–House, Senate Return To Washington; Parties Ponder Debt Hike Impasse
–President Obama, VP Obama Set To Meet With Senate Dems Wednesday
–House Budget Committee To Hold Thurs Hearing On Defense Budget
–House To Work On Key FY’12 Spending Bills; Senate To Debate Libya
By John Shaw
WASHINGTON (MNI) – For better or for worse, both the House and
Senate will both be in Washington this week ostensibly to work with
President Obama on a package to increase the statutory debt ceiling and
cut budget deficits.
But so far, no meetings have been scheduled between top
administration officials and Republican leaders in Congress.
Late last week, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced the
Senate was cancelling its Fourth of July recess this week so senators
could work intensely on fiscal issues.
The House, which was out last week, had already been scheduled to
be back in Washington this week.
The Senate returns Tuesday to debate a resolution authorizing U.S.
military involvement in Libya.
The House returns Wednesday and will take up the fiscal year 2012
defense and energy and water spending bills and possibly flood insurance
legislation.
Reid said Senate Democrats will review a draft FY’12 budget
resolution Tuesday by Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad.
Conrad has said that his plan will be broadly based on the work of the
Simpson-Bowles commission and cut the deficit by $4 trillion over a
decade. The House passed its budget resolution in April.
Reid said Senate Democrats will also meet with Obama and Vice
President Biden Wednesday and key members of Obama’s economic team
Thursday.
Senate Republican leaders are likely to spend this week blasting
Obama’s management of fiscal issues and outlining their reasons for
supporting a balanced budget constitutional amendment. Senate
Republicans are pressing for a vote on a balanced budget amendment
sometime this month.
The House will take up a balanced budget constitutional amendment
the week of July 25.
Treasury confirmed last Friday that the deadline for increasing the
statutory debt ceiling is August 2.
The White House has said it wants to reach an agreement on debt
ceiling legislation with Congress by July 22. Even if an agreement is
reached by Obama and congressional leaders on a deficit reduction and
debt ceiling package in late July, it would take some time to put the
accord in legislative language, secure cost estimates from the
Congressional Budget Office, and bring a bill before the House and
Senate.
Most analysts expect Obama, Biden, Reid, Senate Minority Leader
Mitch McConnell, and House Speaker John Boehner to take the lead in
trying to assemble a package.
There has been growing speculation that any agreement reached this
month would couple about $1 trillion in spending savings with a debt
ceiling increase of the same size.
The U.S. has already reached its $14.29 trillion debt ceiling.
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has said Congress must pass
legislation increasing the debt ceiling by August 2.
In other action this week, the House Budget Committee will hold a
hearing Thursday at 10 a.m. on defense spending issues.
A House Financial Services subcommittee will hold a hearing
Thursday at 10 a.m. on mortgage servicing and foreclosure mitigation
issues.
The same subcommittee will hold a hearing Friday at 10 a.m. on
legislation intended to prevent federal bank regulators from penalizing
community banks for modifying loans.
** Market News International Washington Bureau: (202) 371-2121 **
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