Overnight Finance: GOP faces dilemma on spending bills | CEOs push Congress on tax rules | Trump talks energy

LGBT FIGHT DOOMS SPENDING BILL ON HOUSE FLOOR: An energy and water spending bill failed on the House floor Thursday after a Democratic amendment to ensure protections for the LGBT community was included in the legislation, a continuation of a fight that could endanger the rest of the appropriations process this session.

Members on Wednesday night adopted a Democratic amendment to the 2017 energy and water spending bill that would enforce a 2014 executive order prohibiting federal contractors from discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.

{mosads}The House dramatically voted down a similar amendment last week, when GOP leaders persuaded enough Republicans to switch sides so that it failed by a single vote.

Most Democrats voted against the bill due to its spending levels and policy riders. Taken together with Republicans who opposed the LGBT measure, the Energy Department spending bill didn’t have enough votes to pass Thursday.

It failed 112-305, with 130 Republicans — more than half of the House GOP caucus — joining all but six Democrats to sink the legislation. The Hill’s Cristina Marcos and Devin Henry tell us why: http://bit.ly/25ouIae.

HOW THEY GOT THERE:  House Democrats on Wednesday resurrected a measure ensuring equal protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people after their last attempt erupted in chaos last week.

Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (D-N.Y.) reprised his amendment to enforce an executive order President Obama issued in 2014 to prohibit federal contractors from discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.

The House approved his amendment to an Energy Department spending bill in a 223-195 vote late Wednesday night, in contrast to a similar vote a week ago when the measure failed by a single vote. Forty-three Republicans joined with all Democrats to support the amendment.

Cheers broke out on the House floor after the amendment passed: http://bit.ly/1TZcroz.

HOUSE GOP FACES DILEMMA ON SPENDING BILLS: Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) gave rank-and-file House Republicans a stern message during a closed-door meeting on Thursday: You asked for “regular order” and an open amendment process. Well, this is what it looks like.

An hour later, House Republicans voted down the energy and water projects spending bill in spectacular fashion after Democrats successfully attached a provision ensuring certain protections for the LGBT community.

When lawmakers return from the Memorial Day recess, “we will have to get with our members and figure out how best we can move forward to have a full functioning appropriations process,” Ryan said at a press conference when The Hill asked if future spending bills would need to be more restrictive. The Hill’s Scott Wong and Mike Lillis tell us what comes next: http://bit.ly/25ouIHk.

HAPPY THURSDAY and welcome to Overnight Finance, where we’re capping off the newsletter for the break. I’m Sylvan Lane, and here’s your nightly guide to everything affecting your bills, bank account and bottom line.

Tonight’s highlights include Donald Trump’s energy plan, a call for help with the on-demand economy from the IRS, a 10-year high for pending home sales and information about the Indian prime minister’s trip to D.C.

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://bit.ly/1NxxW2N.

TRUMP OUTLINES ‘AMERICA FIRST’ ENERGY PLAN: Donald Trump outlined an energy plan he’s calling “America First” on Thursday, using a speech in North Dakota’s oil country to promote oil, natural gas and coal for the country’s future.

The presumptive GOP nominee’s plan, which shares a name with his foreign policy platform, is as much about helping the fossil fuel sector as it is about fighting what he sees as “job-killing” policies from the Obama administration that Hillary Clinton would only further.

It aligns closely with longstanding priorities of federal Republican policymakers.
“American energy dominance will be declared a strategic, economic and foreign policy goal of the United States,” Trump said in the speech at a petroleum conference in Bismarck, N.D. “It’s about time.”

He said the country needs to better use its fossil fuel resources, which he said President Obama has locked away.

“We will become and stay totally independent of any need to import energy from the OPEC cartel or any nations hostile to our interests,” Trump said. Devin Henry and Timothy Cama walk us through the plan: http://bit.ly/1VkBeZm.

CEO GROUP URGES CONGRESS TO ACT ON PROPOSED TAX RULES: A top business group is urging congressional action on proposed Treasury Department rules that would recharacterize some debt as equity.

“The proposed regulations overturn decades of case law, regulatory guidance, and fundamental tax principles,” Business Roundtable (BRT) said in a letter Thursday to the top Republicans and Democrats on the congressional tax-writing committees. “The changes being proposed are extensive and dramatic. Moreover, they have an immediate effect.”  

