On The Money: Mnuchin urges Congress to raise debt limit ‘as soon as possible’ | NY officials subpoena Trump Org’s longtime insurer | Dems offer bill to tax financial transactions

Happy Tuesday and welcome back to On The Money. I’m Sylvan Lane, and here’s your nightly guide to everything affecting your bills, bank account and bottom line.

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THE BIG DEAL–Mnuchin asks Congress to raise debt ceiling ‘as soon as possible’   Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin is urging congressional leaders to raise the federal debt limit “as soon as possible” as the department begins accounting maneuvers to prevent a default.

{mosads}Mnuchin wrote in a March 4 letter to top lawmakers that the Treasury Department had begun a “debt issuance suspension period” to avoid missing a debt payment, and asked for swift action to raise the cap on federal debt.

“I respectfully urge Congress to protect the full faith and credit of the United States by acting to increase the statutory debt limit as soon as possible,” Mnuchin wrote to Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and seven other congressional leaders. I’ve got more here on Mnuchin’s request and what it means.

The backdrop:

• The legal limit on how much the federal government can owe creditors, known as the “debt ceiling,” was reimposed Saturday after a one-year suspension ran out on March 2.
• The Treasury Department has begun a series of financial and accounting moves called “extraordinary measures” to prevent the U.S. from breaching the debt ceiling.
• Those maneuvers should give lawmakers and President Trump until September to reach a deal, according to recent estimates, though the exact deadline is uncertain.

The state of play: Members of both parties are eager to prevent the U.S. from defaulting on its debt, which could trigger a global economic meltdown. Even so, it’s unclear how party leaders plan to raise the debt ceiling and whether it will be entangled in testy government funding negotiations.

ON TAP TOMORROW

• The Senate Small Business Committee holds a hearing entitled “Small Business and the American Worker,” 10 a.m.
• The House Ways and Means Committee holds a hearing entitled “Our Nation’s Crumbling Infrastructure and the Need For Immediate Action,” 10 a.m.
• A House Appropriations subcommittee holds a hearing on oversight of student loan servicers, 10:30 a.m.
• The House Small Business Committee holds a hearing on infrastructure investment, 11 a.m.

LEADING THE DAY

New York state officials subpoena Trump Org’s longtime insurance broker: State officials in New York have subpoenaed the longtime insurer for the Trump Organization, Aon, over claims that the Trump Organization and President Trump himself were involved in efforts to inflate the company’s assets for insurance purposes.

The New York Times reports that Aon received a subpoena Monday, a sign of a state investigation into Trump’s business ties.

The New York State Department of Financial Services, which has no prosecutorial power of its own but can refer potential instances of illegality to state attorneys, is reportedly overseeing the investigation.

The Trump Organization did not immediately return a request for comment from The Hill.

Dems offer legislation to tax financial transactions: Democrats on Tuesday introduced legislation in the House and Senate to tax financial transactions, as lawmakers in the party examine various ways to raise more revenue.

Legislation was introduced in the House by Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.), who has offered similar bills in the past, and in the upper chamber by Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii).

The House bill has the backing of a number of members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, including the group’s co-chairs, Reps. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) and Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), and prominent freshman Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.).

Under the legislation, sales of stocks, bonds and derivatives would be taxed at a rate of 0.1 percent. The tax would apply to sales made in the U.S. or by U.S. persons, and initial securities issuances and short-term debt would be exempt. The Joint Committee on Taxation has estimated that a similar tax would raise $777 billion over 10 years. The Hill’s Naomi Jagoda breaks it down here.

GOOD TO KNOW

• President Trump’s approval rating on the economy has reached a new high, according to a Gallup poll published Tuesday.
• JPMorgan Chase has decided to stop financing private operators of prisons and detention centers, Reuters reports.
• China is “slashing business taxes as it tries to stop its economy from slowing down too sharply,” according to CNN.
• While President Trump has blamed China for decimating American jobs and has called for strengthening U.S. manufacturing, his appointees to the Federal Trade Commission have done little to punish firms who tout American-made goods that were actually produced in China, according to the New York Times.
• The Federal Reserve may soon tighten rules on foreign banks to prevent them from counting on the central bank in a meltdown, Politico reports.
• The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s proposed revision of the payday lending rule has sown confusion in the short-term lending industry, according to American Banker.
• A conservative group backed by mega-donor Charles Koch launched digital ads on Tuesday pressuring Republican and Democratic lawmakers in both chambers to support legislation limiting President Trump’s authority to impose new tariffs.
• Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) on Monday demanded the Treasury Department explain why it did not provide Congress with certain bank records sought in an investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.

ODDS AND ENDS

• Google during its annual review of wage equality at the company found that it had been underpaying some male engineers in 2018.
• T-Mobile in a letter to congressional Democrats said it had spent nearly $200,000 at the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C., since announcing its $26 billion merger with Sprint.