The House will vote this week on legislation suspending tariffs on hundreds of imports that Democrats say will provide a boost to domestic manufacturers.

The tariff bill, which Congress moves every two years, is generally uncontroversial, but this one could be more difficult.

House Republicans have adopted a strict earmark ban written to cover the miscellaneous tariff bill, and it’s unclear whether the GOP will vote for this year’s legislation.

Goldman Sachs posted quarterly earnings on Tuesday 82 percent lower than the same period last year, due in part to massive fines and fees in the United States and United Kingdom.

The firm settled a civil fraud suit with the SEC last week, agreeing to pay a $550 million fine, the largest in history. The half-billion-dollar hit was coupled with a $600 million bonus tax in the U.K., leaving Goldman with quarterly profits of $613 million.

That’s down from $3.4 billion in the same quarter last year.

The SEC fine stemmed from accusations that Goldman Sachs had duped investors into supporting an investment that was “designed to fail.”

“This settlement is a stark lesson to Wall Street firms that no product is too complex, and no investor too sophisticated, to avoid a heavy price if a firm violates the fundamental principles of honest treatment and fair dealing,” Robert Khuzami, director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement, said when announcing the settlement.

Critics suggested the suit against Goldman, announced in April, was a political calculation to build support for financial reform. The Obama administration said the timing was coincidental.

House Ways and Means Chairman Sandy Levin (D-Mich.) is unlikely to mark up a green energy jobs bill before the August recess, sources told The Hill. 

Democrats on the tax-writing committee are apparently apprehensive about moving forward on a bill that increases taxes right before they leave town to campaign for reelection.

Levin is expected to release an official draft of the legislation before leaving town. 

Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) on Tuesday called for “intellectual consistency” when responding to a July 14 Washington Post editorial that argued extending the top two rates of the Bush tax cuts should be paid for while the extension of middle-class tax breaks should not be offset. 

The House is expected to pass an extension of unemployment benefits sometime Wednesday, ending a six-week wait for more than 2.5 million Americans who have been out of work for at least six months. 

The Senate is expected to vote Tuesday afternoon on a stand-alone $34 billion bill -- the stripped down tax extenders package -- that will provide those extended benefits of up to 99 weeks through November. 

Then the House will take up the measure on Wednesday, likely pass it, clearing it for President Obama's desk, according to a senior Democratic aide. 

Democrats and Republicans continued their sharp-edged rhetoric Monday, beginning with a morning speech by the president that urged Congress to pass the bill and criticized Republicans for holding it up. 

Home builder confidence declined for the second straight month in July to its lowest level since April 2009, a signal that the tax credit expiration could hamper the housing market's recovery. 

The index dropped to 14 in July, before the forecast, down two points from a downward revised 16 from 17 in June, the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index released Monday.

"The pause in sales following expiration of the home buyer tax credits is turning out to be longer than anticipated due to the sluggish pace of improvement in the rest of the economy," said NAHB Chief Economist David Crowe in a statement. 

The prospect of Ways and Means Chairman Sandy Levin (D-Mich) hosting a markup on energy legislation this week appeared to be in doubt on Monday as he told reporters that there were still a few kinks in the bill that needed to be worked out. 

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The progress of the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program will be the focus of a Senate Finance Committee hearing on Wednesday. 

In June, the Treasury Department reported to Congress that TARP repayments had reached $194 billion, exceeding by $4 billion the total amount of outstanding debt of $190 billion. 

The outstanding debt doesn’t include $106.36 billion that has been committed to institutions but hasn’t been paid out yet. Considering that amount, total outstanding debt would be approximately $296 billion. 

Of the initial $700 billion, $489.88 billion has been committed to specific institutions, and $383.52 billion of that has been paid out by Treasury. The department said it does not expect to use more than $550 billion of the $700 billion program. 

Democratic National Committee Chairman Tim Kaine on Monday blasted Republican campaign committee Chairmen Pete Sessions and John Cornyn, both from Texas, who on Sunday defended the policies of President George W. Bush. 

Under Bush, Congress passed a $1.3 trillion tax bill that was not offset, which some contend contributed mightily to the current deficit.