The letter was signed by Mark Weinberger, chairman of BRT’s tax and fiscal policy committee. BRT represents chief executive officers of leading companies. The Hill’s Naomi Jagoda tells us more on what they want: http://bit.ly/25kTyEm.

DEMS TO GOP: CANCEL MEMORIAL DAY BREAK: Congressional Democrats demanded that Republicans cancel their weeklong Memorial Day recess and stay in Washington to tackle a myriad of issues.

“The Republican Congress is about to leave for an almost two-week recess. Republicans are leaving Washington without having completed any of the urgent business before Congress,” House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) said Thursday on steps outside the Capitol.

She added that Americans are “fed up with the Republican relentless and reckless obstruction.”
Democrats knocked their GOP counterparts Thursday for refusing to consider Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland, not yet agreeing on funding to fight the Zika virus or the opioid epidemic, and not yet passing aid for the Flint, Mich., drinking water crisis.

They held the press conference, where Democrats frequently chanted “do your job,” just hours before lawmakers are expected to leave Washington. The Hill’s Jordain Carney takes us there: http://bit.ly/1THvXst.

INDIAN PRIME MINISTER TO VISIT BUSINESS SUMMIT: India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the U.S.-India Business Council’s annual leadership summit on June 7 in Washington.

Business and government leaders are expected to discuss the strengthening of U.S.-India commercial ties, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce announced.

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, Sun Pharmaceuticals Founder and Managing Director Dilip Shanghvi, as well as other business leaders from India and the U.S. will speak at the event.

Modi is set to address a joint session of Congress on June 8.

OBAMA ADMIN REACHES DEAL FOR DATA SHARING: The Obama administration said Wednesday that it has reached an agreement with the financial services industry that could smooth passage of the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement.

The thrust of the new proposal, which is aimed at placating concerns about a provision in the TPP that could give foreign governments the ability to require U.S. businesses to maintain data servers within their borders, would broadly prohibit requirements for data storage.

The overhauled framework would apply only to ongoing and future trade negotiations — such as the Trade in Services Agreement, the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership with the European Union and the U.S.-China Bilateral Investment Treaty — and not to the Pacific Rim pact.  

U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman called the compromise “an important, collaborative solution that will help build momentum for reaching consensus in other areas of TPP.”

“It shows that when we dig into the details with stakeholders and members of Congress we can find common ground approaches that satisfy a range of priorities,” Froman said. The Hill’s Vicki Needham tells us how: http://bit.ly/1P1jWzf.

IRS WATCHDOG URGES HELP FOR GIG ECONOMY WORKERS: The Internal Revenue Service’s in-house watchdog called on the IRS and Congress to take steps to help workers in the on-demand economy meet their tax obligations.

“Establishing the tax-compliance norms in this emerging industry in its infancy will benefit participants and the tax system as this segment grows,” National Taxpayer Advocate Nina Olson said Thursday at a House Small Business Committee hearing.

The hearing is the second that the Small Business committee held this week about tax issues relating to the on-demand economy. A hearing on Tuesday included testimony from TaskRabbit’s vice president of marketing.

Workers for on-demand economy companies such as Uber and Lyft are generally treated as independent contractors rather than employees. Participants in the on-demand economy may not be aware that they need to set aside money for taxes or make quarterly estimated payments. Naomi Jagoda explains: http://bit.ly/1UggCPo.

PENDING HOME SALES HIT 10-YEAR HIGH: Pending home sales rose in April to their highest level since February 2006, boosted by gains in the South and the West.

The sales index, a forward-looking indicator based on contract signings, surged 5.1 percent to 116.3 last month from 110.7 in March, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) said on Thursday.

The index has posted gains for three straight months and has now increased year-over-year for 20 consecutive months.

All major regions saw gains in contract activity last month except for the Midwest, which had a slight decline.

“The ability to sign a contract on a home is slightly exceeding expectations this spring, even with the affordability stresses and inventory squeezes affecting buyers in a number of markets,” said Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist. Vicki Needham breaks it down: http://bit.ly/1sdswRa.

NIGHTCAP: Donald Trump looking sad on his plane eating McDonald’s, which is news in and of itself.

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.