Overnight Finance: Trump stock slump | GOP looks to tax bill for lifeline | Trump repeals ‘blacklisting rule’ | Dem wants ethics probe into Treasury secretary

Trump slump: Stocks fall as hopes fade for new administration: Stocks in the United States are sinking as the market loses confidence in Washington’s ability to deliver on President Trump’s campaign promises.

Wall Street’s core stock indices hit their lowest levels in six weeks Monday morning, according to Reuters, the first full day of trading since Republicans abandoned a bill to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act.

Wall Street Journal reports that the Dow Jones Industrial Average is on track to have its longest losing streak since 2011.

The Dow closed the day 45.74 points down and the S&P was down 2.39. Nasdaq, though, closed up 11.64 points. http://bit.ly/2nbkar9.

 

Trump repeals ‘blacklisting rule’: President Trump repealed the so-called “blacklisting rule” Monday that required federal contractors to disclose labor violations.

The Obama-era rule was intended to prevent the government from contracting with businesses responsible for wage theft or workplace safety violations at any point within the last three years. But business groups feared it gave unions the upper hand at the bargaining table.

Trump struck down the blacklisting rule, along with three other regulations aimed at protecting the environment and students, Monday afternoon during a White House signing ceremony. The Hill Tim Devaney reports: http://bit.ly/2naZShC.

 

Trump, GOP look to tax bill for lifeline: Republicans are looking to tax reform for a lifeline after the devastating failure of their effort to repeal and replace ObamaCare.

{mosads}GOP leaders had raised expectations for ObamaCare repeal, vowing it would pave the way for a sweeping overhaul of the tax code later this year. That timeline is now out the window.

With the healthcare bill dead and buried, President Trump is in desperate need of a major legislative victory to call his own as he approaches the 100-day mark of his presidency.

After House Republicans abandoned the ObamaCare repeal effort Friday, Trump made clear he wants taxes to be the new priority.

“Now we’re going to go for tax reform, which I’ve always liked,” Trump said. The Hill’s Naomi Jagoda looks at the road ahead: http://bit.ly/2nbdXLT.

 

Happy Monday and welcome to Overnight Finance. I’m Sylvan Lane, and here’s your nightly guide to everything affecting your bills, bank account and bottom line.

Tonight’s highlights include the revenge of the retailers, a Dem raising ethics questions for Steven Mnuchin and talk on how an infrastructure package can come together.

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 Banking Committee: Hearing entitled “Fostering Economic Growth: The Role of Financial Companies,” 9:30 a.m. http://bit.ly/2nkZOhH.
• House Financial Services Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations: Hearing entitled The Arbitrary and Inconsistent Non-Bank SIFI Designation Process,” 10 a.m. http://bit.ly/2nkQxGD.
• House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies: Budget Hearing – Corporation for Public Broadcasting, 10 a.m. http://bit.ly/2nl7Tmt.
• House Foreign Affairs Committee: Hearing entitled “The Budget, Diplomacy, and Development,” 10 a.m. http://bit.ly/2nl5acP.
• House Financial Services Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit: Hearing entitled “The State of Bank Lending in America,” 2 p.m. http://bit.ly/2nkRIWl.

 

Senate Dem calls for ethics probe of Treasury secretary: The ranking Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee is asking whether Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin violated his ethics agreement when he promoted a movie produced by a company he founded.

Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) asked the Office of Government Ethics on Monday to review comments Mnuchin made when was asked during an interview for a movie recommendation. The Treasury secretary suggested “Lego Batman,” produced by Ratpac-Dune Entertainment Holdings LLC, which Mnuchin founded and in which he holds a financial stake.

“I’m not allowed to promote anything that I’m involved in,” said Mnuchin in an interview Friday. “So I just want to have the legal disclosure, you’ve asked me the question, and I am not promoting any product. But you should send all your kids to ‘Lego Batman.'” I explain here: http://bit.ly/2nbgANQ.

 

Retailers get aggressive in fight over GOP tax plan: Retail groups are intensifying their effort to kill the proposed border-adjustment tax from House Republicans as the agenda in Congress shifts to tax reform following the failure of ObamaCare repeal. 

