Representative Dave Camp of Michigan, the House Ways and Means chairman, will hold meetings with Republican the rank and file next week to map out an overhaul of the tax code that strips it down to just two personal income tax rates — 25 percent and 10 percent — and a 25 percent corporate income tax rate, and to pay for it by curtailing or ending tax deductions and credits.

A half-dozen committees will begin drafting legislation to meet a budget-mandated $261 billion in savings over the next decade to stave off scheduled across-the-board cuts to the military in January. First up will be the Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, with a bill to curb medical malpractice suits and save the government $39.7 billion over 10 years. On Wednesday, the Financial Services Committee will vote on legislation to save $35 billion over a decade by eliminating a fund designed to prevent future bank bailouts, ending a foreclosure reduction effort, slicing $4.9 billion from the federal flood insurance program, and putting the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau under Congressional control and cutting its budget by $5.4 billion…

The budget describes significant changes to Medicare, Medicaid and food stamps. Medicare would be transformed from a government-run insurance program to a menu of private insurance plans subsidized by the government. Medicaid and food stamps would be converted to block grants to the states, which would be allowed to impose work requirements and time limits. But nowhere are the relevant committees mandated to actually draft the legislation to make any of that happen. Mr. Camp has already indicated he has no intention of drafting Medicare legislation that has no chance of becoming law. And Senator Harry Reid, the majority leader, has already said he has no intention of passing a budget this year.