Factbox: Unpopular Congress returns next week

(Reuters) - A highly unpopular U.S. Congress returns to work from a month-long recess next week facing a crush of challenges -- from creating jobs to expanding U.S. trade to finding another $1.2 trillion or so in spending cuts.

With voters demanding more compromise and less fighting in Washington, lawmakers may try harder to find common ground with Democratic President Barack Obama on these and other matters, such as taxes, regulations and disaster aid.

The Democratic-led Senate returns on Tuesday and the Republican-led House of Representatives convenes on Wednesday with a dismal popularity level. Opinion polls taken in the aftermath of their U.S. debt showdown put their approval rating at a record low of about 12 percent.

Here's a look at what's on their legislative agenda -- while they also try to win the public confidence before next year's congressional elections:

OBAMA JOBS SPEECH TO CONGRESS

Obama wants to address a joint session of Congress next week in a bid to advance job-creation legislation he's seeking. Throughout Obama's presidency, the U.S. jobless rate has been stuck in high digits -- 9.1 percent in most recent data.

The president is expected to recommend tax breaks to businesses that expand their payrolls, a jobs-intensive road-building program and new relief for homeowners to trigger construction.

SUPER COMMITTEE

Congress, which went on vacation after a bruising fight over the record U.S. debt, returns for another budget battle that likely will go through the end of the year.

A "super committee" of 12 Democrats and Republicans from the House and Senate is to meet by September 16. Its mission is to come up with at least $1.2 trillion in savings over 10 years.

If a majority of the committee fails to reach a deal by November 23, automatic spending cuts of at least $1.2 trillion would be set in motion, split between defense and non-defense.

FEDERAL REGULATIONS

House Republicans aim to hold a vote each week for the next couple months to repeal 10 federal labor and environmental regulations on businesses that they say stunt job growth.

They are expected to face opposition in the Senate where Democrats contend that targeted regulations are vital to clean air and water, a safe workplace and safe consumer goods.

Expect compromise. The White House has a list of more than 500 possible rule changes it says could save $10 billion.

APPROPRIATIONS

Having already pushed the government to the brink of a shutdown and an unprecedented default this year, lawmakers seem to have little, if any, appetite to set the stage for another crisis any time soon. So expect them to figure out spending levels for the new fiscal year that begins on October 1 without threatening to close the government.

The House and the Senate have agreed on the total amount they will spend, but are likely to clash on details. Look for Congress to extend current funding levels for several months as the two chambers resolve their differences.

DISASTER FUNDING

Obama is expected to ask Congress for extra funds to help recover from Hurricane Irene, blamed for at least 40 deaths and severe flooding and property damage from North Carolina to Vermont. It will likely go down as one of the costliest U.S. disasters ever. Damage estimates top $7 billion.

House Republican Leader Eric Cantor says any federal relief must be offset with spending cuts to avoid adding to the budget deficit, projected to hit $1.3 trillion this year.

FREE TRADE DEALS

The White House is expected to formally submit three long-delayed free trade agreements with South Korea, Colombia and Panama to Congress for approval in September or October. The White House is still seeking more assurance from House Republicans that a separate Trade Adjustment Assistance program to help retrain workers displaced by trade will be renewed.

RUSSIA TRADE

With Russia on the verge of joining the World Trade Organization, the Obama administration needs to persuade Congress to approve "permanent normal trade relations" with Russia by lifting the so-called Jackson-Vanik amendment that tied trade relations with Communist countries to the rights of Jews and other religious minorities to freely emigrate.

PALESTINIAN STATEHOOD

Palestinian plans to seek U.N. endorsement of statehood in September are bound to raise protests on Capitol Hill.

House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Ileana Ros-Lehtinen has a bill to cut off U.S. funds to any U.N. organization that embraces an upgrade to the Palestinians' diplomatic status. It may pass the House but Senate prospects are poor.

PATENT REFORM

In a rare display of bipartisanship, the Senate is expected to give final congressional approval to a patent reform bill backed by the president and passed by the House in June.

U.S. POSTAL SERVICE

The U.S. Postal Service will default on a $5.5 billion payment for retiree health benefits unless lawmakers step in before the end of September. The agency has asked Congress to eliminate Saturday mail delivery, give it flexibility to close post offices and allow it to dip into a retirement-fund surplus to pay off other obligations.

REGULATORY NOMINEES

The Senate Banking Committee has a list of regulatory nominees that must be approved before the Senate can confirm them. The most controversial is Richard Cordray as the first director of the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Republicans have threatened to block the nomination of any CFPB director until Obama agrees to make changes to the structure of the agency -- changes opposed by Democrats. The committee plans a September 6 confirmation hearing on the Cordray nomination.

FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION

Lawmakers must approve another temporary extension for Federal Aviation Administration's construction programs by September 16. The current one was approved in early August after two-week partisan standoff that temporarily idled thousands of workers and triggered plenty of angry finger pointing.

(Reporting by Thomas Ferraro, Richard Cowan, Andy Sullivan, Sarah N. Lynch, Dave Clarke, Christopher Doering, Doug Palmer, Diane Bartz, Emily Stephenson, Anna Yukhananov and John Crawley; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)