An insider's guide to the upcoming week

Pakistan Postscript

After a harrowing ride last Thursday aboard helicopters in Afghanistan, three senior senators may find listening to testimony this week about U.S. policy toward Pakistan a far easier experience. A snowstorm forced Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D-Del.), John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) and Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) to make an emergency landing in the mountains, prompting a quip from Kerry: "We were going to send Biden out to fight the Taliban with snowballs."

The senators, all of whom serve on the Foreign Relations Committee, spent part of the recess in India, Turkey and Pakistan. While in Pakistan, they observed elections. Their reports will probably mean tougher questions for Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte, who is testifying before the committee on Thursday morning.

Military Matters: Committee work is not always glamorous, but the Senate Armed Services Committee is getting plenty of prime-time attention in recent days. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) has frequently touted her service on that key committee, including last Thursday as part of an answer to the question: "Are you suggesting that Senator Obama is not prepared to be commander in chief?" Clinton replied: "You know, I serve on the Senate Armed Services Committee. I've been to Iraq three times. I've been to Afghanistan three times. I've been to bases around the world and across our country."

But as Clinton keeps a rigorous campaign schedule heading into the March 4 primaries, she is unlikely to make several committee hearings this week. The committee is scheduled to hear tomorrow from Army Secretary Pete Geren and Army Chief of Staff Gen. George W. Casey Jr. on defense funding for 2009. A day later, the committee will hear from Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell and Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lt. Gen. Michael Maples on worldwide national security threats, and a subcommittee will hear testimony Wednesday on funding reserve and civilian personnel programs.

Chewing on HUD? It could be more than an agency budget review hearing tomorrow when Alphonso Jackson, secretary of Housing and Urban Development, goes before the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee.

The agenda includes oversight of HUD and its 2009 budget, but the session could veer into subjects not particularly pleasant for Jackson, who is under investigation by his agency's inspector general and by the Justice Department for allegations involving favoritism and housing contracts.

By Rachel Dry