The House returns next week to make the point that it cannot support President Obama's request to increase the debt ceiling by $2.4 trillion to accommodate his budget priorities.

Republicans are purposefully setting up this vote to fail, preparing the ground for a vote sometime in the summer on a bill that would likely increase the debt ceiling by some smaller amount and include spending limitation conditions on the increase.

A House vote on this bill could take place as early as Wednesday, and the 40 minutes of planned debate will be one of the highlights of the week.

Senate Democratic leaders intend to call up yet another non-controversial piece of legislation, the Economic Development Administration (EDA) funding bill, next month, which they believe will help create jobs, sources inside leadership told The Hill on Friday.

House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairwoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.) introduced legislation this week aimed at making it more difficult for Cuba to develop its petroleum industry. It would do so by imposing new sanctions against entities that invest in Cuba's oil sector.

Ros-Lehtinen's bill comes in the midst of a debate within the U.S. about whether and how the U.S. should develop its own petroleum resources — one that has seen Republicans call for increased drilling on the Outer Continental Shelf.

Rep. Heath Shuler (D-N.C.) this week reintroduced legislation that would toughen up U.S. immigration enforcement by increasing border security and requiring mandatory worker verification within the United States.

The bill, the Secure America through Verification and Enforcement (SAVE) Act, was introduced Thursday with 36 co-sponsors from both parties. The bill has the potential to pick up dozens of additional co-sponsors — Shuler's version of the bill in 2007 ultimately attracted 157 co-sponsors.

While the Senate is out next week, the House returns Tuesday after the Memorial Day break, and the House Financial Services Committee will hear testimony from Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on the state of the global financial system.

Other committees will also take on financial issues next week. The House Budget Committee will look at taxpayer exposure to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and the House Small Business Committee will examine small business access to credit.

The House next week will look to pass a bill that cuts more than $1 billion in funding for the Department of Homeland Security for FY 2012 and funds DHS at a level nearly $3 billion below the Obama administration's request.

The bill, S. 2017, reflects the belief among Republican appropriators that the U.S. fiscal crisis is at least as grave a security threat as threats from terrorism. In a report accompanying the bill, House Appropriations Committee Republicans said that while DHS plays a "vital role" in countering threats from terrorists, that it not their only consideration.

House Foreign Affairs Committee Ranking Member Howard Berman (D-Calif.) on Thursday introduced legislation that would give the Executive Branch new authority to regulate the sale of strategic goods and services, including software, which might pose a threat to U.S. national security.

Berman's Technology Security Act, S. 2004, would revamp current U.S. controls on the export of sensitive goods in a way that recognizes the new adversaries the U.S. faces.

"The current export control statute is an out-moded relic of the Cold War that focuses on economic warfare against old adversaries and fails to account for today's threats," Berman said. "Updating this law is essential to our national security and necessary to sustain our cutting edge technology sector and create new, high quality jobs."

The House convened briefly at 10 a.m. Friday morning, but adjourned after just a few minutes for the Memorial Day weekend.

House members return Tuesday at noon for speeches, and begins legislative work at 2 p.m. The Senate is essentially out until the week of June 6, but will hold a pro-forma session Tuesday morning at 10 a.m.

The Senate unanimously approved legislation late Thursday night that would make improvements to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) that helps journalists and watchdogs obtain government documents.

“This bill helps bring our government one step closer to better transparency,” said Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), a co-sponsor of the bill. “This commission will identify methods to reduce delays in the processing of FOIA requests and ensure the efficient and equitable administration of FOIA throughout the federal government."