Trump to pick Mnuchin for Treasury secretary: report: President-elect Donald Trump is expected to choose Steven Mnuchin, the national finance chairman of his campaign, to serve as Treasury secretary, The New York Times reported Tuesday.
The president-elect could make the announcement as soon as Wednesday, according to the Times.
Mnuchin is a former partner at Goldman Sachs who founded the hedge fund Dune Capital Management and began to invest in the movie business.
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He has never worked in government, and has close ties to Hollywood and Wall Street. He told The Times in May he has focused on the “West Coast economy” in recent years.
As Treasury Secretary, Mnuchin could be hugely influential in the administration’s economic policies, such as tax cuts and increased spending on infrastructure — two proposals the president-elect has talked about on the campaign trail: http://bit.ly/2gGTCuk.
Trump deal on Carrier jobs: The Donald Trump team and Carrier have reached an agreement to keep about 1,000 manufacturing jobs in Indiana, fulfilling one of Trump’s major campaign promises.
Carrier confirmed the news, first reported by the New York Times, on Twitter.
In March, Carrier, one of the biggest air conditioning companies in the U.S., announced it would close its facility in Indianapolis and move operations to Mexico, eliminating 1,400 jobs.
The deal reportedly will keep a majority of the jobs in the state in exchange for friendlier business regulations and an overhauling of the corporate tax code.
Trump is also expected to tone down his rhetoric threatening 35 percent tariffs on companies that shift production out of the country, the Times reports. The Hill’s Jessie Hellmann has more: http://bit.ly/2ghzfqr
Budget chairmanship suddenly up for grabs: The chairmanship of the House Budget Committee is up for grabs now that President-elect Donald Trump has selected Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga.) to take the helm of the federal health department.
Rep. Todd Rokita (R-Ind.), the Budget Committee’s vice chairman, on Tuesday quickly said he will seek the top job if Price is confirmed as the next secretary of Health and Human Services.
The Budget Committee will play a critical role next year as Republicans seek to enact an ambitious agenda under Trump. Whoever holds the gavel will also shoulder the difficult and complex task of shepherding legislation through Congress under a process known as budget reconciliation. Sarah Ferris, Scott Wong and I tell you who else could run and how it could play out: http://bit.ly/2gGU7ET.
Fed official: Case for rate hike stronger since election: A top Federal Reserve official on Tuesday said the case for an interest rate hike is stronger than it was before the presidential election.
Jerome Powell said the U.S. economy is closing in on full employment and target inflation, its two main monetary policy goals. Despite slow economic growth and potential room for the economy to improve on its own, Powell said the time could be right to raise interest rates.
“The case for an increase in the federal funds rate has clearly strengthened since our previous meeting earlier this month,” said Powell, referring to the bank’s Nov. 2 meeting. I’ll tell you why here: http://bit.ly/2guqnvh.
Happy Tuesday and welcome to Overnight Finance, where we’re remembering what rain is like without oppressive heat or bitter cold. I’m Sylvan Lane, and here’s your nightly guide to everything affecting your bills, bank account and bottom line.
Tonight’s highlights include pushback on regulations and campaign finance riders, a potential Labor Secretary pick and battles over a bipartisan medical innovation bill.
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.
On tap tomorrow: The House expected to vote on the Systemic Risk Designation Improvement Act of 2016, which would adjust how banks and bank holding companies are labeled “systemically important financial institutions.”
Levin to step down as top Ways and Means Dem: Rep. Sandy Levin (D-Mich.) will step down as the ranking member on the Ways and Means Committee, with tax reform and a healthcare repeal set to dominate next year’s agenda. Levin on Tuesday sent a letter to his colleagues saying that Donald Trump’s win changed his perspective and he wants to urge Democrats to support younger lawmakers to move up the ranks while relying on experienced lawmakers to navigate through tough policy issues.
“I want to do my part to ensure that we are united in the efforts necessary to stop President Trump and Speaker [Paul] Ryan as they seek to take this country in a very different direction and turn back the clock on progress we have made and had hoped to continue making,” Levin wrote.
Reps. Richard Neal (D-Mass.) and Xavier Becerra (D-Calif.) on Tuesday evening each threw their hats into the ring to take helm for Democrats.
Levin is backing Becerra, an aide told The Hill on Tuesday. The Hill’s Vicki Needham has the full story: http://bit.ly/2gGXv3K
Home prices surpass pre-recession peak: U.S. home prices in September surpassed a pre-recession peak that was hit more than 10 years ago after falling sharply during the housing crisis.
The Standard & Poor’s CoreLogic Case-Shiller rose 5.5 percent in September from a year ago, boosting the home price index to 0.1 percent above the July 2006 record high.
After nearly six years, prices hit their trough in February 2012, dropping more than 27 percent from their high.
“The new peak set by the S&P Case-Shiller CoreLogic national index will be seen as marking a shift from the housing recovery to the hoped-for start of a new advance,” said David Blitzer, managing director at S&P Dow Jones Indices. The Hill’s Vicki Needham explains: http://bit.ly/2ggWzEQ.
Duffy tops list to take over Wall Street subcommittee: From Morning Consult: “Rep. Sean Duffy (R-Wis.) is atop the list of candidates to replace Rep. Scott Garrett (R-N.J.) as chairman of the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Capital Markets and Government Sponsored Enterprises, according to a senior Republican aide with knowledge of the discussions.
