Congressional Calendar April 14, 2010

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It’s the day before Tax Day, and folks all over Capitol Hill are talking finances. You want hear about taxes? We got that. You want hear about financial regulatory reform? We got that. You want to hear about pork barrel spending? We got that.

Senators Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Judd Gregg (R-NH) start the financial fun at 8:30a with a press conference on their recently introduced legislation, “The Bipartisan Tax Fairness and Simplification Act of 2010.” They are working to make the tax system easier to navigate. Wyden and Gregg plan on using the event to serve “as a reminder that bipartisan cooperation on critical issues still exists in Washington” as well.

A few hours later at 12:30p, a group of Republican members who also want tax reform have their chance to address the media. Joined by representatives from Americans for Tax Reform, FreedomWorks, and the Tea Party Patriots, their approach to reform will be less bipartisan.

Since tax day is near, the advocacy group Citizens Against Government Waste is releasing its annual “Pig Book,” outlining the pork barrel spending in he federal budget that your tax dollars fund. Senators John McCain (R-AZ) and Jim DeMint (R-SC) will attend, along with Rep. Jeff Flake (R-AZ).

The movement underway to reform the financial regulatory system gets a nudge from President Barack Obama, who plans to meet with Senate leadership at the White House to discuss the issue at 10:45a.

Federal Reserve Chairman Bernanke testifies before the Joint Economic Committee on the economic outlook at 10:00a. We expect him to speak about the risks of long term budget deficits with the panel.

Attorney General Eric Holder testifies at 9:30a before the Senate Judiciary Committee on “Oversight of the U.S. Department of Justice.” The topic won’t be the main source of fireworks here though, as Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) will not be in attendance, a move that has upset many Republicans on the committee.

Following on the heels of this week’s Nuclear Security Summit, the Senate Armed Services Committee hears testimony at 10:30a from top officials at the Defense and State Departments on US policy toward the Islamic Republic of Iran. We expect the regime’s nuclear program will dominate the discussion in both the open and closed press sessions. Fox’s Mike Emanuel will report on what officials think is and is not working to contain the rogue regime.

Despite the full agenda, more news is bound to break during the day so stay tuned to Fox News for the latest…