Under the border-adjustment proposal, imports would be subject to U.S. tax and exports would be exempt. Supporters of the proposal argue that it would boost domestic manufacturing. Opponents argue that the tax will result in higher prices for consumers.

Industry groups have been battling over the tax plan for months, but that lobbying is shifting into a higher gear now that ObamaCare repeal — which had been expected to dominate the spring legislative agenda — is on ice. Here’s more from Naomi Jagoda: http://bit.ly/2nb028I.

 

Lawmakers want infrastructure funded by offshore tax reform: A bipartisan group of lawmakers thinks the key to uniting Republicans and Democrats around a massive infrastructure package is coupling it with a sweetener for conservatives: tax reform.

Reps. John Delaney (D-Md.), Ted Yoho (R-Fla.) and Rodney Davis (R-Ill.) have pushed the concept for years. But now the group — who came to Congress together in 2013 — might have their best shot yet.

“These two ideas we’re working on are better poised to become a reality than the entire time we’ve served together over the past four and a half years,” Davis said in a sit-down with reporters this week.

“President Trump has brought the debate to the forefront.” 

Trump, who is assembling a $1 trillion infrastructure package, signaled for the first time in a recent White House meeting that he is considering using a “repatriation” tax holiday to pay for part of his plan. The process involves taxing corporate earnings that are being stored abroad when that money returns to the U.S. The Hill’s Melanie Zanona explains: http://bit.ly/2nbmpLb.

 

Dems question potential Kushner real estate deal with Chinese firm: Democratic lawmakers are raising conflicts-of-interest questions over a real estate project between a Chinese firm and the family of President Trump’s son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner.

Kushner Companies, the real-estate developer owned by Kushner’s family, is in talks with China-based Anbang Insurance Group over a potential investment in a building at 666 Fifth Ave. in Manhattan. Bloomberg reported last month that the family could make as much as $400 million off the deal.

Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Tom Carper (D-Del.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Gary Peters (D-Mich.) and Rep. Elijah E. Cummings (D-Md.) voiced their concerns in letters to Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and the Office of White House Counsel released Saturday.

“Recent reports indicate that Anbang, a company closely tied to the Chinese government, ‘is in advanced talks’ to purchase and renovate 666 Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, a Kushner-owned property located mere blocks from Trump Tower,” Warren’s office said in a release: http://bit.ly/2nbfZf7.

 

Bank workers protest outside Santander: Santander Bank is facing protests Monday from workers who are demanding a union.

More than 50 protesters blocked the entrance to Santander’s Boston headquarters and claimed to “shut it down” Monday, raising signs that read “Let’s Make a Union Santander” and “Justice for Bank Workers.” They hope to draw attention to what they say are low wages and poor working conditions at Santander Bank. 

The Santander workers are fighting for their first union in the U.S., even though many of the bank’s international branches in Europe and South America have already organized.

“We are willing to take this fight to Santander’s front door in Boston, the halls of Congress, and to executives overseas — whatever it takes to get workers and their customers what they deserve: A voice on the job and access to fair, ethical banking,” said Teresa Casertano, global campaigns organizing coordinator at the Communication Workers of America: http://bit.ly/2nb9A3E.

Meadows: Tax cuts don’t have to be fully offset: Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) on Sunday said he doesn’t think tax cuts have to be “fully offset” so as to be revenue-neutral.

“Does it have to be what they would say revenue-neutral, or do you have to have an offset, like with the border-adjustment tax — I think those are going to be the two questions,” Meadows said during an interview on ABC’s “This Week.”

“I think there’s been a lot of flexibility in terms of some of my contacts and conservatives in terms of not making it totally offset.”

Meadows said that’s a move meant to “provide real relief and economic growth.” http://bit.ly/2nb23li.

 

Write us with tips, suggestions and news: slane@digital-release.thehill.com, vneedham@digital-release.thehill.com, and njagoda@digital-release.thehill.com. Follow us on Twitter: @SylvanLane,  @VickofTheHill and @NJagoda.

 

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