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.

A reconciled bill to fund the Federal Aviation Administration could be ready this week. 

Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) said he expects a final product on the long-delayed bill to be ready for Senate floor action by the middle of the week. 

Rockefeller will give Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) a bill this week he hopes will pass by the August recess, a Senate aide told The Hill. 

The union issue with FedEx and UPS will be handled on the floor, most likely in a separate vote from the main bill, Rockefeller told The Hill.

The House’s FAA bill shifts FedEx ground operations jurisdiction that would put FedEx and UPS under the same rules. FedEx has called it a “bailout” for UPS.

As the rhetoric over spending and debt created by extending unemployment benefits heated up Monday, the Senate is facing decisions this week over more than $100 billion in spending initiatives that aren't offset with other revenue raisers.

Senators are expected to pass a $34 billion extension of unemployment benefits on Tuesday afternoon after a six-week delay caused by a Republican filibuster. 

Meanwhile, Senate Democratic leadership might opt to take a test vote on a House-passed $81.3 billion measure to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and provide disaster aid to states. The bill isn't likely to pass the Senate despite the offsets for other added domestic programs such as education. 

Of the more than $115 billion spending in both bills, only $22.8 billion is paid for — that includes $10 billion for an education jobs fund estimated to help save 140,000 education jobs for the next school year, funding for Pell Grants, summer youth jobs, the Pigford and Cobell settlements and border security among other issues. 

The Senate and House bills each contain about $33 billion that is directed for the troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, an amount about equal with funding to extend unemployment benefits.