The General Services Administration is in for a weeklong public shaming as nearly every lawmaker who can claim some oversight authority over the agency has scheduled a hearing as Congress returns from its two-week recess.

Members have had two weeks to stew in their outrage since details of GSA's lavish Las Vegas conference were released by the agency's inspector general April 2. Records show that GSA spent about $840,000 on its 2010 convention for 300 higher-level employees. According to the IG report, organizers sought to find ways around spending restrictions to make the event as over-the-top as possible.

Videos made by conference attendees and released by the Obama administration in the wake of the report have fueled public fury over the incident, as some depict employees who appear to brag about wasting money and avoiding oversight.

The Republican-controlled House will get first crack at the agency with Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Darrell Issa's (R-Calif.) hearing this afternoon and Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman John Mica (R-Fla.) following up with a hearing tomorrow.

The Democratic-controlled Senate will follow with two hearings later in the week.

The Obama administration moved quickly to try to contain the fallout from the embarrassing episode that took place within the very agency that is supposed to work across the federal government to make it more efficient. Eight top employees, including Administrator Martha Johnson, have already lost their jobs, and the new leadership at the agency is moving quickly to try to get past the incident.

"It is time now to move forward and begin to repair the damage to our agency's reputation," GSA's new acting administrator and inspector general said in a joint letter last week that also encouraged employees to report waste, fraud and abuse in the future.

But Republicans won't be so inclined to put the incident in the rearview mirror. GOP critics are already pointing to the conference as a symptom of the Obama administration's inability to look after taxpayer money, a theme Republicans have pursued since the early days of the Obama administration and the stimulus act.

That storyline was furthered last week after records revealed that Johnson skipped the 2010 conference to attend an event at Solyndra, the California solar energy company that has become a rallying cry for Obama critics after it filed for bankruptcy despite receiving more than half-a-billion dollars in government loans.

"The Obama administration thinks it can treat hardworking taxpayer dollars like their own private slush fund," said Rep. Jeff Denham (R-Calif.), who leads the Transportation and Infrastructure subcommittee that will grill GSA officials this week.

The title of Denham's hearing is "GSA's Squandering of Taxpayer Dollars: A Pattern of Mismanagement, Excess, and Waste."

Democrats have also expressed outrage over the GSA Vegas conference scandal. And when news of the incident broke, Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Chairman Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) called it "a stupid and infuriating waste of taxpayer dollars."

But as Republicans have condemned the entire Obama administration over the incident, Democrats have been quick to point out that spending on the GSA conference in question rose dramatically during the George W. Bush administration. The cost of the conference jumped from $324,000 to about $655,000 from 2006 to 2008.

Whatever happens during this week's hearings, it is clear GSA's Vegas trip will be a political issue heading into this year's presidential election.

Schedule: The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing is today at 1:30 p.m. in 2154 Rayburn.

Witnesses: GSA Inspector General Brian Miller; former GSA Administrator Martha Johnson; GSA chief of staff Michael Robertson; David Foley, deputy commissioner of the GSA Public Buildings Service; and Jeff Neely, regional commissioner of the Public Buildings Service, Pacific Rim Region.

Schedule: The House Transportation and Infrastructure hearing is tomorrow at 8:30 a.m. in 2167 Rayburn.

Invited Witnesses: Acting GSA Administrator Dan Tangherlini; GSA Inspector General Brian Miller; former GSA Administrator Martha Johnson; GSA Deputy Administrator Susan Brita; former GSA Public Buildings Service Commissioner Bob Peck; David Foley, deputy commissioner of the GSA Public Buildings Service; Jeff Neely, regional commissioner of the Public Buildings Service, Pacific Rim Region; GSA Public Building Event Planner Lisa Daniels; and GSA Chief Financial Officer Alison Doone.

Schedule: The Senate Appropriations Committee hearing is Wednesday, April 18, at 2:30 p.m. in 138 Dirksen.

Witnesses: Tangherlini and Miller.

Schedule: The Senate Environment and Public Works hearing is Wednesday, April 18, at 10 a.m. in 406 Dirksen.

Witnesses: Tangherlini and Miller.