Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas), the co-chairman of the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, said Sunday that he sees it as the "duty" of the so-called supercommittee to restructure federal healthcare programs.

"The duty is to put forth legislation that actually addresses our long-term structural debt," Hensarling said on CNN's "State of the Union" on Sunday. "The president himself has said that the drivers of our debt are Medicare, Medicaid and healthcare. Nothing else comes close.

"So to me, what we really have to focus on is that duty, and that is to find programs, find a way to reform Medicare and Medicaid and our healthcare programs to get good retirement security and health security for our seniors at a cost that doesn't bankrupt our children," he added. "Frankly, if we don't find structural change, we will fail in our duty."

The Senate meets at 2 p.m., and after "morning" business will begin debate on H.R. 2354, the Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies appropriations bill. That bill is expected to become the second "minibus" spending bill, encompassing Energy and Water, Financial Services and General Government and State-Foreign Operations.

No votes are planned Monday on this bill.

The attorney general has embraced a new strategy, actively confronting and rebuffing the mounting criticism from lawmakers.

Congress faces several significant agenda items next week, including the three that have come to be seen as the biggest challenges in the 112th Congress — spending, deficits and jobs.

The must-do item of the week is the continuing resolution. The stopgap spending measure Congress approved in October lets the government operate through this Friday, and some extension through mid-December is expected as a minimum.

Freshman Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) on Thursday introduced legislation that would allow the U.S. to fund only those United Nations programs it supports, and condition U.S. financial support on a shift to voluntary funding for U.N. programs.

"This legislation is needed because the structure and bureaucratic culture of the organization often makes it impossible or, at best, downright difficult to achieve meaningful reforms," Rubio said. "It follows on the steps of previously successful congressional initiatives on this matter. Every previously successful American effort for reform at the U.N. has been accompanied with the threat of withholding our valuable contributions."

Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta will testify before Congress next week on the issue of security in Iraq as the U.S. prepares to withdraw military forces this winter after about eight years of conflict. 

Other Senate committees will also pursue ambitious schedules next week, conducting an examination of housing and fiscal policy issues as details continue to emerge from the financial crisis.

A list of featured committee hearings to be held next week follows:

A continuing resolution must pass next week because the stopgap funding deal approved in early October expires on Nov. 18.

The House Foreign Affairs Committee plans to mark up legislation next week that would require the executive branch to sell Taiwan "no fewer than" 66 F-16 fighter aircraft.

The bill is a reaction to the Obama administration's September decision against selling Taiwan the new aircraft. Instead, the administration decided to help Taiwan upgrade its existing fleet of aircraft.

Energy Secretary Steven Chu will testify on the Solyndra loan guarantee before the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations.

Republicans have been eager to probe the $535 million in loan guarantees for Solyndra, the now-bankrupt California solar-panel company.