OVERNIGHT FINANCE: Pro-trade lawmakers claim momentum

TOMORROW STARTS TONIGHT: PRO-TRADE LAWMAKERS BULLISH. Mike Lillis and Scott Wong: “House GOP leaders are expressing a bold new confidence heading into the final stretch of the divisive fight over granting President Obama broad trade powers. The vote, expected as soon as this week, is likely to be a nail-biter — scores of lawmakers in both parties remain publicly undecided, making the count on both sides difficult to pin down. But both the White House and GOP leaders say their whipping efforts are paying dividends, with new supporters signing on by the day.” http://bit.ly/1eWSqC5

— Vicki Needham has the whip list: http://bit.ly/1FO3FqM And my preview for wonks on the week ahead: http://bit.ly/1GmApHE

{mosads}– Liberals protest Pelosi, via Jesse Byrnes: “More than a dozen liberal groups plan to set up shop outside House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi’s (D) district office in California this week to protest President Obama’s trade agenda.” http://bit.ly/1FFgHmD

THIS IS OVERNIGHT FINANCE, where we are hoping you had a great weekend. Tweet: @kevcirilli; email: kcirilli@digital-release.thehill.com; and subscribe: http://digital-release.thehill.com/signup/48. Back to work… 

GOOD DAY: DANNY DIAZ. The founding partner of FP1 Strategies will be the campaign manager for former Fla. Gov. Jeb Bush’s likely presidential bid. Bush is expected to officially kick-off his campaign later this month. Congrats, Diaz.

BAD DAY: CHRIS CHRISTIE. The New Jersey governor will announce in the coming weeks whether he’ll run for president. But from Bridgegate to his budget woes, he continues to be dogged by bad headlines…

1.) BUDGET: Former Fed Chairman Paul Volcker slammed Christie’s budget policies earlier today. Volcker’s budget watch group found that Christie and his administration “rely on short-term maneuvers” in an effort to balance the state budget, “including inconsistent management of revenue collection.” “New Jersey’s reliance on these measures correlates with the chronic inability of the state to match its revenue streams with its expenses,” according to the report. Volcker, who served as chairman of the Federal Reserve during the Carter and Reagan administrations, is working to develop a state-budget scorecard. “New Jersey’s performance in annual pension funding is poor compared with other states,” according to the report. Read the report: http://bit.ly/1dYiqN8 My story: http://bit.ly/1IyXyZC

2.) BRIDGEGATE: Christie is once again at the center of new ‘Bridgegate’ allegations. Kate Zernike for NYT: “The players at the center of the George Washington Bridge lane-closing scandal are not finished causing headaches for Gov. Chris Christie. The latest indication comes in a sworn statement by David Wildstein, a former Port Authority official and the admitted mastermind of the access-lane closings, that describes Mr. Christie breaking the law as he exercised a heavy hand over state politics from the front office. Mr. Wildstein’s statement… portrays the governor, a former United States attorney, casually revealing information about a grand jury proceeding he had overseen, which violates federal law.”

— CHRISTIE SPOX KEVIN ROBERTS: “This is just the latest legal jockeying in yet another legal proceeding involving Mr. Wildstein, but one thing should be made clear: Anyone suggesting the governor disclosed grand jury information is either lying or mistaken.” http://nyti.ms/1HXlfFu

KISSINGER SLAMS RAND PAUL ON PRIVACY. Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger was on Fox Business Network on Friday and he slammed the libertarian-leaning Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), who is running for president. “I’d rather err on the side of going too far than not having done enough if there is some disaster. I disagree with him.” VIDEO of Cavuto with Kissinger: http://bit.ly/1RZveBu

LEGISLATIVE DAYS UNTIL EX-IM CHARTER EXPIRES: 12. My piece from the weekend: Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) is caught between his lieutenants and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) when it comes to the reauthorization of the Export-Import Bank. While McConnell, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) have all endorsed letting the bank’s charter expire on June 30 — as have many of the party’s presidential hopefuls — Boehner has declined to take a position.

Four folks at the center of the debate:

1.) Boehner spox tells me: “The only commitment the Speaker has made on the Export-Import Bank is to Chairman Hensarling, who asked that — if the Senate attaches Ex-Im to a ‘must pass’ bill and sends it over to the House — he be allowed to offer amendments under an open process,” said Boehner spokesman Kevin Smith. “The Speaker told him he would have the opportunity to do so.”

