Week ahead: Trump to release budget blueprint | CBO to score ObamaCare repeal plan | Fed poised for rate hike

It’ll be an action-packed week in Washington as President Trump prepares to unveil the outline for his first budget and Republicans brace for a key analysis of their ObamaCare plan.

The Congressional Budget Office is expected to release its analysis of the House Republican bill to repeal and replace ObamaCare. The office’s scores of legislation are often considered make-or-break, with both parties pointing to them as indicators of how a bill would affect the federal budget and the economy.

A partisan battle is already brewing over the CBO’s numbers, as Republicans are openly question the accuracy of the office’s work. Democrats are demanding that the House’s work on the healthcare legislation be halted until a CBO score is available.

Republicans, though, are pushing ahead. The House Budget Committee is scheduled to mark up the bill Wednesday.

All eyes will also be on the White House, as Trump releases his “skinny budget” on Thursday, outlining of how much money the administration wants Congress to send to each agency, along with what they plan to do with it.

{mosads}Administration officials say the White House will ask for a $54 billion cut to non-defense spending–primarily from the Environmental Protection Agency, State Department and social programs, to fund an equivalent boost to defense spending.

President Trump’s proposed cuts to foreign aid triggered massive pushback among GOP lawmakers, with some insisting his budget would be “dead on arrival.”

While the White House finishes its budget, the Treasury Department will begin taking “extraordinary measures” to make federal payments as the U.S. hits its debt limit in the upcoming week.

Those Treasury measures will work until fall, giving Congress some time to raise the debt limt. But Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin is already urging lawmakers to act quickly.

In a letter Thursday, he asked Congress to raise the federal limit on how much debt, saying that ” honoring the full faith and credit of our outstanding debt is a critical commitment.”

The Federal Reserve’s Federal Open Markets Committee will meet Tuesday and Wednesday as the central bank is likely to raise interest rates for the first time since December 2016.

Fed officials have hinted at another hike this month, and Federal Reserve Board Chair Janet Yellen said last week that barring a massive economic shift, the bank will likely raise rates.

Friday’s positive jobs report makes it almost certain the Fed will hike rates.

On Capitol Hill, lawmakers will also be busy with a slew of hearings.

The Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday will hold its confirmation hearing for Robert Lighthizer, Trump’s pick for United States Trade Representative. Congress will need to pass a waiver to confirm Lighthizer because he represented foreign governments in trade negotiations several decades ago. Senate Democrats have pushed for a renewal of benefits for coal miners to be attached to the waiver.

The Senate Banking Committee will hold hearings on renewing the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) and next steps on financial sanctions on Russia. Lawmakers from both parties have sought changes to the debt-riddled NFIP, while Congress continues to probe Trump’s connections to Russia and the countries activities during the 2016 election.

Your week ahead:

Tuesday:

• Senate Banking Committee: Hearing on reauthorizing the National Flood Insurance Program, 10 a.m. http://bit.ly/2mQQ8vY.
• Senate Finance Committee: Confirmation hearing for Robert Lighthizer to server as U.S. Trade Representative, 10 a.m. http://bit.ly/2mQLWfS. 

Wednesday:

• House Budget Committee: Markup of the American Health Care Act, 10 a.m.
• Senate Banking Committee: Hearing entitled “Assessing U.S. Sanctions on Russia: Next Steps,” 10 a.m. http://bit.ly/2mR1u2U.
• House Agriculture Committee: Hearing on tax reform in rural America, 10 a.m. http://bit.ly/2m8tAT5.
• House Financial Services Subcommittee on Capital Markets: Hearing entitled “The JOBS Act at Five: Examining Its Impact and Ensuring the Competitiveness of the U.S. Capital Markets,” 10 a.m. http://bit.ly/2m8uFdG.
• House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies: Budget hearing for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, 10 a.m.
• House Financial Services Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit: Hearing entitled “Ending the De Novo Drought: Examining the Application Process for De Novo Financial Institutions,” 2 p.m. http://bit.ly/2mQPMoY.

Thursday:

• White House releases its “skinny budget.”
• House Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies: “Oversight Hearing – Department of Transportation & Department of Housing and Urban Development,” 10 a.m. http://bit.ly/2mQz5tS.
• House Financial Services Subcommittee on Monetary Policy and Trade: Hearing on sound monetary policy, 10 a.m. http://bit.ly/2mQKVV0.
• House Financial Services Subcommittee on Housing and Insurance: Hearing on flood insurance reform, 2 p.m.  http://bit.ly/2mQVF5D.

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