Photograph by John Stillwell - Pool /Getty Images

Prince Harry talks to staff Sergeant Timothy Payne, right, during his visit to the Military Advanced Training Center at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center treating wounded soldiers undergoing physical therapy on May 10, 2013 in Bethesda, Maryland.

With nice weather comes the visitors. U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron follows Prince Harry in town today. Cameron meets with President Barack Obama at the White House. Later, Obama heads to New York where he’ll headline a $32,400-a-person evening fundraiser for the DNC at the home of movie producer Harvey Weinstein.

Police officers from around the country are in Washington for events including a candlelight vigil tonight for those killed in the line of duty.

Acting Commerce Secretary Rebecca Blank is doing some traveling of her own: heading out on a South American trip that takes her to Brazil today.

The Senate returns today, with no roll call votes scheduled. The House has a pro forma session.

Former Defense Secretary Robert Gates supported the Obama administration’s handling of the Benghazi affair, telling CBS’s “Face the Nation” that he wouldn’t have sent a small force into Libya if he was heading the Pentagon at the time of the 2012 attack.

Today is the deadline for sending public comment to the State Department about Enbridge’s request to double the volume of oil it ships through a pipeline from Alberta to Wisconsin. The pipeline would carry even more oil than TransCanada Corp.’s proposed Keystone XL.

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee holds a forum on natural gas, including pipeline infrastructure and the use of gas in transportation sector, with General Electric’s Water & Process Technologies BVBA CEO Steve Bolze and Northwest Natural CEO Gregg hKantor among participants.

Rep. Scott Garrett, a New Jersey Republican, hosts Equity Market Structure Roundtable on history of statutes, regulations governing America’s equity markets. Wall Street’s biggest bond dealers see the U.S. Treasury reducing the size of its debt auctions in coming months for the first time in three years as government revenue soars after the CBO estimated the smallest budget deficit since 2008, Bloomberg reported.

Alliance for Health Reform holds briefing on Medicare-Medicaid coordination for dual eligibles.

Original post is Washington Daybook: Coming and Going by Political Capital.

Photograph by Mark Wilson/Getty Images

Prince Harry with first lady Michelle Obama during an event to honor military families at the White House on May 9, 2013 in Washington, DC.

Prince Harry was the subject of so many photographs by young, female Capitol Hill staffers during his visit yesterday that London’s Daily Telegraph diagnosed Washington with a case of “Harrymania.” The doctors, nurses and veterans at the Walter Reed Military Medical Center may want to charge up their cameras, as the Harrymania tour continues today with a trip to the hospital. He’ll also visit the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery.

Other celebrities in Washington today in include NBA legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who attends a celebration of nation’s oldest reading program at Amidon-Bowen Elementary. MLB Washington Nationals General Manager Mike Rizzo and Center Fielder Denard Span discuss the impact of Jackie Robinson on civil rights, followed by screening of film “42″ at Regal Gallery Place Stadium cinema. And Apollo 11 Astronaut Buzz Aldrin discusses his book “Mission to Mars: My Vision for Space Exploration” at the National Press Club.

Meanwhile, business as usual continues in Washington, and by that we mean more gridlock. The Republican-led House plans a vote next week to repeal the 2010 health-care law. Today President Barack Obama will likely explain why he wouldn’t put his signature on legislation to trash the measure that will likely be the most significant achievement of his administration.

With the Postal Service on pace to almost run out of cash in October, Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe may have to decide whether to make unilateral changes without congressional consent, an adviser on the service’s turnaround plan said.

The agency will report quarterly financial results today.

Some good news on budgets: Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew says a payment from Fannie Mae means the U.S. debt ceiling won’t be reached until September.

“The one-time payment that Fannie Mae has announced makes it very clear that we’re not going to hit the effective deadline until at least Labor Day,” Lew said in an interview on CNBC Television in London today. “The statutory debt limit will be reached in just a few days” and “because of the extraordinary measures that are available and cash flows that we now can predict it will not be until at least after Labor Day,” which falls on Sept. 2 this year.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce holds its annual economic briefing today. ADP holds a news conference with Moody’s Analytics Chief Economist Mark Zandi, to announce report on regional and state private sector employment trends. The Treasury Department issues its monthly budget statement.

