This week: Congress returns, trade talks begin

{mosads}On Thursday, the Senate Banking Committee will convene some of the nation’s top financial regulators, and have a long discussion about systemic risk and “too big to fail.” 

Top officials from the Treasury Department, Federal Reserve, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency will be on hand to testify. The White House maintains the Dodd-Frank financial reform law made it possible to ensure no single entity is so significant as to require a bailout, but lawmakers in both parties remain unconvinced the issue has been addressed, and are pushing for harsher restrictions on Wall Street giants.

A House Ways and Means subcommittee will devote Wednesday to debating the administration’s surprising decision to delay the employer mandate portion of the healthcare reform law for an entire year. Pushing the key provision of ObamaCare into 2015 was seen as a major blow to the contentious law, and some Republicans have questioned whether the move is even legal.

On Monday, Congress’s top tax-writers take their show on the road. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and House Ways and Means Chairman Dave Camp (R-Mich.) set off on a road show, traveling around the nation to bolster the case for comprehensive tax reform. 

The effort starts Monday in Minneapolis-St. Paul, with a visit to the global company 3M and a fourth-generation bakery to discuss how overhauling the tax code could benefit both parties.

House appropriators will be marking up a trio of spending bills this week. On Tuesday and Wednesday, lawmakers will be crafting appropriations packages for the Legislative Branch, Financial Services and Commerce, Justice and Science subcommittees. Meanwhile, Senate appropriators will be tackling the spending package for the Health and Human Services and Education departments. A subcommittee will mark it up Tuesday, followed by full committee consideration Thursday.

The full House will gear up to tackle an appropriations package for Energy and Water, with the House Rules Committee set to lay the ground rules for debate Monday.

On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve will release the minutes from its latest meeting. Fed watchers will closely dissect the breakdown of the last meeting, after which Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke suggested the central bank was eyeing an exit from its unprecedented economic stimulus in the coming months. Markets will be eager to divine anything from those minutes that might offer more hints on the Fed’s strategy.

The House Financial Services Committee has a trio of subcommittee hearings on tap for next week. On Tuesday, one panel will explore the data collection efforts of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which has come under scrutiny, particularly from GOP lawmakers. That same day, another panel will discuss potential constitutional problems posed by the Dodd-Frank financial reform law. On Wednesday, a third subcommittee will explore further ways Congress can help businesses boost capital.