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Week ahead: House kicks off tax reform hearings | Treasury chief heads before Senate

by Sylvan Lane - 05/15/17 6:00 AM ET

The House is returning to Washington after a week-long recess and lawmakers are quickly getting to work on their next big agenda item: tax reform.

The House Ways and Means Committee will hold its first hearings on tax reform on Thursday. The hearing will focus on “how tax reform will grow our economy and create jobs across America.”

“Our hearing is an important step forward as we work with President Trump and our Senate colleagues on delivering historic pro-growth tax reform for the first time in 30 years,” Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady (R-Texas) said.

The panel hopes to write and pass a tax reform bill – a top priority for lawmakers and President Trump – by the end of the year.

But the overall timeline is uncertain.

{mosads}The House earlier this month passed an ObamaCare repeal-and-replace package, sending it on to the Senate. But the Senate has said it will draft its own healthcare bill, a move that could delay getting tax reform to Trump’s desk before 2017.

Tax reform isn’t the only important item on the agenda for lawmakers.

On Thursday, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin will testify before the Senate Banking Committee, his first formal congressional appearance since his confirmation hearings in January.

Mnuchin is slated to discuss updates on the administration’s domestic and international financial policy. The secretary is likely to field several questions on how the administration plans to roll back Dodd-Frank, the recent economic cooperation agreement with China, and Mnuchin’s views on federal housing finance reform.

Democrats have been fiercely critical of Mnuchin since his nomination, and have urged him to take steps to reveal and monitor Trump’s potential business conflicts of interest. Mnuchin will also face questions from Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), who frequently turns up the heat on visiting administration officials.

Democrats are also likely to dig in on Mnuchin’s unconventional appointment of acting Office of the Comptroller of the Currency chief Keith Noreika.

Seven Banking Committee Democrats wrote in a letter to Mnuchin that they were “deeply concerned” with his recent appointment of the former Wall Street lawyer to head the agency without a Senate confirmation.

Mnuchin appointed Noreika, who represented Wall Street banks as a lawyer at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, to be the OCC’s first deputy earlier this month. Noreika’s appointment lined him up to lead the OCC, which oversees the U.S. banking system, once Trump ousted former chief Thomas Curry.

Trump removed Curry on May 5, making Noreika the interim OCC chief. His ascent is considered highly unusual, since Trump hasn’t nominated a replacement for Curry yet and the interim chief is usually a veteran staff member, not a special government employee.

Your week ahead:

Tuesday:

Senate Banking Committee: Hearings to examine the nominations of Sigal Mandelker, of New York, to be Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Crimes, Marshall Billingslea, of Virginia, to be Assistant Secretary for Terrorist Financing, and Heath P. Tarbert, of Maryland, to be an Assistant Secretary, all of the Department of the Treasury; and Mira Radielovic Ricardel, of California, to be Under Secretary of Commerce for Export Administration, 10 a.m. http://bit.ly/2pG6k1u.

Wednesday:

Joint Economic Committee: Hearing entitled “The State of Social Capital in America Today,” 10 a.m. http://bit.ly/2r1IHUN.
House Appropriations Subcommittee on the Legislative Branch: Hearing on the House of Representatives’ fiscal 2018 budget, 10 a.m. http://bit.ly/2r1TNsM.
Senate Budget Committee: Hearing entitled “Ways to Run Government for Less,” 10:30 a.m. http://bit.ly/2r1Xsa6.
House Agriculture Committee: Hearing on the state of the rural economy with Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, 10 a.m. http://bit.ly/2r23tnn.

Thursday:

Senate Banking Committee: Hearing on domestic and international policy with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, 10 a.m. http://bit.ly/2r1JTaK.
House Ways and Means Committee: Hearing entitled “How Tax Reform Will Grow Our Economy and Create Jobs Across America,” 10 a.m. http://bit.ly/2r24Rq1.
House Financial Services Subcommittee on Monetary Policy and Trade: Hearing entitled “Lessons from the IMF’s Bailout of Greece,” 10:30 a.m. http://bit.ly/2qaFOAj.

Recap the week with Overnight Finance:

Monday: Dem calls for ending visa program after Kushner controversy | Trump officials reportedly sought Trudeau to make NAFTA case | ObamaCare repeal throws curve ball into tax reform

Tuesday: Ryan taking tax reform pitch on the road | Senate panel asks Treasury for Trump financial info | New federal spending tracker | Commerce chief downplays 3-percent growth goal

Wednesday: Wyden delays Treasury nominee over Trump-Russia | GOP floats five-year flood insurance bill | Ryan pitches tax reform in Ohio | Two GOP senators to oppose trade pick

Thursday:Trump floats tying tax reform, infrastructure | Trump trade rep confirmed | Dems raise concerns over banking regulator | House to kick off tax reform hearings

Today’s stories:

Trump lawyers: Tax returns show no income from Russia with few exceptions, by Brooke Seipel and Naomi Jagoda,
GOP: FBI firing won’t slow agenda, by Nathaniel Weixel, Rachel Roubein and Naomi Jagoda
US, China reach access deals for beef, poultry, by Vicki Needham
Federal Reserve seats could take months to fill: report, by Max Greenwood
US economy at full employment, economist says, by Vicki Needham