On The Money: GOP digs in on defending Trump tax cuts | Democrats bullish on raising minimum wage | Financial sector braces for Biden’s consumer bureau pick

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—GOP digs in on preserving Trump tax cuts: Republicans are signaling a determination to protect their 2017 tax-cut law and prevent President Biden from making good on campaign pledges to partially undo the measure.

The tax law, enacted after GOP lawmakers sought for years to slash rates for individuals and businesses, was one of former President Trump’s biggest legislative accomplishments. But with Democratic control of Congress, Biden has new avenues for delivering on his 2020 promises.

• Biden has called for rolling back the Trump tax cuts on people making above $400,000 a year and to partially reverse the reduction in the corporate tax rate. 
• And even though he has indicated tax increases are not his most immediate priority, Biden has noted they could be a way to finance his spending priorities down the line.

GOP lawmakers are now starting their campaign to keep the tax cuts intact, arguing that it would be particularly harmful to reverse them during the coronavirus-related downturn. The Hill’s Naomi Jagoda has more here.

LEADING THE DAY: Durbin says wage hike can happen with simple majority vote: Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (Ill.), the No. 2 Senate Democrat, said that Democrats can use a special process known as budget reconciliation to increase the minimum wage to President Biden’s proposed target of $15 an hour without any Republican votes.

• Durbin, who has served in the Senate since 1997 and is a veteran of many budget and procedural battles, said a minimum wage increase falls within the parameters of budget reconciliation.
• That means Democrats would be able to pass it in the Senate with a simple majority vote, instead of the 60 normally needed to advance legislation.

“It’s being discussed. I don’t know that a final decision has been reached,” Durbin said of the possibility of increasing the minimum wage through the budget reconciliation process.

The Hill’s Alexander Bolton and Niv Elis walk us through the process.

The background: 

• Biden’s push for a $15 minimum wage is part of his $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief bill that he has made his top legislative priority. 
• Democrats in both chambers also reintroduced a bill Tuesday to raise the federal minimum wage for the first time since 2009, setting a $15 an hour target by 2025.
• Republicans used budget reconciliation to pass former President Trump’s signature tax reform initiative in 2017. They also used it that year in an attempt to repeal the 2010 Affordable Care Act but fell one vote short after the late Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) opposed the effort.

Financial firms brace for Biden’s consumer agency chief: President Biden’s pick to lead the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is expected to embolden the powerful agency with a more aggressive approach to how banks, lenders and debt collectors treat their customers.

The shift comes after progressives and Wall Street critics raged for years as Trump-appointed CFPB leaders weakened regulations, upended the agency’s structure and took a less combative approach to oversight and enforcement.

The ideological pendulum is now set to swing sharply to the left if Biden’s top choice, Rohit Chopra, takes over the agency. I explain why here.

ON TAP TOMORROW:

Wednesday 1/27 at 11:30 AM ET | Relief to Recovery: What’s Next for Small Business?

Leaving 2020 behind, small businesses still face an uphill climb. Many business owners have learned to innovate, embracing new technologies and new business models in order to stay afloat, showing their resilience and begging the question – what will “normal” even look like for business owners?  What support do they still urgently need? Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD), Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-MO), U.S. Black Chambers’ Ron Busby and small business owners  from across the country discuss how we move from COVID relief to a full recovery. RSVP today.

GOOD TO KNOW

• Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Tuesday sought to rally department employees as the Biden administration tackles the economic damage wrought by the coronavirus pandemic.
• Amazon announced plans to add more than 3,000 additional corporate and technology jobs as part of its efforts to expand its Boston Tech Hub over the next several years. 
• Business groups are preparing for a lobbying fight after Democrats in both chambers reintroduced a bill Tuesday to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 by 2025.

ODDS AND ENDS

• President Biden pledged to replace vehicles owned by the federal government with U.S.-made electric vehicles, doubling down on a similar campaign pledge. 
• Target announced on Monday that it will give all of its hourly workers a $500 bonus as a thank-you for their efforts amid the coronavirus pandemic.