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Republicans Friday afternoon released a copy of their resolution that would cover government spending through March 18. This two-week extension cuts about $4 billion from current spending levels, and Republicans are hoping that the inclusion of cuts that Democrats support will make it possible for Democrats to support the bill.

Negotiations on the Republican proposal are expected to continue through next week.

The bill was released as an un-numbered joint resolution, H.J.Res. ___. The House Rules Committee is scheduled to meet Monday at 5 p.m. to consider the resolution, and is expected to approve a rule for considering it on the floor by Tuesday.

In a statement late Friday, House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said he hopes early House consideration will allow the Senate to approve the measure later in the week.

"I'm hopeful Senator Reid will quickly hold a vote on our short-term proposal so we can ensure the government remains open and that we’re addressing the need to cut spending to create a better environment for job growth," Boehner said. "The House is doing its part to cut spending and avoid a government shutdown; it’s time for the Senate to take action as well."

House Republicans next week plan to move ahead with legislation that would extend federal aid for highway and transit spending through the rest of FY 2011.

The House Rules Committee plans to take up H.R. 662, the Surface Transportation Extension Act, in a March 1 meeting. The approval of a rule for considering the bill at that meeting would pave the way for a House vote soon thereafter.

President Obama on Friday signed into law a bill that extends three Patriot Act surveillance authorities until late May.

Obama signed the "FISA Sunsets Extension Act of 2011," which refers to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. Surveillance authorities under that act were extended in part by amending the USA Patriot Improvement and Reauthorization Act.

With Obama's signature, the ability of the United States to access business records, conduct roving wiretaps and monitor individual terrorists is maintained until May 27. The administration has said it supports a longer extension, and the Senate next week will begin working on a three-year extension.

House committee work next week includes a look at various pieces of the Obama administration's FY 2012 budget request, even as the House will also be working to negotiate an extension of the FY 2011 budget.

House committees on Administration, Armed Services, Commerce and Homeland Security will hold hearings next week on the FY 2012 budget. Several other hearings are also planned, including on such issues as the last year's healthcare law and U.S. foreign policy priorities.

A listing of full House committee hearings follows:

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The Senate Judiciary Committee will return next week to resume its consideration of a three-year extension of Patriot Act surveillance authorities, just days after agreeing with the House to a three-month extension.

The committee will meet on March 3 to mark up S. 193, the Patriot Act extension bill supported by committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.). Leahy's bill would extend the government's authorities to access business records, conduct roving wiretaps and monitor individual terrorists until the end of 2013, and would also increase oversight of these activities.

The House plans to vote next week on legislation that would allow for criminal penalties against anyone who trespasses on White House grounds, the vice president's residence or other buildings that are locked down for security reasons due to presidential or vice presidential visits.

Plans to take up the bill come just as it was reported that Tareq and Michaela Salahi are unlikely to face prosecution for crashing a White House reception in November 2009.

But staff for Rep. Tom Rooney (R-Fla.), who sponsored the bill, say the legislation is not a reaction to the Salahi incident. Instead, it is a reaction to concerns raised by the Secret Service about limitations in current law that make it harder to prosecute people who unlawfully enter White House grounds or the vice president's residence and grounds.

In that way, the bill is targeted more at wall climbers and it's unclear if it would apply to the Salahis, who claim they were invited.

Fox News commentator Glenn Beck is capable of solving the nation's deficit woes, conservative Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) told a group of South Carolina Republicans on Saturday.

“We need to simply tell people the facts, like Glenn Beck, with that chalkboard, that man can explain anything," said Bachmann, as reported by the Minnesota Independent. "I think if we give Glenn Beck the numbers, he can solve this."

In the same speech Bachmann warned that the United States could be going the way of Greece, and repeated her suggestion that the next generation of Americans would have to pay up to 70 percent of their income in federal taxes if changes are not made.

“When you add it all up — I’m a former federal tax lawyer — when you add up the tax burden on today’s kids — and I believe this is a low estimate — they are looking at in their peak years, at having 70 percent of their income to pay their tax bill," she said.

Senate Democrats and House Republicans are in negotiations to avoid a government shutdown after March 4.

—This post was updated at 6:21 p.m.

Republicans on the House Financial Services Committee on Thursday announced plans to move legislation next week that would end four federal housing programs.

The Insurance, Housing and Community Opportunity subcommittee will hold a hearing on the four bills on March 2, and the full Financial Services Committee will hold a mark-up of the legislation on March 3. But it is still unclear when the bills might make it to the House floor for a vote.

In a speech at Harvard University on Wednesday night, Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), the ranking Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee, downplayed the importance of tax cuts to the economy. 

“I have never seen a tax cut put out a fire,” Frank said, according to the student-run newspaper The Harvard Crimson. “There are things that are absolutely essential to us that we can only do if we come together and pay taxes.”

Frank's argument comes following a drawn-out battle last week in the House, where lawmakers clashed on how much spending should be cut, and from what programs, while debating a continuing resolution to fund the federal government when the current continuing resolution (CR) expires in early March.

Frank was a vocal advocate for several programs threatened with defunding. The CR that passed the House early Saturday morning contained $61 million in spending cuts. Democrats who control the Senate have said that the bill will not pass in the upper chamber.

In his speech, Frank also covered some of his favorite themes, including ending the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and legalizing gay marriage. 

Frank is a Harvard alumnus.

When Secretary of State Hillary Clinton testifies before the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Tuesday, she will take questions from committee members, and possibly anyone on the planet with access to a computer.

Clinton testifies on March 1, which will mark the first use of a system by which the committee will consider asking questions e-mailed by the public. Committee Chairwoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.) on Thursday announced the "Your Seat on the Dais" feature, and said the committee would review questions that are submitted and use some of the questions during the hearing.

Ros-Lehtinen said questions would be asked "on behalf of the submitter" during the hearing.