution. A committee markup is expected on Chairman Paul Ryan’s (R-Wis.) budget mark the following week, with a House vote before April 16.

A major Tea Party group will ratchet up its pressure for major spending cuts Thursday. The Tea Party Patriots are planning a rally in front of the Capitol, where they will demand that Republicans push for major cuts, including defunding the healthcare reform law.

On the tax front, the Senate Finance Committee on Wednesday will discuss various tax incentives, as part of the broader debate on comprehensive tax reform. The same day, the House Ways and Means Committee will discuss impediments to job creation, focusing on the negative impact of budget deficits and growing debt. On Thursday, IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman will appear before that committee’s oversight panel to discuss the IRS’s work as the tax filing deadline approaches.

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood will appear before a House Appropriations subcommittee Tuesday to discuss his department’s budget request. Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski will follow suit Wednesday.