Economy

Senate Republicans say Democrats postponed a vote on President Obama's Labor nominee after they learned that a whistleblower was invited to testify.

House Republicans are accusing the Federal Reserve of "willful obstruction" on its plans to exit from its massive portfolio.

House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (Calif.) and Rep. Jim Jordan (Ohio) chided Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke on Monday for refusing to provide necessary documents to Congress as they monitor the central bank's policies.

"The American people have a right to know the true risks associated with the expansion of the Federal Reserve's balance sheet," they wrote. "The Fed's obstruction and lack of transparency must stop."

Gang of Eight helped out local interests in immigration bill.

Securities regulators, states quarrel over social media monitoring.

Sequestration-related furloughs have arrived.

Businesses push to become real estate trusts to lower tax bills.

IMF says world needs stronger growth.

Fresh data on U.S. economic growth comes this week as both the House and Senate attend to a full slate of economic events.

On Friday, the Commerce Department will provide its first estimate of economic growth in the first quarter of 2013. The advance estimate will come after the government reported the nation’s gross domestic product grew just 0.4 percent in the last three months of 2012, as businesses braced for the “fiscal cliff.”

Meanwhile, both the House and Senate are in session with a number of high-profile hearings on tap.

President Obama's nominee to lead the Labor Department emerged relatively unscathed from a hearing on Thursday but he still faces plenty of resistance toward confirmation. 

Thomas Perez, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, was expected to face stiff questioning from Senate Republicans about his role in several discrimination cases, but he seemed to successfully navigate hard-edged inquiries at the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing. 

A signal as to whether he has enough support to win the job will be determined next Thursday in a vote scheduled by panel Chairman Tom Harkin (D-Iowa).

He has strong back from Democrats with Harkin calling Perez a "well qualified" candidate who has shown the "strongest possible record of professional integrity" and he determined that any arguments to the contrary are "unfounded." 

Regardless of that outcome, Perez faces several hurdles to become Labor secretary and replace Hilda Solis.

Conservatives worry this time might be different on immigration.

Labor nominee could face some heat.

Former rivals, Mexico and China's trade relationship is evolving. 

World Bank to focus on middle class, given growth in developing world. 

New SEC chief won't find as many obvious enforcement opportunities. 

House Democrats are gathering support behind a proposal to raise the minimum wage for hourly and tipped workers. 

Reps. George Miller (D-Calif.) and Donna Edwards (D-Md.) unveiled a new association of restaurant owners who are backing legislation to gradually raise the federal minimum wage to $10.10 an hour and boost the $2.13 hourly wage in annual 85-cent increases, until it reaches 70 percent of the regular minimum wage. 

“A $2.13 an hour wage for tipped workers in this day and age is a national embarrassment and it’s unacceptable,” Miller said at a press conference on Capitol Hill on Wednesday. 

"It’s time to raise the tipped minimum wage, and it’s time to raise the federal minimum wage for all workers."

The Federal Reserve reported Wednesday that the economy was continuing to expand "at a moderate pace," but that several policies out of Washington were pinching growth.

Fiscal tightening, including automatic sequestration cuts, as well as the continued implementation of the Affordable Care Act were cited by the Fed's business contacts as reasons for concern about the trajectory of the nation's economy.

Businesses in several districts nationwide told the Fed they saw "uncertainty or weakness" in military and defense-related businesses. In San Francisco, manufacturers with ties to the defense industry said they were issuing furloughs, laying off workers, and even closing some production plans. Business contacts in Chicago and Philadelphia were also taking steps to cut costs in anticipation of reduced government spending on defense.

The White House believes people making a profit are "up to no good," the GOP leader told bankers in Washington.

The Obama administration is delaying Tax Day for all of those affected by the bomb attacks in Boston on Monday.