Happy Tuesday and welcome back to On The Money, where we’ve found a rare instance of a curve we’d like to see flatten. 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–Trump, Congress struggle for economic deal under coronavirus threat: The Trump administration and House Democrats are hunting for a deal as the coronavirus sparks steep economic uncertainty, but there are few signs that they will be able to move quickly.
- Pressure is growing on both President Trump and Congress to take action to try to calm the markets, and the American public, as a steady uptick in cases within the United States is feeding fears of a widespread outbreak.
- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin met for roughly a half-hour on Tuesday afternoon, formally opening talks between the administration and Democrats about a second coronavirus bill after Congress signed off on $8.3 billion in emergency funding last week.
- But lawmakers are warning that they are unlikely to get a bill that could pass both chambers before the one-week recess set to start Thursday, increasing the likelihood that it will be at least two weeks until lawmakers act even as the number of cases within the United States continues to climb.
The Hill’s Jordain Carney and Naomi Jagoda bring us up to speed.
Reactions:
- “We’re having discussions about various different policies. … I think there’s a lot of interest on a bipartisan basis to get something done quickly.” — Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.
- “We’re going to see. They came in very chopped up … A lot of them are things that [House Speaker Nancy Pelosi] wanted to get for other things, and we’re looking at the people. We’re looking at solving this problem.” — President Trump.
- “I’m going to be blunt. We are very worried about the president’s incompetence and lack of focus on fighting the spread of coronavirus. We believe that his lack of focus is hamstringing efforts to address this public crisis and inflicting pain on the stock market.” — Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer.
Trump supports paid sick leave: The president took a step toward a deal Tuesday when he threw his support behind a paid sick or family leave program, a major Democratic priority, as part of a stimulus package.
“He made it very obvious he really supports those types of measures,” said Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) following a lunch during which Trump pitched his proposals for a stimulus to GOP senators.
- Democrats, who have pushed paid sick and family leave policies for years, put the issue at the top of their objectives list for a coronavirus stimulus.
- Republicans, who have traditionally balked at the policy, said they were open to it, though Trump did not present specifics of the plan, such as whether it would include a mandate, have an expiration date or require government funding.
“We will listen. We all recognize this is an extraordinary situation and we may need to take extraordinary measures, and President Trump’s providing that leadership,” Johnson said.
The Hill’s Niv Elis has more here.
Trump also sought further stimulus by berating the Fed to cut interest rates again, even though it already cut last week and will likely cut rates against next week. I’ve got more on that and why rate cuts might not be enough here.
ON TAP TOMORROW
- Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin testifies before a House Appropriations subcommittee on the Treasury Department’s fiscal 2021 budget request, 10 a.m.
- Former Wells Fargo directors Betsy Duke and James Quigley testify before the House Financial Services Committee, 10 a.m.
- A House Health, Education, Labor and the Workforce subcommittee holds a hearing on mandatory federal paid sick leave, 2 p.m.
- A House Ways and Means subcommittee holds a hearing on ending child poverty, 2 p.m.
- Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson testifies before a Senate Appropriations subcommittee on the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s fiscal 2021 budget request, 2 p.m.
LEADING THE DAY
Wells Fargo chief pledges fresh start for scandal-ridden bank: Wells Fargo chief executive Charles Scharf sought to convince lawmakers Tuesday that he could turn around the scandal-ridden bank after years of regulatory lapses, bipartisan outrage and billions of dollars in fines and settlements.
- Scharf, the bank’s fourth CEO since 2016, told the House Financial Services Committee that he is working tirelessly to transform a bank that abused its customers and failed to abide by orders from regulators to overhaul its internal controls.
- “The things that I have done since I have come to Wells Fargo are in stark contrast to how we’ve approached some of the issues in the past,” Scharf said.
Lawmakers largely spared Scharf, who joined Wells Fargo in October, from the wrath faced by his two predecessors.
Even so, Democrats and Republicans made clear that Scharf must answer for four years of building bipartisan rage among lawmakers — some of whom called for Wells Fargo to be broken up, its directors to resign and his predecessors to be prosecuted.
“I will note that each time a Wells Fargo CEO has testified before this committee, he has resigned soon thereafter,” warned Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), the Financial Services panel’s chairwoman.
“While I certainly wish you luck, it is clear to this committee that the bank you inherited is essentially a lawless organization that has caused widespread harm to millions of consumers throughout the nation.”
I’ve got more from the hearing here.
Drama looms for Wells Fargo: Scharf’s testimony came on a dramatic day, with Waters referring one of his predecessors, ex-CEO Timothy Sloan, to the Department of Justice (DOJ).
- Waters called on the DOJ to investigate whether Sloan violated federal law and lied to Congress when he testified over the bank’s oversight failures.
- Waters, chairwoman of the House Financial Services Committee, asked Attorney General William Barr in a Tuesday letter to probe whether Sloan committed perjury during a March 12, 2019, hearing on Wells Fargo’s extensive oversight failures.
- Sloan told the panel that Wells Fargo was in compliance with a consent order issued by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), forcing the bank to submit plans to compensate defrauded consumers and overhaul internal monitoring of its sales practices.
- Even so, a report released by the committee Wednesday citing internal emails from OCC staffers alleged that Sloan’s assertion prompted confusion among agency officials because the bank had repeatedly failed to meet the terms of the consent order.
Josh Cohen, an attorney for Sloan, said in an email that the allegation that Sloan “provided inaccurate and misleading testimony to the House Financial Services Committee is completely unfounded. Mr. Sloan described the considerable efforts that Wells Fargo made under his leadership to comply with the consent orders and directives of regulators.”
GOOD TO KNOW
- The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has canceled a planned vote for Wednesday after an employee was referred for testing for the novel coronavirus.
- Russ Vought, the acting director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, on Tuesday doubled down on proposed cuts to health services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), despite the coronavirus outbreak.
- The White House is considering federal assistance for the oil and gas industry, which has been hit by sinking oil prices due to both the coronavirus and international trade disputes, according to an administration official.
ODDS AND ENDS
- Officials with MGM Resorts announced Tuesday that the company would temporarily close buffets at restaurants in several of its locations across Las Vegas including the MGM Grand amid the coronavirus outbreak.