Both chambers will dig into the farm bill this week as lawmakers look to strike a deal.

The Senate Agriculture Committee is set to mark up its version of the bill on Tuesday, while its House counterpart will follow suit on Wednesday. 

The biggest difference between the two bills is how they handle food stamps. The House would cut $23 billion from food stamp programs, while the Senate bill would trim just $4 billion.

Leaders in the House and Senate have both committed to floor action in the coming weeks. Farmers are currently operating under an extension of the 2008 farm bill.

The new economic atmosphere might help advance some of Obama’s agenda, but could dim hopes of fiscal reform.

Issa accused the IRS of leaking a watchdog report in an effort to spin its findings.

"The president needs to make crystal clear that this is totally unacceptable," she said Sunday.

News that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are making money could cause Congress to lose interest in a housing overhaul.

A federal watchdog reportedly will find that top officials were aware of the targeting in 2011.

Groups whose names included "patriot" or "Tea Party" faced extra scrutiny because of an "error in judgment."

Rep. Dave Camp (R-Mich.), the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, said Friday that his panel would hold a hearing on the IRS’s admission that it had wrongly singled out Tea Party groups during the 2012 election.

The IRS said Friday that career employees had given extra scrutiny to groups applying for tax-exempt status with “Tea Party” and “patriots” in their name last year.

Top GOP lawmakers – including Rep. Charles Boustany (R-La.), a senior Ways and Means member – said at the time that they were concerned that the tax agency was giving too much attention to Tea Party groups. But top IRS officials denied that they were targeting any group.

“The IRS absolutely must be non-partisan in its enforcement of our tax laws. The admission by the agency that it targeted American taxpayers based on politics is both shocking and disappointing,” Camp said Friday.

“The Committee on Ways and Means will thoroughly investigate this matter and will soon hold a hearing to get to the bottom of this situation. We will hold the IRS accountable for its actions.” Read more...

Republicans argued the closures were unnecessary because of legislation passed last month that provided funding flexibility.