Washington got hit square in the jaw this week by a terrible jobs report that can only complicate efforts to reach a debt ceiling deal, which must be reached before August 2 in order to avoid a government default and/or partial government shutdown.

Does government spending create jobs? Does cutting the budget deficit create jobs? Can raising taxes be part of the equation after such a bad jobs report? Which programs can be cut that won't hurt job creation? Does anything government does have any effect on jobs at all?

Republicans and Democrats now have just three weeks to find the answers, or more likely, struggle to reach the true grand compromise: the right ingredients in a debt ceiling, spending and tax agreement that can also be sold to voters as a jobs plan (limited snickering at the edges from partisan economists would also help).

Senate committees next week will delve into a wide array of issues that range from examining the Environmental Protection Agency's part in  protecting the nation's drinking water sources to weighing in on the U.S.'s role in the turbulent political and military environment in Sudan. 

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

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke will testify at the House Financial Services Committee next week on monetary policy and the state of the economy. His Wednesday testimony will occur with the memory of Friday's poor jobs report that said the unemployment rate rose to 9.2 percent, and only 18,000 private sector jobs were created.

Also next week, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius testifies at the House Budget Committee on the Independent Payment Advisory Board, which Republicans say is a healthcare rationing board.

The legislation also proposes defunding some military activities in Libya and keeping in place all U.S. aid for Pakistan.

The House majority leader said Friday's jobless figures are a strong argument against raising taxes in a debt-ceiling deal.

A conservative freshman Republican lawmaker has introduced a constitutional amendment calling for term limits for both chambers of Congress.

The House on Friday morning approved two rules that will allow the House to take up bills that would appropriate funds for energy and water programs and reform the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) as early as next week.

By voice vote, the House approved the rule for the 2012 Energy and Water Appropriations Act, H.R. 2354. This bill would fund the Department of Energy and other related agencies, but cut $1 billion compared to FY 2011.

The House defeated a measure Friday that would have removed 50,000 troops now permanently based in Europe.

As the White House, Pentagon and lawmakers look for ways to generate savings within the Defense budget, some are calling for dramatic changes in the way U.S. forces are positioned around the globe.

The House defeated an amendment, 137-307, offered by Rep. Jared Polis (D-Colo.) that would have brought home permanently 50,000 U.S. troops now based in Europe. Polis’s provision would have mandated that 30,000 troops remain permanently stationed there.

Rep. Jim Moran (D-Va.) on Thursday introduced a bill that requests Congress support a study on building a "Melting Pot Museum" on the National Mall.