The House returns for legislative business Tuesday. The Senate returns Monday.

Original post is Washington Daybook: Harrymania by Political Capital.

Photograph by Chris Jackson/Getty Images

Prince Harry learns sign language from deaf children during at visit to the Kananelo Centre for the deaf, a project supported by his charity Sentebale, on February 27, 2013 in Maseru, Lesotho.

Swedish King Gustaf and Queen Silvia join Prince Harry of Great Britain among the throngs of tourists visiting the U.S. capital today. Gustaf fills his day in Washington with seven events including a ceremony in conjunction with the Raoul Wallenberg Congressional Gold Medal at Treasury, while Harry’s schedule has two appearances including, of course, a party.

Boston Police Commissioner Edward Davis is also visiting Washington. He’ll testify to a House panel today on the bombings in his city last month.

President Barack Obama is taking a tour of Texas, speaking on jobs and the economy at a high school in Manor and a factory in Austin today.

Secretary of State John Kerry is visiting Rome for meetings with Italian leaders as well as Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh and Israeli Justice Minister Tzipi Livni.

Perhaps concerned about tourists who overstay their welcome, the Senate Judiciary Committee is to begin rewriting U.S. immigration policy in much-anticipated and debated legislation.

Also today, the Committee for Economic Development holds Spring Policy Conference with speakers including Senators Bob Corker, Saxby Chambliss,and Mark Warne, as well as National Economic Council Director Gene Sperling.

The House is scheduled to vote today on a bill that would exempt federal payments to creditors from a borrowing-limit cap. The bill has almost no chance of advancing in the Senate and faces a veto threat from President Obama if passed, yet signals the start of a “protracted debate” over the nation’s borrowing authority, Bloomberg reports.

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel delivers remarks on U.S. defense policy in the Middle East at the Washington Institute for Near East Peace’s Soref Symposium. The House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure meets to mark up H.R. 3, the Keystone pipeline approval bill.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce hosts its “IP Champions” conference, with speakers including John Morton, director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and Rick Cotton, chairman of the Coalition Against Counterfeiting and Piracy and general counsel at NBC Universal.

And the Federal Communication Commission holds an open meeting to consider rules to improve broadband access on airplanes and access to spectrum for commercial space launch operators

Original post is Washington Daybook: Tourists by Political Capital.

Photograph by Brian Harkin/Getty Images

Bill Gates, co-chair and trustee of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, talks with former President Bill Clinton, right, during the closing plenary session of the annual Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) on September 23, 2010 in New York City.

Former President Bill Clinton and Microsoft’s Bill Gates discuss America’s future at the annual Peterson Foundation Fiscal Summit. They’ll be followed by speakers including Senate Budget Chairwoman Patty Murray, House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan and Assistant to the President for Economic Policy Gene Sperling.

U.S. regulators face renewed pressure from Congress to ease Dodd-Frank Act derivatives rules amid mounting criticism from Wall Street and overseas that they overreach, Bloomberg News reports. The House Financial Services Committee is scheduled to vote on nine measures that would allow more swaps to be traded in units of banks such as JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Citigroup Inc. that hold government-insured deposits.

President Barack Obama meets with South Korean President Park Geun-Hey at the White House today to discuss issues including security, one day after Park said her country would “make them pay” if North Korea were to mount a similar attack to the 2010 sinking of a warship, Bloomberg News reports. Meanwhile, the Dalai Lama gives a lecture on peace at the University of Maryland.

Also today, Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton Carter speaks at the National Press Club on the impact of budget uncertainty on the military. Pentagon contracts tumbled 52 percent in April from a month earlier as federal budget cuts took hold, Bloomberg News reported.

A special election being held today for the vacant House seat in South Carolina pits former Republican Gov. Mark Sanford against Democratic nominee Elizabeth Colbert Busch, sister of political satirist Stephen Colbert. Polls close at 7 p.m.

Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform, appears on Bloomberg TV. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew discusses state of U.S. economy at City Club of Cleveland. A House Appropriations panel hears from Chairman Mary Jo White on the Securities and Exchange Commission’s proposed budget.

