Trump health pick’s trades put STOCK Act in spotlight: President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to lead his administration’s overhaul of the healthcare system is facing growing pressure over whether his portfolio and politics were too tightly mixed.
Senate Democrats are expected to grill Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga.) over whether his investment decisions were informed by his activities as a lawmaker who exerted significant influence over the nation’s health policy.
Price’s first hearing to be confirmed as secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will take place Wednesday.
The Price story has also thrust into the spotlight a 2012 law that forbids members of Congress from personally profiting from private information obtained through their congressional work.
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The Stop Trading On Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act was one of the few bipartisan achievements of President Obama’s tenure. Of the 435 members in the House, 417 voted to pass it, including Price.
No lawmaker has faced insider trading charges since the law was approved, but it has given ammunition to Democrats eager to question Price’s trading activity. The Hill’s Peter Schroeder reports: http://bit.ly/2jHJELz.
How will Trump’s plan to deal with businesses work? President-elect Donald Trump’s plan to hand over control of the Trump Organization to his sons while he is in the White House leaves a number of outstanding questions about how he’ll avoid conflicts of interest.
Trump plans to keep a financial stake in his company, but will place his assets in a trust and donate to the Treasury the profits made at hotels from foreign governments. The Trump Organization will also appoint an ethics adviser to approve new transactions.
The Hill’s Naomi Jagoda and I take on several key outstanding questions, like whether Trump will disclose his Treasury donations and who will be the Trump Organization’s ethics officer: http://bit.ly/2jlrRKr.
GOP chairman defends tax proposal after Trump criticism: House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady (R-Texas) is defending a key provision in the House Republicans’ tax plan after it was criticized by President-elect Donald Trump.
Brady said that the “border adjustment” proposal, which would tax imports and exempt exports, would prevent foreign products from having an advantage over American products.
“Unfortunately our current tax code is not only complex, it favors Chinese steel over American steel, Mexican beef and autos over American beef and autos, and foreign oil over American oil,” Brady said in a statement provided to The Hill on Tuesday. “It’s time to tax imports and exports equally in America, and end the ‘Made in America’ export tax.”
Brady’s statement comes after Trump criticized the border-adjustment proposal in an interview with The Wall Street Journal, calling it “too complicated.”
“Anytime I hear border adjustment, I don’t love it,” Trump said. “Because usually it means we’re going to get adjusted into a bad deal. That’s what happens.” Here’s more from Naomi Jagoda: http://bit.ly/2iMeHHu.
Happy Tuesday and welcome to Overnight Finance, where we’re anywhere from three to six days away from the start of Donald Trump’s “first 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 Trump’s push to be negotiator-in-chief, a Democratic push to protect the consumer bureau chief, and more trouble for Rep. Tom Price.
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
- Senate Commerce Committee: Confirmation hearing for Wilbur Ross to be Commerce secretary, 10 a.m. http://bit.ly/2jgy6ku.
Senate Dem asks for SEC investigation of Trump HHS pick: A Senate Democrat is calling for the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to investigate stock purchases made by President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga.) must “play by the same rules as everyone else,” Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) wrote in a letter to SEC Chairwoman Mary Jo White.
“I write to ask that your office immediately investigate whether Tom Price … violated the STOCK Act and other federal laws in the purchase and sale of shares of a medical device manufacturer,” Gillibrand wrote. The Hill’s Tim Devaney explains why: http://bit.ly/2k2seNh.
Dem senators to Trump: Don’t tell consumer bureau chief ‘you’re fired’: Three top Democratic Senators on Tuesday called on President-elect Donald Trump not to fire the head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), calling it an “extreme and unprecedented step.”
Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (N.Y.) and Sens. Sherrod Brown (Ohio) and Elizabeth Warren (Mass.) defended CFPB Director Richard Cordray’s record, saying he should be allowed to finish his term at the bureau’s chief through July 2018.
Schumer said Trump’s decision to “govern as a hard-right Republican” and possibly replace Cordray breaks his campaign promise to “drain the swamp” by fighting corporate interests on behalf of middle-class Americans.
“Do not tell Richard Cordray he’s fired,” said Schumer, quoting Trump’s signature reality show catchphrase on a conference call with reporters. I’ll tell you what happened next: http://bit.ly/2jwgS2I.
CBO projects 18M could lose coverage in first year of ObamaCare repeal: Repealing portions of ObamaCare without enacting a replacement could leave 18 million people without health insurance the following year, according to a report released Tuesday by the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO).
The CBO also estimated that premiums for policies purchased through the marketplaces or directly from insurers would increase by 20 to 25 percent that year.
The report, which was requested by Democrats, could complicate Republican efforts to repeal the health law and is likely to reignite a long fight between GOP lawmakers and the CBO over ObamaCare. Jessie Hellmann from The Hill’s health team digs into the report and the political fight: http://bit.ly/2iFqUue
Sanders, Education nominee tangle over college costs: Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) tangled with President-elect Donald Trump’s Education pick Tuesday night over the issue of making public colleges and universities tuition-free.
