Week ahead: House GOP moves to defund immigration action

The GOP-controlled Congress is moving ahead with a number of high-profile votes as they further test President Obama’s hand in only their second week.

Much of next week will revolve around the Keystone pipeline, with Republicans determined to send a bill to Obama’s desk approving he oil pipeline project. Obama, for his part, has already said he’ll veto legislation.

{mosads}The House will also consider a nearly $40 billion funding bill for the Department of Homeland Security. The bill, though, will include two measures defunding back executive actions on immigration taken by President Obama.

If Congress does not pass a new spending bill, DHS will shut down on Feb. 27. The White House, though, insists that Obama won’t sign a bill that reverses his immigration actions. It is also unclear if those measures would pass in the Senate.

Republicans will also press ahead against ObamaCare’s 30-hour workweek.

The business community is pushing to change the requirement that mandates employers provide health insurance to all employees who work 30 hours a week. They’d like to see it raised to 40 hours. The House approved such legislation last week, sending it to the Senate. Obama, though, has vowed to veto it.

The House will also reconsider legislation that would delay implementing the Volcker Rule, a portion of the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform law.

The Volcker Rule aims to prevent big banks from making risky trades with their own funds. Democrats blocked a fast-tracked version of the bill, during Congress’ first week on a 276-146 vote.

The White House has threatened to veto the bill.

House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) will kick-off the year with an organization meeting on Tuesday at 10 a.m., where the panel will vote on a resolution to adopt rules for the upcoming Congress.

Hensarling will begin his second term as committee chairman with a number of looming fights, including reauthorization of the Export-Import Bank.

Hensarling opposes the bank as corporate welfare but centrists and Democrats support it, claiming it sustains U.S. jobs. The bank’s charter expires June 30 unless Congress acts.

The chairman has already tapped some rising GOP stars to lead the panel’s subcommittees, including Rep. Sean Duffy (R-Wis.) to chair the subcommittee on Oversight and Investigation. Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-Mo.) will chair the Subcommittee on Housing and Insurance.

A handful of big banks will also report their earnings for the last quarter. On Tuesday, Goldman Sachs will report its retail store earnings; the next day will bring reports from Wells Fargo, JP Morgan Chase and American Express.

The Federal Reserve will release its latest version of the “beige book,” a collection of anecdotal takes from businesses across the country, on Wednesday. It could provide new insight into how businesses fared during the recent holiday shopping season.

Recent headlines:

— Dems thwart challenges to Dodd-Frank

–House to vote on bill to change Dodd-Frank again next week

–Chicago Fed chief wants to put off interest rate hike

–House GOP unveils $40B spending bill for Homeland Security

–Dems seek more authority for IRS, via Bernie Becker