Sen. Mitch McConnell, Rep. Marsha Blackburn, former Sen. Jim DeMint and Forbes CEO Steve Forbes participate in a Heritage Foundation event to honor the late Margaret Thatcher. Later, Majority Leader Eric Cantor and other House Republicans hold a roundtable discussion with private sector employees and working parents followed by a media briefing.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit hears arguments in Texas challenge over federal takeover of the state’s carbon-emission rules. A House Science, Space and Technology panel holds a hearing on Keystone pipeline. A House Energy and Commerce panel holds a hearing on prospects for exports of U.S. energy including liquefied natural gas.

Secretary of State John Kerry visits Moscow to meet with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and other Russian officials. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee hears from Deborah Kay Jones, nominated to become ambassador to Libya, at her confirmation hearing. UN Undersecretary General for Humanitarian Affairs Valerie Amos participates in discussion of international response to Syria, hosted by Middle East Institute.

And tennis legend Chris Evert discusses her charity work at the National Press Club.

Original post is Washington Daybook: Bill and Bill’s American Adventure by Political Capital.

Photograph by Scott Olson/Getty Images

Retailers advertise Cyber Monday deals on their websites.

The Senate is ready to vote on controversial legislation that would let states collect and use sales taxes from out-of-state sellers for purchases made over the Internet and through catalogs.

The House is scheduled to take up a bill that would give priority to bondholders and to the Social Security trust fund if there’s no agreement on raising the debt limit.

Action also is planned in Congress on a bill that would allow private-sector employers to provide comp time to hourly employees instead of overtime pay.

Rep. Paul Gosar, an Arizona Republican, speaks at New America Foundation summit on drones.

And NASA Administrator Charles Bolden delivers the keynote address at Explore Mars Inc.’s “Humans 2 Mars Summit” at George Washington University’s Lisner Auditorium.

Original post is Washington Daybook: Taxing the Internet by Political Capital.

Photograph by Vladimir Weiss/Bloomberg

Ali al-Naimi, Saudi Arabia’s oil minister, gestures to the media prior to the start of the 160th Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) meeting in Vienna, Austria, on Dec.14, 2011.

Bloomberg LINK hosts a Washington Summit all day today at the headquarters of Foreign Affairs Magazine with speakers including Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chairman Gary Gensler, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski, Lazard Vice Chairman Gary Parr, White House Council of Economic Advisers’ Alan Krueger, Center for American Progress Chairman John Podesta and Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell.

Massachusetts Democratic Reps. Ed Markey and Stephen Lynch vie for open U.S. Senate seat in primary. Markey had a 44 percent to 34 percent lead this month in a Western New England University poll. Three Republicans are also competing for their party’s nomination.

Federal Election Commission member Caroline Hunter’s term ends today, which means all FEC members are serving beyond their term, Bloomberg News reported. Since taking office in 2009, President Barack Obama has made just one nomination, later withdrawn.

Also today, the Federal Open Market Committee begins a two-day meeting on interest rates. An announcement is expected tomorrow afternoon. The Treasury releases a report on foreign holdings of U.S. securities. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew holds a closed meeting with officials from regional and mid-sized banks to discuss the state of economy and the financial services industry.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce hosts a Small Business Summit, with Jim Koch, founder and chairman of Boston Beer Co. and Linda Alvarado, president of the Colorado Rockies MLB team.

Obama will make an announcement on veterans employment just before noon. The House meets in pro forma session. The Senate is not in session. House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer of Maryland delivers remarks at the American Hospital Association’s Spring meeting.

Saudi Oil Minister Ali Al-Naimi discusses energy issues at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Climate Central releases a report on 11 billion gallons of sewage unleashed by Superstorm Sandy. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s Tony Clark delivers remarks at a Natural Gas Roundtable luncheon.

Today is the deadline for health insurers seeking to sell policies in federal health exchanges to submit proposed rates. Rep. Andy Harris, a Maryland Republican, Rep. Dan Benishek, a Michigan Republican, and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Chief Medical Officer Patrick Conway address American Society of Anesthesiologists Legislative Conference.

The U.S. Trade Representative may issue a report on intellectual property. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce holds a discussion on Transatlantic Trade Agreement, with Deputy U.S. Trade Rep. Miriam Sapiro. Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies hosts a discussion on investment in Caucases, Central Asia and Mongolia.

