OVERNIGHT FINANCE: Can GOP defund immigration order?

TOMORROW STARTS TONIGHT: OBAMA TO UNVEIL IMMIGRATION PROPOSAL. And The Hill’s Justin Sink has you covered: “President Obama will unveil a set of sweeping executive actions that will extend work permits and protection from deportation to roughly 5 million immigrants in a primetime address Thursday night.

{mosads}“The president will also announce plans to shift enforcement efforts, ordering federal law enforcement officers to narrow their focus to those illegal immigrants with criminal records, gang affiliations, or ties to terrorism.  

“And Obama will expand the total number of high-tech visas that are available, as well as loosen restrictions so that more would-be entrepreneurs can travel legally to the United States to launch companies.”

BIG Q: HOW WILL REPUBLICANS RESPOND? The Hill’s Rebecca Shabad: “It would be ‘impossible’ to defund President Obama’s executive actions on immigration through a government spending bill, the House Appropriations Committee said Thursday.

“In a statement released by Committee Chairman Hal Rogers’s (R-Ky.) office hours before Obama’s scheduled national address, the committee said the primary agency responsible for implementing Obama’s actions is funded entirely by user fees.

“As a result, the committee said the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS) agency would be able to continue to collect fees and carry out its operations even if the government shut down.” http://bit.ly/1tl5GQu.

NOT SO FAST, SAYS SESSIONS: From Rebecca: “Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) on Thursday rebutted claims by the House Appropriations Committee that President Obama’s executive order on immigration could not be defunded in legislation to avoid a government shutdown.

“’The American people’s Congress has the power and every right to deny funding for unworthy activities. It is a routine and constitutional application of congressional power. There is no question that Congress has the power to block this expenditure and no doubt that it can be done,’ Sessions said in a statement.”

— SIDESHOW: NETWORKS WON’T CARRY OBAMA’S SPEECH TONIGHT. “[The] major networks will not air President Obama’s prime-time address Thursday.” More over at The Hill: http://bit.ly/1F2BnEo.

THIS IS OVERNIGHT FINANCE. Have a great Thanksgiving week. Thank you for making OVERNIGHT part of your FinServ news diet and please shoot me a note for how I can improve. Tweet: @kevcirilli; email: kcirilli@digital-release.thehill.com; and subscribe: http://digital-release.thehill.com/signup/48.

HIRED: SCOTT BROWN. From Jesse Byrnes: “Former Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) is rejoining Fox News as a regular contributor after losing his bid to oust Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D) in New Hampshire earlier this month.” http://bit.ly/14T8TSX.

FIRED? SHERROD BROWN TAKES AIM AT REGULATORS. My latest for The Hill: “Wall Street regulators should lose their jobs if they were in cahoots with big banks like Goldman Sachs, Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) said Thursday. Brown, who chairs the Senate Banking Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Protection, will hold a hearing Friday into a September ProPublica report on recordings that appear to show a cozy relationship between the New York Federal Reserve and Wall Street.”

— WHAT BROWN SAID: “People should lose their jobs if in fact these things happened… It sounds like there has been disciplinary actions already from [New York Fed President William] Dudley… It’s troubling that they aren’t taking seriously enough the charge on enforcement. It speaks to the culture of regulatory culture and it speaks to the culture that supposedly they go through ethics training every year — yet a former employee and a present employee think this behavior is ethical? That says a lot… I wonder if because apparently nobody ever goes to prison for criminal behavior in our Wall Street financial system and apparently punishment is not the deterrent that it is if you’re caught shoplifting at Costco.” Story: http://bit.ly/1zHyUhN.

Meanwhile, just in time for tomorrow’s hearing…

FED CHANGES HOW IT WILL POLICE WALL STREET, via Pete Schroeder for The Hill: “The Federal Reserve announced Thursday that it was conducting a sweeping review of how it monitors the nation’s largest financial institutions.

“The regulator announced two separate review projects, after the Fed has come under increasing scrutiny for what some see as a cozy approach towards policing Wall Street giants.

“The central bank will examine its policies on handling internal disputes over its monitoring of massive banks, after high-profile accusations that suggestions for more vigorous approaches were stifled at lower levels.” http://bit.ly/1F5H2d8.

EBOLA WATCH: Schroeder: “The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is warning investors that fraudulent companies could be popping up touting Ebola treatments.” http://bit.ly/1HrUhsw.

TERRORISM INSURANCE WATCH – FINCHER THE NEW HOPE FOR LONG-TERM DEAL? Heading into the Thanksgiving break, Rep. Stephen Fincher (R-Tenn.) has been able to rack up more than 40 House Republican signatures for a letter to leadership urging a long-term reauthorization of Congress’s terrorism insurance program (TRIA), according to a well-placed insurance lobbyist.

We hear the final count on Fincher’s letter could be closer to 50 House Republicans…

That could put pressure on House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) to broker a deal with Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) on TRIA during the lame duck. The insurance and business communities have held firm: they won’t budge on a short-term, kick-the-can TRIA reauthorization that extends the program for six- to nine-months, insisting the economic uncertainty would hurt businesses.

Our source told OVERNIGHT that while this week’s meeting with Schumer and Hensarling went bad, their staffs are now connecting and both appear willing to strike some sort of long-term deal. Meanwhile, the deadline for Fincher letter’s has been extended until Friday and could be released as early as next week.

Hensarling and other Tea Partiers have pushed hard to reform TRIA, which was pitched as a temporary federal program after the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks. He says it’s unfair that taxpayers have to pick up the tab after a massive terror attack. But for Schumer, saving TRIA is personal, given his home state. Our source says both sides seem willing to agree to get to a multi-year resolution. Fincher’s office declined comment.

We’ll see…

TAX EXTENDERS WATCH, we caught up with Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) about his Turkey-break game plan to get a deal on extenders in the lame duck:

“I think everyone understood that it was likely to be one of the last matters that we take up in the lame duck,” Wyden said. “I’m flying home tonight back to Oregon and then I’m flying back to Washington to work on it probably on Sunday. I’m not even sure where I’m going to be on Thanksgiving. It’s going to be very hectic.”

We’ll be in Philly…

HENSARLING ANNOUNCES FINSERV SUBCOMMITTEE CHAIRMEN: And it’s a big-win for Rep. Sean Duffy (R-Wis.). The rising Republican star will chair the subcommittee on investigations, meaning he’ll take the helms on all of the Export-Import Banking investigations next Congress.

— FULL LIST in addition to Duffy: Reps. Scott Garrett (R-N.J.) will chair the Capital Markets and Government-Sponsored Enterprises Subcommittee; Randy Neugebauer (R-Texas) will chair the Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit Subcommittee; Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-Mo.) will chair the Housing and Insurance Subcommittee; Bill Huizenga (R-Mich.) will chair the Monetary Policy and Trade Subcommittee. Story: http://bit.ly/1uF4hb9.

— EX-IM WONK WAR. Heritage Action’s Dan Holler and the Association of Equipment Manufacturers’ Mike O’Brien got into it on Twitter earlier today about how Duffy would navigate Ex-Im as subcommittee chairman. Recap: http://bit.ly/1ufPMab.

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