The Week of July 14

Housing Help: A hefty housing rescue package is back in the House's court this week, where it could get final tweaks before landing on the president's desk. House leaders are expected to sign off on the bill's centerpieces: covering refinanced mortgages for up to 400,000 homeowners caught up in risky loans; and stiffening the oversight of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the two "quasi" governmental agencies that back 40% of the nation's mortgages but which - particularly after last week's tumble - are thought to be on shaky ground. What's left to be figured out is how to pay for part of the bill's $14.5 billion in tax credits for new homeowners and the housing industry, as well as whether the final bill will include $4 billion for communities to rehabilitate defaulted homes.

• see more on the housing collapse and DC's response
• see the bill, HR 3221

Gas Gambits: With gas prices still putting the squeeze on constituents, Congress continues this week to look busy on the energy front. Republicans are pushing a bill that would open up offshore drilling, a nonstarter with Dems, while the House leader will take a second shot at passing a "use it or lose it" bill that would nudge oil companies to drill on leases they already have but which failed to pass last week. With more bipartisan support, the Senate may vote to give federal regulators a rein on energy speculators, who are thought by some economists to be inflating the price of oil.

• see more on energy legislation in Congress this year and on the gas price debate

With less fanfare, the House also plans to okay an intelligence authorization bill, HR 5959, and a $1 billion bridge infrastructure bill, HR 3999, while the Senate may vote to approve $50 billion in spending over the next five years to combat AIDS, TB and malaria around the world, S 2731.