Happy Thursday 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–Senate confirms Scalia as Labor secretary: The Senate has confirmed Eugene Scalia to lead the Labor Department, replacing Alexander Acosta who resigned amid questions over a plea deal he brokered for the now-deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The Senate voted along party lines, 53-44, to confirm Scalia. He is the son of the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.
{mosads}At his confirmation hearing last week, Democrats questioned his record on LGBTQ and disability rights, noting his past writings and court cases. The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee on Tuesday voted along party lines to advance his nomination.
The Hill’s Alex Gangitano tells us more about him here.
LEADING THE DAY
Lawyers reach deal to delay enforcement of NY tax return subpoena: Lawyers for President Trump and the Manhattan district attorney’s office have reached a “temporary arrangement” under which prosecutors won’t enforce a subpoena for Trump’s tax returns for a short period of time, the district attorney’s office said in a court filing Thursday.
- In a letter to Judge Victor Marrero, the district attorney’s office said that it’s agreed to refrain from enforcing the subpoena until either two business days after the judge rules on pending motions or until Oct. 7, whichever comes first.
- Absent a court order, Trump’s accounting firm, Mazars USA, will immediately start a rolling production of documents responsive to the subpoena when the agreement expires.
The agreement comes one day after Marrero, an appointee of former President Bill Clinton, ordered the parties in the lawsuit to try to reach an agreement on how to proceed before he rules in the case. The Hill’s Naomi Jagoda tells us what it means here.
Bill with $5 billion in wall funding advanced over Democrats’ objections: Republicans at a contentious hearing on Thursday pushed through a Homeland Security spending measure that included $5 billion for President Trump’s proposed border wall over the opposition of Democrats, who vowed to block the bill’s passage on the floor.
“This is a waste of taxpayer dollars and bad for our country,” said Appropriations Committee Vice Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), the committee’s top Democrat.
“It is not about solving real problems, it is about fulfilling a campaign promise. And let’s not forget the president promised that Mexico would pay for the wall,” he added.
With the exception of Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), every Democrat on the committee voted against the bill, which passed 17-14.
Dem amendments: The committee also rejected two Democratic amendments to the $70.7 billion bill that would strip out the wall money and block Trump from using emergency powers to reprogram funds from other accounts.
“I find it absurd that we are doing backflips to avoid exercising our constitutional role,” said Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii). Responding to complaints that such issues would be better addressed in the Military Construction bill, from which Trump reprogrammed $3.6 billion, Schatz incredulously pointed out that the bill had been withdrawn from consideration last week to avoid discussing the issue.
“I agree that this is not the ideal venue for this vote, but this is the only time we’ll have the opportunity to express ourselves,” he said.
Some Republicans on the committee expressed their frustration with what they said was executive overreach, but voted against the amendment anyway.
“He’s speaking truth to all of us as appropriators here,” Sen. Lisa Murkowsky (R-Alaska) said in response to Schatz’s comments.
The Hill’s Niv Elis tells us how we got here.
GOOD TO KNOW
- Trade talks between the U.S. and China are set to resume Oct. 10-11 in Washington, D.C., according to CNBC.
- Income inequality in the United States is at its highest point since data started being collected more than 50 years ago, according to Census Bureau data.
- Business groups are continuing to push Congress to pass President Trump’s trade deal to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), despite Democrats’ attention turning toward impeachment.
- Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) on Thursday seized a report that Democratic Wall Street donors may support President Trump over her if she’s the Democratic presidential nominee in 2020.
- President Trump’s threat to hit foreign autos and auto parts with sweeping tariffs has the U.S. car industry rattled and raised worries about an even greater shock to the American economy, amid a bruising trade war.
- The IRS on Thursday released new estimates of the “tax gap” — the difference between the amount of taxes owed and the amount that’s paid on time — as lawmakers consider funding for the agency and ways to boost tax compliance.
- A new bill introduced by Republican Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (Pa.) would place a tax on carbon emissions and invest revenue in infrastructure.
ODDS AND ENDS
- The Justice Department’s antitrust investigation into four automakers is reviving concerns that the Trump administration is weaponizing its competition enforcers against political rivals.
- The food-delivery platform DoorDash revealed on Thursday that 4.9 million of its users, vendors and delivery workers were exposed in a data breach to an “unauthorized third party.”