And speaking of rising to the summit, Core Capital Partners Managing Director Tom Wheeler is being vetted for the role of FCC chairman, sources told Bloomberg BNA.

Laura Curtis and Chelsea Mes assisted on this report.

Original post is Washington Daybook: To the Summit by Political Capital.

Photograph by Charlotte Observer/MCT/Landov

Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx greets President Barack Obama as he arrives at Charlotte/Douglas International Airport in Charlotte, N.C. on March 7, 2012.

President Barack Obama will nominate Charlotte, North Carolina, Mayor Anthony Foxx, a Democrat, to lead Transportation Department, Bloomberg News reported.

The Consumer Federation of America today releases a report on the status of progress toward an auto fuel-economy standard of 54.5 miles per gallon, which the U.S. will require by 2025.

Two former lawmakers will also have a report on travel of the interplanetary kind. Former Reps. Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick and Roscoe Bartlett host Citizen Hearing Foundation meeting attempting to prove extraterrestrial contact.

Also today, Govs. Tom Corbett, a Pennsylvania Republican, Paul LePage, a Maine Republican, and Scott Walker, a Wisconsin Republican, participate in a U.S. Chamber of Commerce Small Business Summit.

Obama delivers remarks to celebrate the founding of the National Academy of Sciences.

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and his Japanese counterpart Itsunori Onodera hold a press briefing at the Pentagon following their bilateral meeting.

And Treasury Secretary Jack Lew hosts a dinner for a group of economists and “thought leaders” to discuss the economy and job creation.

Original post is Washington Daybook: Traveling by Political Capital.

Photograph by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images

John Moore #17 of the New York Rangers fights with Jack Skille #12 of the Florida Panthers in the third period at Madison Square Garden on April 18, 2013 in New York City.

Members of Congress take a break from their bruising budget battles and vicious finger pointing to hear from some real experts in fighting — the NHL. Commissioner Gary Bettman, Washington Capitals owner Ted Leonsis and members of the Congressional Hockey Caucus including Reps. Pat Meehan of Pennsylvania, Mike Quigley of Illinois, Brian Higgins of New York, and Erik Paulsen of Minnesota will attend a briefing on the state of U.S. hockey, perhaps giving out a few pointers on elbows, checking and other debate tactics.

Speaking of fights, Federal Aviation Administration Administrator Michael Huerta will mix it up when he goes before a House Appropriations subcommittee. Lawmakers of both parties have complained about the FAA’s decision to furlough air-traffic controllers to comply with the automatic budget cuts, causing some flight delays.

Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and acting Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Bob Perciasepe will be on Capitol Hill, dropping the gloves over the administration’s fiscal 2014 budget request.

Also today, President Barack Obama travels to Dallas and delivers remarks at a
Democratic National Committee event. Vice President Joe Biden attends service for MIT police officer killed during Boston Marathon bomber manhunt.

The House takes up bill that would transfer money from a public health fund to a program intended to offer coverage to those with pre-existing conditions that has suspended enrollment. The Senate will vote on the nomination of Sylvia Mathews Burwell to be director of the Office of Management and Budget, and on the motion to proceed to a measure that would let states collect sales and use taxes from out-of-state sellers for purchases made over the Internet and through catalogs.

The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee holds a hearing on Fisker Automotive’s Energy Dept loan with witnesses including founder Henrik Fisker. The House Rules Committee meets to formulate a rule on H.R. 527, to complete privatization of the federal helium reserve. The House Natural Resources Committee marks up H.R. 3, to approve construction, operation, maintenance of Keystone XL pipeline.

Regulators are moving to curb or eliminate high-interest, short-term lending that may ensnare consumers in a cycle of debt as they draw one loan to repay another. The CFPB said today it would consider imposing waiting times between loans while the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency plan to issue guidelines tomorrow similar to early 2000s guidelines stamping out other forms of payday lending, Bloomberg News reported.

House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling, a Texas Republican, and Sen. David Vitter, a Louisiana Repulican, will open an Independent Community Bankers of America policy summit with separate remarks. Sen. Sherrod Brown, an Ohio Democrat, and Vitter will later disclose details of their “too big to fail” banking measure, which would impose higher capital standards on banks with more than $500 billion in assets and end any market perception that taxpayers will bail out the biggest institutions if they fail, Bloomberg reported.

