The House will soon pass the Financial Services/General Government appropriations (HR 2829). Its total funding should comes under the Presidents request, though the President has threatened a veto anyway, conditional on including provisions regarding abortion and Cuba. The media will probably focus on the fact that the bill may defund the OVP's office- in response to the OVP's clumsy claims, which we covered in the Watcher, that it is not a part of the executive branch, and therefore is not subject to disclosure requirements that apply to that branch.

Yesterday, the House approved a $27.6 Interior-Environment appropriations bill. Meanwhile, the White House shakes its fist at Congress threatening to veto the Interior-Environment bill, because the bill would breach the $933 billion discretionary spending cap requested by the president. (click to enlarge)

On May 24, the House adopted H.R. 2316, the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act of 2007 (aka, the lobbying and ethics bill), in a lop-sided 396-22 vote. The Senate passed S. 1, its own version of the bill back on January 18 almost unanimously, 96-2.

The House Appropriations Financial Services Subcommittee may try to kill the private debt collection program by shutting off its funding. Here's the story: The IRS' use of private debt collectors has retrieved millions in delinquent taxes but has raised questions about collection techniques and privacy rights. The House plans a vote this week on restricting the program's funds. Democrats critical of the program since it was approved by a GOP Congress in 2004 included only $1 million for private debt collection in the 2008 budget for Treasury Department agencies.