OVERNIGHT MONEY: Budget marathon begins

THURSDAY'S BIG STORY:

The long haul: The Senate Budget Committee will hunker down on Thursday in an effort to approve its first budget in four years.

Senate Budget Chairwoman Patty Murray (D-Wash.) seems to be rallying Democratic support but, as expected, Republicans aren't enamored with the plan, which wasn't released until after the panel met to give their opening statements. 

To push the fiscal 2014 product to the floor, Murray will need all 12 of her fellow party members to vote together to win over the expected wall of opposition from the committee's 10 Republicans. 

Once approved, the budget will head to the floor for amending and votes next week. 

Murray has suggested that Thursday's markup could go late into the evening — that's looking more likely, because members will be pulled away by meetings with President Obama and a slew of votes on the Senate's continuing resolution.

During Wednesday's meeting, most lawmakers said they were pleased to finally see the panel take up a budget after years of prodding by congressional Republicans.

But the GOP senators were a bit frustrated they didn't have Murray's proposal ahead of the meeting. 

Regardless of what happens on Thursday and even next week, inevitably, it will be up the the Appropriations committees to determine where the money goes. 

In fact, Murray has designed her budget so appropriators can determine what cuts to make, an approach also taken by House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.).

The budget blueprint is nonbinding and, even if by some miracle the House and Senate could reconcile their resolutions, the measure would not be sent to the White House for the president's signature. 

In a preliminary release of numbers, Murray suggested that slashing some tax breaks could be used to generate $975 billion in new revenue, although she wasn't specific. 

The budget calls for $265 billion in cuts to Medicare, but does not specify the cuts other than to say they cannot hurt beneficiaries.

Overall, Murray’s budget would cut between $650 billion and $1.85 trillion from deficits, depending on which baseline math is used. 

"Our budget reflects the pro-growth, pro-middle class agenda that the American people went to the polls in support of last election,” Murray said. 

In contrast, Ryan’s budget would balance in 10 years by cutting $5.7 trillion in spending. Murray’s budget doesn't balance but would put the deficit on a sustainable path, according to Democrats.

The budget contains reconciliation instructions to the Senate Finance Committee to reform the tax code by Oct. 1. The instructions are simple, only requiring that the tax code reform reduce deficits by $975 billion.

Outside the committee, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Wednesday that Murray’s budget would be “a disaster for our country.”

Let the budgeting begin. 

BUDGET ROUNDUP

Unrealistic realism: House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said Wednesday that it would be "helpful" to have President Obama's budget plan to guide this month's debate over 2014, but added it was unrealistic given the 11th-hour fiscal debates that have raged in Congress post-election.

GOP leaders have hammered Obama in recent weeks for failing to issue his 2014 budget blueprint by the Feb. 4 deadline, instead pushing the expected release to early April. 

Meet and greet: House Republicans peppered the president with pointed questions on the budget, White House tours and the Keystone oil pipeline during an hour-long meeting Wednesday that yielded no major breakthroughs between the two divided parties.

WHAT ELSE TO WATCH FOR

Debt questions: The Joint Economic Committee will take a look at the nation’s growing debt obligations on Thursday with testimony from former Sen. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.), Alice Rivlin of the Brookings Institution, MIT Professor Simon Johnson and Douglas Holtz-Eakin, former director of the Congressional Budget Office.

Looking at spending: House appropriators are loaded up with a bunch of hearings on Thursday that will tackle a wide range of federal priorities.The highlights include oversight hearings for the Justice Department, as well as a Thursday chat about funding for the Supreme Court with Justices Anthony Kennedy and Stephen Breyer.

Disability program: On Thursday, a House Ways and Means subcommittee will explore the financial challenges facing the Social Security Disability Insurance Program with government experts. 

Examining Dodd-Frank agencies: A House Financial Services subcommittee on Thursday will discuss what the Government Accountability Office has to say about the Financial Stability Oversight Council and the Office of Financial Research, two creations of the Dodd-Frank financial reform law.

The House Agriculture Committee also will look at ways to tweak Dodd-Frank, particularly the section that poses new regulations on derivatives with a discussion with Gary Gensler, chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and industry experts. 

Regulating regulators: A House Small Business subcommittee on Thursday will look at how regulations are potentially hurting small businesses, with testimony expected from government officials and representatives from the business community. 

Minimum wage: The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee will a hearing on Thursday about indexing the minimum wage to inflation. Panel Chairman Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) has introduced a bill that would, eventually, raise the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour, up from the current rate of $7.25, and index it for inflation. 

LOOSE CHANGE

We'll think about it: House GOP appropriators are broadly supportive of the Senate's proposed continuing resolution to fund the government but are withholding judgment based on the outcome of amendments, The Hill's Erik Wasson reports. 

A House GOP aide said the Senates spending bill "largely holds to the parameters within House-passed CR and other pre-negotiated agreements."

It maintains sequestration, has no new funds for the healthcare reform law or the Dodd-Frank finance law, does not provide expanded reprogramming authority and keeps the federal pay freeze in place, the aide noted.

The support from House Appropriations Committee Chairman Hal Rogers (R-Ky.) who had been studying the bill, makes it likely a government shutdown will be averted. 

444 days: Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.) introduced legislation on Wednesday that would compensate the 52 victims of the Iran hostage crisis for the 444 days they were held captive. The compensation would come from fees collected from violations of Iran sanctions. 

Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal (Conn.) is the lead co-sponsor.

The hostages, who were captured in at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, Iran, in 1979 were released on President Reagan's inauguration day, Jan. 20, 1981.

Isakson’s bill would provide about $4.4 million to the hostages or their family members, $10,000 for each day they were held captive. Five years after their release they received approximately $22,000 each from the U.S. government.

Isakson’s legislation provides an alternative avenue for the victims to collect compensation without violating the Algiers Accords. Three of the former hostages live in Georgia.

“The Oscar-winning film Argo has reminded us all of the sacrifices and risks that members of the Foreign Service make to serve our country overseas in some dangerous places. The Iran hostages sacrificed mightily for our country, and I urge Congress to pass this legislation to demonstrate our support for the brave men and women who represent our country abroad."

ECONOMIC INDICATORS

Initial Claims: The Labor Department releases its weekly filings for jobless benefits a day ahead of February job numbers. 

Mortgage Rates: Freddie Mac is releasing weekly data on fixed-rate mortgages, which have been hovering around historic lows.  

Producer Price Index (PPI): The Labor Department will release its report for February that tracks the prices of goods at the wholesale level. The market tracks PPI closely because it represents prices for goods that are ready for sale to consumers.  

WHAT YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED

— Administration 'strongly opposes' GOP job training bill

— Governors: Tax reform shouldn't make life harder for states

— Dems seek to rewrite Ryan healthcare proposals

— Coburn to IRS: Find savings without furloughs

— CEO outlook rises for first time in a year

— GOP senators lift hold on $984B spending bill

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