The Senate Finance Committee holds a hearing on the U.S. role in Trans-Pacific
Partnership trade talks. Rajiv Shah, head of the U.S. Agency for International
Development, discusses his priorities for 2014 at a hearing of the the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The House Foreign Affairs Cmte meets on export controls. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat, and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, meet with King Abdullah II of Jordan at the U.S. Capitol.

Also today, Mozilla General Counsel Harvey Anderson testifies before Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation about what industry has done to meet do-not-track online privacy standards. The National Transportation Safety Board concludes a meeting examining how Boeing and FAA approved the 787’s lithium-ion batteries. The House Budget Committee holds a hearing on highway trust fund. The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee meets on the national freight system.

And in case you missed it, the Caps defeated the Winnipeg Jets last night 5-3 to clinch their fourth NHL Southeast Division title in the past five years. On to he playoffs!

Original post is Washington Daybook: Fight Club by Political Capital.

Photograph by Daniel Acker/Bloomberg

Three sections of pipe sit on the ground during construction of the Gulf Coast Project pipeline in Atoka, Oklahoma, as part of the Keystone XL Pipeline Project and will run from Cushing, Oklahoma to Nederland, Texas.

Today is the deadline for public comments at the State Department on the proposed Keystone pipeline to carry tar-sands oil fro Canada to U.S. refineries. Democratic donors are trying to persuade President Barack Obama that turning down TransCanada Corp.’s petition to build the $5.3 billion pipeline can be a political winner. They’re making personal pleas and pumping money into campaign funds as the pipeline plan moves closer to approval, Bloomberg News reports.

Apple Inc. could find out whether it will face any limits on sales of its iPhone 4 over a patent dispute with Google Inc’s Motorola. Washington’s International Trade Commission scheduled to announce whether it will uphold a judge’s finding that Motorola’s patent is invalid.

Obama hosts the annual White House Science Fair, with students from across the country showing off their baking soda volcanoes and potato clocks, with perhaps something new as well.

The Senate Judiciary Committee holds hearing on the “Gang of Eight” immigration bill. Later, the full Senate takes a procedural vote on an online sales tax bill supported by retailers including Wal-Mart Stores Inc.

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel visits Israel. Martin Dempsey, chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff, is in Beijing. Commodities Futures Trading Commission Chairman Gary Gensler will speak in London.  Secretary of State John Kerry attends the NATO foreign ministers summit in Brussels.

Original post is Washington Daybook: Keystone Deadline by Political Capital.

President Barack Obama will speak at a memorial service for the victims of the April 15 bombing in Boston, seeking to calm a jittery public while the bomber is still at large. The Senate Armed Services Committee today in Washington hears from Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and Defense Intelligence Agency Director Michael Flynn on threats to the nation.

With prospects bleak for passage of their gun legislation, Senate Democrats will try to determine their next step as the chamber votes on two more amendments: one to reauthorize mental health programs, the other to withhold grants to states that release confidential information on gun owners and domestic violence victims.

The House plans to complete consideration of legislation that would provide liability protection to U.S. companies for sharing cyber-security information with the federal government.

The State Department holds a public meeting to hear final comments on Trans-Canada’s Keystone XL pipeline, which would carry tar sands from Canada to U.S. Gulf Coast.

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee hears from Secretary of State John Kerry on the department’s budget.

The Group of 20 nations will affirm a commitment to avoid weakening their currencies to gain a trade advantage, according a draft statement prepared for meeting this week in Washington, Bloomberg BNA reports. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew meets with U.K. Chancellor George Osborne on the sidelines of the Spring meetings of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, going on in Washington through the weekend. World Bank President Jim Yong Kim and IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde appear on Bloomberg TV this morning.

Mary Jo White, the former prosecutor sworn in last week as chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, intends to focus on high-frequency and automated trading, and has raised questions about a drop in number of accounting fraud cases agency has brought in recent years, Bloomberg News reports.

A House Ways and Means panel meets on using “chained” Consumer Price Index for Social Security cost of living adjustments. The Federal Communications Commission holds an open meeting to consider plans to reduce regulations for foreign ownership of radio licenses and expand direct access to telephone numbers by IP-based providers.

Original post is Washington Daybook: Threats to the Nation by Political Capital.