At her Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, Sanders asked Betsy DeVos if she would team up with him on the issue of tackling student debt and tuition-free public colleges, which was a centerpiece of his presidential campaign.
“I think that’s a really interesting idea, and it’s really great to consider and think about, but I think we also have to consider the fact that nothing in life is really free,” DeVos said.
Sanders cut in, noting that there are currently proposals that would pay for the plans, which include “substantially” lowering tax breaks for billionaires. The Hill’s Lisa Hagen takes us to the hearing: http://bit.ly/2k2MFJW
OMB, Labor confirmation hearings set: Two more of President-elect Donald Trump’s Cabinet picks have landed on the Senate’s confirmation-hearing calendar.
Rep. Mick Mulvaney (R-S.C.), who has been chosen to head the to Office of Management and Budget (OMB), and Andrew Puzder, Trump’s pick for secretary of Labor, will each head to Capitol Hill in the next two weeks.
Mulvaney will appear before the Senate Budget Committee on the morning of Jan. 24 and then head over to the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee in the afternoon.
First elected in 2010, Mulvaney is a founding member of the House Freedom Caucus and known as a fiscal hawk.
The OMB produces the White House’s annual budget blueprint and provides guidance on fiscal issues.
Puzder’s hearing before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee was pushed to Feb. 2 from Tuesday: http://bit.ly/2jliOZP.
Pence says Trump planning ‘big’ infrastructure plan: Vice President-elect Mike Pence doubled down Tuesday on President-elect Donald Trump’s pledge to upgrade the country’s ailing transportation system with a massive infrastructure package when he takes office.
“I called [Trump] this afternoon to tell him I was coming by,” Pence said at the annual U.S. Conference of Mayors winter meeting. “In addition to urging me to send along greetings, he said, ‘Tell them we’re going to do an infrastructure bill — and it’s going to be big.'”
Pence added that the package would contain funding to “help communities and states all across America meet the needs that face too many communities and oftentimes stifle growth.” The comments come as doubts have grown about the size and timing of Trump’s infrastructure bill. The Hill’s Melanie Zanona explains: http://bit.ly/2jlOfDz
Trump Treasury pick gets support from ex-leader of mortgage group: President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team said Tuesday that Treasury Secretary designate Steven Mnuchin has the support of a former leader of Hope Now, an alliance of mortgage companies, nonprofit counseling agencies and trade associations that work to help at-risk homeowners avoid foreclosure.
“To me, OneWest’s consistent adoption of new home retention innovations spoke volumes about the company’s commitment in this important area,” former Hope Now Executive Director Faith Schawrtz wrote in a letter to Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and ranking member Ron Wyden (D-Ore.). Naomi Jagoda has more on the vote of confidence for Mnuchin and the controvery over OneWest’s foreclosure practices under the Treasury pick’s tenure: http://bit.ly/2jlpOpv.
Trump eyes role of negotiator in chief: Donald Trump is signaling that he will take a hands-on approach to trade policy, placing himself in the role of negotiator in chief.
The president-elect campaigned on his business acumen and his deal-making skills, promising voters he would bring jobs back to the United States. So far, Trump’s personnel moves during the transition indicate he plans to fulfill his vow.
“I think he absolutely, from what we’ve seen, he’s going to play a more visible role,” one business source said. The Hill’s Vicki Needham explains why: http://bit.ly/2jwifP1.
Lew says ramp-up in tariffs would hurt global growth: Treasury Secretary Jack Lew cautioned on Tuesday that a sudden flurry of protectionist measures around the world would stifle the global economy.
Lew, whose tenure in the Obama administration ends on Friday, said free trade much be protected because it not only has helped the U.S. economy grow but has led to a more peaceful world.
“If we were to see, around the world, a proliferation of new barriers, what we’d see is a lessening, a slowing down, of global growth,” Lew told CNBC’s Squawk on the Street.
Lew said the Obama administration has insisted on high labor and environmental standards during their trade negotiations.
“That’s the way to approach trade, not by just erecting barriers, either tariff or non-tariff barriers,” he said. Here’s more from Vicki Needham: http://bit.ly/2iyNx8C.
Community bankers push back on financial technology charter: The Independent Community Bankers of America is calling on the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to add supervisory safeguards to special purpose bank charters for financial technology companies. You can read their letter here.
Making a splash: President Obama commuted the sentences of more than 200 incarcerated Americans today, most notably Chelsea Manning’s, and pardoned dozens of other convictions. Among them was San Francisco Giants great Willie McCovey, who was pardoned for tax evasion. ESPN has the details on McCovey: http://es.pn/2jwSY7s
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.