2.) Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), Senate Banking Committee chairman, tells me: “Once things expire it’s probably more difficult for the bank to get reauthorized.”

3.) Ex-Im President Fred Hochberg tells me he hasn’t spoken to Boehner, but if he did he’d say that “exporters and their workers need certainty to keep exporting and to keep people working. So this uncertainty alone is causing difficulties.”

4.) Tony Fratto, top guy working on a reauthorization in D.C., tells me: “The Speaker very clearly gave the Committee a chance to address this issue before the June 30 deadline. The Committee has failed to act… If Ex-Im lapses and exports and jobs are lost, it will be clear who is to blame.” Story: http://bit.ly/1dXmdKS

NOT THE ONION: OUSTED PSU PREZ MADE $2.3 MILLION LAST YEAR. Michael McDonald for Bloomberg: “Pennsylvania State University’s former president Graham Spanier last year received compensation valued at $2.3 million, including the transfer of a life-insurance policy, more than the leader of any public university, a Chronicle of Higher Education survey found.” http://bloom.bg/1AY25lQ

QUOTABLE, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.): “It is beyond comprehension that we, as a nation, have not focused attention on the fact that millions of young people are unable to find work and begin their careers in a productive economy. We cannot turn our backs on this national tragedy.” Rebecca Shabad has more on the long-shot Democratic presidential candidate’s remarks: http://bit.ly/1MCunn7

— Meanwhile, Bloomberg reports: “Millennials have been priced out of some of the biggest U.S. cities, with residential real estate prices rising even as wage growth remains elusive… The bad news is that the areas that often most appeal to young adults are also the ones where homeownership is the most out of reach.” http://bloom.bg/1eXQx8g

NOTABLE: OBAMA SAYS HACKS WILL ‘ACCELERATE.’ Cory Bennett: “Cyberattacks on the U.S. government and private sector are only going to get worse, said President Obama on Monday, days after suspected Chinese hackers made off with 4 million federal workers’ records. ‘This problem is not going to go away — it’s going to accelerate,’ Obama said at a press conference in Germany, where he is attending the G-7 summit of leading industrial nations.” http://bit.ly/1Qj3t9v

INCOME INEQUALITY: IS IT THE FED’S FAULT? WSJ: “Federal Reserve policies launched in a historic economic slump may have exacerbated wealth disparities in the U.S., according to new research from the Philadelphia Fed.” http://on.wsj.com/1JzLOGE

FIDUCIARY FIGHT: EARLY 2016 IMPLEMENTATION? ThinkAdvisor reports: “Because the Department of Labor must have its new fiduciary rule in place before Jan. 20, 2017, the day the new administration takes office, DOL will push to issue a final rule by May 2016, according to ERISA lawyer Steve Saxon.” http://bit.ly/1Qj57YC

— Meanwhile, SIFMA president Kenneth Bentsen criticized Barbara Roper, the director of investor protection at the Consumer Federation of America. Roper has attacked the business community for criticizing the administration’s controversial retirement regulations. Bentsen responded in a letter obtained by The Hill: “A clear reading of our proposal, in a non-politicized environment, would benefit retail investors, including retirement savers, whom we both seek to help.” The letter: http://bit.ly/1dYtZUD

APPLE V. SPOTIFY: Mario Aguilar for Gizmodo: “We’ve been waiting forever for Apple Music: A real streaming music product straight from the heart of Cupertino. Will it work? Or is this just the latest crap me-too service.” http://bit.ly/1Qj6kPM

WARREN V. WHITE UPDATE: Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) launched a wonk war last week when she attacked Securities and Exchange Commission chairwoman Mary Jo White. Let’s get into the weeds a bit:

Part of Warren’s beef with White is that the SEC chief has recused herself from cases because of her connections. Matthew Goldstein for The New York Times: “Ms. White, a former United States attorney in Manhattan, was a longtime partner at Debevoise & Plimpton, a big New York law firm, and her husband is a lawyer at Cravath, Swaine & Moore, another big New York firm. Ms. Warren’s letter quoted from an article in The New York Times that said Ms. White had to recuse herself from more than four dozen investigations because of her past work and the work of her husband’s firm.” (Goldstein’s piece: http://nyti.ms/1F4l7lA).

Warren took campaign money from the same law firm she attacked. According to campaign disclosures, Warren took at least $8,500 during her 2012 Senate run from employees at Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP. She collected at least $5,050 from Debevoise & Plimpton during the same time, according to campaign records.

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