OVERNIGHT MONEY: Chatting at the Chamber

WHAT ELSE TO WATCH FOR:

T-minus 10 days…: With the federal government currently funded through April 8, there is still a lot of uncertainty over how talks on 2011 spending will proceed. Late on Tuesday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s (D-Nev.) office said that it has a fully formed proposal cutting another $20 billion in spending for the GOP to consider, if it will come to the negotiating table. 

Also on Tuesday, House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) would not explicitly rule out another short-term spending measure — that would make seven for this fiscal year — while Rep. Eric Cantor of Virginia, the No. 2 Republican in the House, said it was time for a long-term deal. 

Wait, it’s going to be 2012 one day: With that in mind, the House Budget Committee will hold an open meeting on Wednesday where members can outline their goals for the 2012 budget resolution. The draft House resolution, expected to be unveiled in the middle of next week, will likely contain changes to entitlement programs and lay out a vision for reducing the deficit over 10 years solely with spending cuts.

The Dodd-Frank duet: The Wall Street overhaul is set to get double the scrutiny, double the fun at a pair of House hearings on Tuesday. 

At the House Financial Services Committee, the oversight subcommittee will explore both the explicit and implicit costs stemming from Dodd-Frank. A GOP presentation making its way around Capitol Hill this week indicated that the various federal agencies charged with implementing the law are looking at more than 2,800 new hires and nearly $1 billion a year in costs. (Worth noting: Taxpayers are not on the hook for that whole amount, as several of the agencies get funds through various revenue sources, not taxpayer funding.) Officials from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Congressional Budget Office and Federal Reserve are all slated to testify.

Elsewhere, a House Oversight subcommittee will delve into whether Dodd-Frank succeeded in its mission of ending the “too big to fail” problem. In its final report, a congressionally appointed watchdog for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) worried that the bailouts may have ingrained that mentality, while the Treasury has insisted Dodd-Frank created the tools that will prevent the need for such rescues in the future.

Frequent flyer miles: After his trip to Arkansas last week, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is slated to be in China tomorrow, where he will lay the groundwork for the annual U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue that is scheduled for the summer. The forum is one of two annual meetings where trade irritants come to a head, and a spot where delicate discussions about China’s undervalued currency are bound to come up.

86ing the 1099: The Senate is expected Tuesday night or Wednesday to vote on an amendment to a small-business measure that would repeal the 1099 requirement in the Obama healthcare reform law. This tax requirement, which requires reporting on small payments to suppliers, has been viewed by both parties as an undue burden for small business. The disagreement has been on how to make up for revenue lost by eliminating the proposal. 

Elsewhere on the Hill: Senate Finance is set to hold a hearing on tax incentives and complexity on Tuesday morning, part of the push by Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.), the panel’s chairman, to hold regular tax reform hearings.

And over at House Ways and Means, the full committee is slated to use the morning time to discuss impediments to job creation with a quartet of academics and private-sector economists. In the afternoon, the panel’s trade subcommittee will discuss the free-trade pact with Panama — the second of three hearings on pending trade agreements promised by Rep. Kevin Brady (R-Texas), the subcommittee’s chairman. 

BREAKING TUESDAY:

But…: Rep. Sandy Levin, the ranking member of the House Ways and Means Committee, said on Tuesday that — like the Obama administration and Moscow — he wants to see Russia join the World Trade Organization. 

But the Michigan Democrat also signaled that he might want to see some issues resolved first, such as with human rights.

“I think their handling of those who dissent is unacceptable and very worrisome,” Levin said at a Washington speech.

Not your average bureaucrat…: The Securities and Exchange Commission filed civil charges on Tuesday against an FDA chemist they say scored more than $3.5 million on insider trading based on confidential drug information, The Wall Street Journal reports. 

WHAT ELSE YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED:

On the Money’s Tuesday:

Tom Coburn and Grover Norquist step it up a notch.

Harry Reid says Senate Democrats will consider some riders. 

Sandy Levin wants the South Korea trade deal done by Memorial Day.

House GOP rejects Democratic request to let Barney Frank testify — on Dodd-Frank.

Ben Bernanke says the Fed won’t make its deadline on the so-called Durbin amendment.

The White House reiterates: We’ll veto HAMP elimination measure.

A government employee union calls on federal workers to speak out on GOP budget cuts. 

Federal regulators offer rules to force financial firms to keep 5 percent of the risk.

Bart Gordon joins the Blue Dog parade to K Street. 

Ways and Means subcommittee to hold hearing on the GAO report on duplicative programs.

Home prices fell in January.

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