Overnight Finance: Senate taking up Puerto Rico bill this month | Dems attack SEC chief | House votes to limit IRS donor data

SENATE TO TAKE UP PUERTO RICO BEFORE END OF MONTH: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said on Tuesday that the Senate will take up a House-passed Puerto Rico debt-relief bill this month.

“We’ll be taking up the House bill sometime before the end of the month,” the Republican leader told reporters.

{mosads}McConnell made the statement after House lawmakers, including Rep. Rob Bishop (R-Utah), briefed Senate Republicans on the House-passed bill. His announcement confirms expectations that the Senate would act on the bill before a July 1st debt payment deadline. The Hill’s Jordain Carney has more: http://bit.ly/28CFAjV.

SENATE DEMOCRATS BRAWL WITH SEC CHIEF: One of President Obama’s top financial regulators is facing a barrage of criticism from fellow Democrats.

Mary Jo White, the chairwoman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, was repeatedly attacked Tuesday by Democrats on the Senate Banking Committee.

Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) went so far as to suggest that White contributed to the political environment that enabled the rise of presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump as he excoriated her for refusing to consider rules that would require public companies to disclose any political spending.
“You want to know why people are so discontent? It’s in part because of a few powerful people who send out a cascade of ads,” he said. “You frankly are aiding and abetting it at the SEC.”

“You are hurting America,” he added. The Hill’s Peter Schroeder takes us there: http://bit.ly/260VpPf.

DEMS CALL ON SEC TO INVESTIGATE PUERTO RICO: Senate Democrats are demanding regulators probe whether any illegal activity contributed to Puerto Rico’s debt crisis.

In a letter sent to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Tuesday, a group of top Democrats called for an investigation into how it came to pass that the island ended up buried in debt it could not pay off.

“Puerto Ricans deserve to know whether illegal activity contributed to the current debt burden,” they wrote.

The letter was signed by seven Democrats, including Sens. Bob Menendez (N.J.), Elizabeth Warren (Mass.), Bernie Sanders (Vt.), and Charles Schumer (N.Y.).

The lawmakers did not suggest in their letter that they had reason to believe something illegal happened in Puerto Rico, nor did they offer specific examples of where the SEC should probe: http://bit.ly/1UtaMMr.

HAPPY TUESDAY and welcome to Overnight Finance, where we’re pretty, pretty, pretty excited about the return of “Curb Your Enthusiasm.” I’m Sylvan Lane, and here’s your nightly guide to everything affecting your bills, bank account and bottom line.

Tonight’s highlights include a bill to limit IRS information collecting, a battle over Obama’s energy taxes and fighting over a defense spending bill.

See something I missed? Let me know at slane@digital-stage.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 Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services: Financial Services appropriations bill markup, 10 a.m. http://1.usa.gov/1UHeUUP.
• Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee: Hearings to examine implementing the Child Care Development Block Grant Act of 2014, 10 a.m. http://1.usa.gov/24FGA23.
• House Budget Committee: Hearing on the need for fiscal goals, 10 a.m. http://1.usa.gov/1YeUmZd.
• Senate Finance Committee: Hearing entitled “Challenges and Opportunities for U.S. Businesses in the Digital Age,” 2 p.m. http://1.usa.gov/1tgWYdq

TOP DEM HAS CONCERNS WITH PUERTO RICO BILL: Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) told reporters Tuesday he’s got issues with a House-passed bill to help Puerto Rico handle its debt.

“I have some serious problems with it: what it does to the labor law, the makeup of the commission or committee or whatever it is, so I don’t know yet,” said Brown, referring to provisions allowing Puerto Rico to waive a recent Department of Labor rule expanding overtime pay, as well as over the makeup of the oversight board.

The bill passed the House on Thursday with majorities in both parties and the White House supporting it.

HATCH BLASTS OBAMA ON ENERGY TAX POLICY: Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) on Tuesday blasted the Obama administration’s stance on energy policy, saying the White House is focused on punishing the production and use of fossil fuels.

“Whether it’s an increased per-barrel tax on oil production or higher per-gallon taxes charged on gasoline at the pump, the Obama Administration seems intent on raising the cost of producing or consuming energy from fossil fuels, even if it means increased hardships on middle-class and lower income families,” Hatch said at a Finance Committee hearing on energy tax policy.

Hatch said he supports an “all-of-the-above approach” to energy policy and supports promoting alternative energy sources. However, he does not think the cost of existing energy sources should be raised to increase the appeal of alternative energy sources. The Hill’s Naomi Jagoda tells us more: http://bit.ly/1Uioe4o.

HOUSE PASSES BILL TO LIMIT IRS DONOR INFO COLLECTION: The House passed legislation Tuesday that would generally prohibit the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) from requiring tax-exempt groups to report the identities of donors on annual returns — the latest measure the chamber has approved to place limits on the agency.

The bill passed on a largely party-line vote, 240-182.

The bill the House passed would largely do away with a requirement that organizations with tax-exempt status under section 501(c) of the code report information about donations of $5,000 or more. Under the bill, only donations of that size from groups’ officers and directors and the five highest-paid employees would have to be disclosed: http://bit.ly/260VXob.

IRS TAKES NEW STEPS TO REVIEW SEIZED ASSETS: Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Commissioner John Koskinen said the agency is taking new steps to review cases in which the agency seized small-business owners’ assets.

Koskinen’s comments, in a letter sent on Friday, come after both Democrats and Republicans on the House Ways and Means oversight subcommittee repeatedly urged the IRS to return the wrongly taken funds.

The IRS in the past has seized the funds of small-business owners in cases where the agency believed taxpayers were “structuring” transactions under $10,000 to avoid bank-reporting requirements. The IRS had taken the assets even when it believed the money did not come from illegal sources: http://bit.ly/1rouayl.

SENATE APPROVES DEFENSE POLICY BILL: The Senate overwhelmingly passed a wide-ranging defense policy bill Tuesday despite an eleventh-hour floor fight.

Senators voted 85-13 on the $602 billion National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which broadly lays out policy and spending rules for the Pentagon and the military branches.

Voting against the legislation were GOP Sens. Mike Crapo (Idaho), Ted Cruz (Texas), Mike Lee (Utah), Rand Paul (Ky.), Jim Risch (Idaho), and Ben Sasse (Neb.), as well as Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Democratic Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand (N.Y.), Patrick Leahy (Vt.), Ed Markey (Mass.), Jeff Merkley (Ore.), Ron Wyden (Ore.) and Elizabeth Warren (Mass.).
Tuesday’s vote came after a last-minute scuffle on the Senate floor as lawmakers were repeatedly blocked from scheduling votes on their amendments.

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) blasted senators ahead of the vote, suggesting some were taking a “their way or the highway” approach.

“As happy as I am about the size of the vote, we left out some very important amendments,” McCain added after the Senate approved the bill he spearheaded. “When we take up a bill of this significance, not every senator can have his or her way.” http://bit.ly/1Q2ewEr.

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