Overnight Finance: GOP budget fight; Puerto Rico’s impact on 2016

GOP WARY OF BUDGET BLOWUP: Don’t write the epitaph for the House Republican budget just yet. Members of the powerful Republican Study Committee (RSC) are pushing back against a statement from the group that calls for breaking the budget deal negotiated last year between then-Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Democrats.

Abandoning those spending levels would divide the party and make passage of a budget blueprint this year nearly impossible. The Hill’s Sarah Ferris tell us about the path ahead: http://bit.ly/1OJ8JMu.

PUERTO RICAN CRISIS ROILS 2016 RACE: Puerto Rico’s economic crisis could play a critical role in the race for the White House.

{mosads}Years of economic decline drove hundreds of thousands of island residents to the US mainland, and is now upending the political calculus on the presidential trail.

Why does it matter? Puerto Rican residents cannot vote for the president in the general election, but can cast votes in primary contests. Those now residing on the U.S. mainland though can vote in the general. The Hill’s Peter Schroeder explains the impact: http://bit.ly/1Qog0ng.

TEAM BERNIE PRESSES HILLARY ON TRADE: Sen. Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign challenged Democratic rival Hillary Clinton to take a stronger stance against trade deals such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).

Ahead of an upcoming contest in manufacturing heavy Ohio, the Sanders’ campaign touted the senator’s consistent policy record opposing trade agreements, including the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which was passed in 1994 under former President Clinton.

“If Secretary Clinton really wanted to stop the loss of manufacturing jobs in Ohio she should have joined Sen. Sanders in opposing the North American Free Trade Agreement and permanent normal trade relations with China,” said Warren Gunnels, Sanders’ policy director, in a press release. The Hill’s Vicki Needham has more: http://bit.ly/1VNqGPK.

DRUGMAKER UNDER SEC INVESTIGATION: Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. is under investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in a previously undisclosed probe, the company told Bloomberg: http://bloom.bg/24xvRth.

HAPPY MONDAY and welcome to Overnight Finance, where we’re excited to leap outside and enjoy the rest of this gorgeous day. I’m Sylvan Lane, and here’s your nightly guide to everything affecting your bills, bank account and bottom line.

Tonight’s highlights include Marco Rubio’s tax returns, Warren Buffett scolding the 2016 candidates and a slowdown in pending home sales.

See something I missed? Let me know at slane@digital-release.thehill.com or tweet me @SylvanLane. And if you like your newsletter, you can subscribe to it here: http://www.digital-release.thehill.com/signup/48.

ON TAP TOMORROW:

• House Energy and Commerce Committee: Hearing on Examining the Financing and Delivery of Long-Term Care in the U.S., 10:15 a.m.
• House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee: Hearing on Saving Taxpayer Dollars by Reducing Federal Office Space Costs, 10:30 a.m.
• House Ways and Means Committee: Hearing on Getting Incentives Right: Connecting Low-Income Individuals with Jobs, 10 a.m.
• House Financial Services Committee Task Force on Terrorism Financing: Hearing on Helping the Developing World Fight Terror Finance, 2 p.m.
• House Appropriations: Budget Hearing on the Department of Housing and Urban Development with Secretary Julian Castro.
• Senate Finance: Hearing to examine the multiemployer pension plan system, focusing on recent reforms and current challenges, 10 a.m.
• Senate Appropriations Committee: Hearing on the state of the farm economy, 2:30 p.m.

RUBIO TAX RETURNS SHOW BOOK BOONS: Sen. Marco Rubio released his last five years of partial tax returns Saturday afternoon, becoming the first of the three top Republican candidates to do so.

“We’re putting these out today to put pressure on Trump and the other candidates to release theirs,” said Rubio campaign spokesman Alex Conant. “To the extent there are additional questions about Marco, we won’t rule out providing more information in the future.”

I’ve got the breakdown here: http://bit.ly/1RgjwQb

CRUZ FOLLOWS SOON AFTER: Cruz also called on Trump to release his returns, suggesting they could show overstated wealth or a history of donating to liberal causes. Trump has claimed he can’t release those returns because the IRS is auditing him: http://bloom.bg/1QHf9x2.

IRS CHIEF: TRUMP’S AUDIT HISTORY ‘RARE’: The head of the Internal Revenue Commissioner (IRS) says it’s rare for a person to be audited every year, a situation Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump says he’s experiencing.

“Usually when there’s an audit, and it’s cleared up, if there are no other issues, it’s a number of years, two or three at least, before you hear from us again, unless something in your next return pops up,” John Koskinen said Friday during a taping of C-SPAN’s “Newsmakers,” according to The Wall Street Journal: http://bit.ly/21ElgKw.

IT’S GOING DOWN, THEY’RE YELLING “TIMBER?”:  Two congressional Democrats applauded U.S. trade officials for asking Peru to verify whether a timber shipment last year was legally harvested and exported.

Sen. Ron Wyden (Ore.), ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, and Rep. Sander Levin (Mich.), the top Democrat on the House Ways and Means Committee, said that while efforts have been made to bolster the protection of Peru’s forests, more work needs to be done to halt illegal logging operations. Vicki Needham explains: http://bit.ly/1OJ7ehr.

BUFFETT: ECONOMY ISN’T AS BAD AS CANDIDATES SAY: Billionaire investor Warren Buffett says he’s sick and tired of presidential candidates making bleak statements about the U.S. economy.

The Berkshire Hathaway CEO and Hillary Clinton endorser complained about the “negative drumbeat” from 2016 hopefuls in an annual letter to the holding company’s shareholders.

“It’s an election year, and candidates can’t stop speaking about our country’s problems,” wrote Buffett. “Many Americans now believe that their children will not live as well as they themselves do. That view is dead wrong: The babies being born in America today are the luckiest crop in history.” Here’s why he thinks so (and the growth rate is part of his sunny prognosis!): http://bit.ly/1OJ82mu.

CONTRACT SIGNINGS DIP IN JANUARY: Pending home sales slowed in January following one of the best years in nearly a decade.

The National Association of Realtors said Monday that contract signings, which is a forward-looking indicator of sales, declined 2.5 percent to 106 in January from an upwardly revised 108.7 in December: http://bit.ly/1WSswPz.

NIGHTCAP: The one Goldman Sachs employee to contribute to Donald Trump’s campaign has been put on leave for selling “Make Christianity Great Again” hats without permission from the firm.

Write us with tips, suggestions and news: slane@digital-release.thehill.com, vneedham@digital-release.thehill.com; pschroeder@digital-release.thehill.com, and njagoda@digital-release.thehill.com. Follow us on Twitter: @SylvanLane,  @VickofTheHill; @PeteSchroeder; and @NJagoda.