Garrett lost his Northern New Jersey congressional seat to Democratic challenger Josh Gottheimer earlier this month. The subcommittee he chairs is considered one of the most important gatekeepers between the financial services industry and House lawmakers.
Duffy, who came to Washington as part of the 2010 tea party wave, has chaired the Financial Services Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations since 2014. He was a key lawmaker in the debate over how Congress should address Puerto Rico’s debt crisis, and he was the lead sponsor on the debt restructuring legislation that President Obama signed into law in June.” http://bit.ly/2guwXSO.
Incoming Dem lawmakers take stand against campaign finance ‘riders’: A group of incoming Democratic lawmakers is urging Congress to reject provisions that would “prevent critical political spending transparency.”
In a letter sent Tuesday to current House and Senate members, nine representative-elects said they did not want two riders that were part of last year’s spending package to be included in appropriations legislation for fiscal 2017.
One of the provisions the incoming lawmakers want rejected would prevent the Securities and Exchange Commission from finalizing rules that would require publicly traded companies to make disclosures about their political spending. The other would prevent the IRS from issuing guidance on the scope of permitted political activities for 501(c)(4) “social welfare” organizations. Here’s more from The Hill’s Naomi Jagoda: http://bit.ly/2gGAufO.
Congress passes bill protecting online customer reviews: The Senate unanimously passed a bill on Tuesday that would bar companies from fining or pursuing lawsuits against consumers who post negative reviews of them on websites such as Yelp.
In September, the House also unanimously passed the measure prohibiting non-disparagement clauses that some institutions included in their online terms of service.
“By ending gag clauses, this legislation supports consumer rights and the integrity of critical feedback about products and services sold online,” Senate Commerce Chairman John Thune (R-S.D.) said in a statement, praising the bipartisan effort to move forward on the bill. Thune had sponsored the legislation in the Senate alongside Sens. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) and Jerry Moran (R-Kan.).
The bill now heads to President Obama’s desk. The Hill’s Ali Breland reports: http://bit.ly/2g3vr9B.
Barletta talks with Trump about Labor secretary job: Pennsylvania Rep. Lou Barletta, an early supporter of Donald Trump, spoke to the president-elect about serving as the secretary of Labor during a Tuesday meeting at Trump Tower in New York.
“We had a good conversation about a number of issues concerning the country and we talked about the president-elect’s ideas moving forward,” Barletta told the press pool in the lobby of Trump’s Manhattan building that serves as his residence and unofficial transition headquarters.
Barletta, a member of Trump’s transition team, said the pair discussed the secretary of Labor position, as well as a potential position in the Transportation Department.
“I’m going to consider what we talked about. … He knows my background,” he said. Here’s more from The Hill’s Ben Kamisar: http://bit.ly/2g3m5dY.
Trump taps Chao for Transportation:
Donald Trump announced late Tuesday that he will nominate Elaine Chao to be his Transportation secretary, praising her “unparalleled experience and insight.”
Chao served as Labor secretary under President George W. Bush and also as deputy secretary of Transportation under President George H. W. Bush. She is married to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).
She was also a member of Trump’s Asian Pacific American Advisory Council during his presidential campaign.
“Secretary Chao’s extensive record of strong leadership and her expertise are invaluable assets in our mission to rebuild our infrastructure in a fiscally responsible manner,” Trump said in a statement. http://bit.ly/2fAvvkS
Study: Low-wage workers won $60M in raises since 2012: As the Fight for $15 celebrated its fourth anniversary Tuesday with protests in 340 cities around the country, a new study finds low-wage workers have earned more than $60 million in raises.
The progressive National Employment Law Project reported that 19 million workers have won raises in places like New York, California, Seattle, and Washington, D.C.
The federal minimum wage sits at $7.25 per hour, but state and local governments are allowed to raise it further in their communities. A number of companies like McDonald’s and Walmart have also hiked pay for their own employees across the country.
The result is $61.5 million in raises since the protests began in November 2012, according to the National Employment Law Project. The Hill’s Tim Devaney breaks it down: http://bit.ly/2fJe3WE.
Sanders comes out against 21st Century Cures bill: Former presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on Tuesday came out against a bipartisan medical innovation bill, denouncing it for “corporate giveaways.”
The move comes one day after fellow liberal Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) also announced her opposition to the measure, citing similar concerns that the measure favored pharmaceutical companies.
Still, the bill, called 21st Century Cures, is expected to win support from other Democrats, who have been negotiating with Republicans for months. The measure aims to speed up the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) approval of new drugs.
But Sanders argued it does nothing to address the hot-button topic of high drug prices, while including provisions favorable to drug companies and lowering FDA regulations. The Hill’s Peter Sullivan explains: http://bit.ly/2guxoMH.
Republican urges regulators to back off: A Republican senator is urging the Obama administration to halt implementation of controversial regulations, including the Labor Department’s overtime rule.
In letters to the Labor Department, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) said there is no point to enforcing rules that Trump plans to overturn with the help of Congress.
Johnson’s letters single out of the Labor Department’s overtime and fiduciary rules; the EPA’s clean power plan and waters of the United States standard; and the FDA’s electronic cigarettes rules.
“Given the substantial likelihood that this burdensome regulation will be undone, I urge the Labor Department to cease implementation of the regulation immediately to spare small businesses and industry the unnecessary and avoidable compliance costs that they currently face,” Johnson wrote to Labor Secretary Tom Perez: http://bit.ly/2fJ8A27.
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