FLASH — ELIZABETH WARREN HEADED TO WEST VIRGINIA. The Associated Press is reporting that Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) will campaign for Senate candidate Natalie Tennant on July 14 in W.Va.’s Eastern Panhandle.
TOMORROW STARTS TONIGHT… actually, it starts at 7 p.m., when the House Oversight Committee will put IRS Commissioner John Koskinen in the Hill hot seat for another hearing about former IRS official Lois Lerner’s missing emails related to the unfair targeting of Tea Party groups.
{mosads}— ISSA TURNS UP HEAT: Issa subpoenaed former IRS counsel Jennifer O’Connor to testify at tomorrow’s hearing slated for 9:30 a.m. O’Connor now works as White House counsel.
— KOSKINEN IN PRIME TIME: All eyes will be on Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), just days after Koskinen’s defiant testimony before the House Ways and Means Committee on Friday.
— WHAT WE’RE WATCHING: Beyond the fiery rhetoric and YouTube-potential of tonight’s hearing, it will be an important test for House Republicans as they look to move the story about the missing emails to the center of attention and make the case that the IRS stonewalled their investigation.
“Since the IRS Commissioner already testified extensively on this exact issue on Friday, it is unclear what Chairman Issa hopes to achieve tonight other than additional headlines,” said a Democratic Oversight Committee staffer to OVERNIGHT FINANCE.
A key-moment at tonight’s hearing will be when Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) questions Koskinen. During the March 26 IRS hearing, Koskinen told Chaffetz: “We can find Lois Lerner’s emails.”
Turns out they can’t.
“My boss will focus on that,” Chaffetz spokeswoman MJ Henshaw told OF. Video from the March 26 hearing: http://bit.ly/1qoEALB.
THIS IS OVERNIGHT FINANCE, where a draw is as good as a loss in our book. That’s why Landon Donovan shouldn’t have been cut — veterans know stoppage time counts, too. Tweet: @kevcirilli; email: kcirilli@digital-stage.thehill.com; and subscribe: click here.
Pick it up, it’s only Monday…
BUSINESS FIGHTS BACK — EX-IM SUPPORTERS LOOK TO MOVE ON OFFENSE. One day after incoming House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said he no longer supports Export-Import Bank reauthorization, K Street hit back hard with a one-two punch.
First, there was a letter sponsored by The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Manufacturers to House leadership. With GOP support eroding in the House, 41 Republican House members signed the letter backing the bank’s reauthorization. Story: http://bit.ly/1yG9Rw6. Letter: http://bit.ly/1yGzZHa.
Their message? Jobs – not for Boeing, but for Main Street.
It was a message echoed by more than 800 businesses in all 50 states, plus the District of Columbia, from the American Apparel & Footwear Association to the American Petroleum Institute in a separate letter to all members of Congress. Story: http://bit.ly/1qtjNEx. Letter:http://bit.ly/1qtjREp.
TONY FRATTO, former George W. Bush White House official and managing director of Hamilton Place Strategies, told OVERNIGHT FINANCE:
“Most members have no clue how many firms in their districts benefit from ExIm support. All they’ve heard from the critic lobby is that big firms are supported… They’re going to learn that there are thousands of small and medium sized firms who export only because ExIm is there for them. Most of these firms they’ve never heard of, but they will over the next couple of months.”
TIL: The U.S. ranked ninth in alcohol exports in 2005, the most recent study available on the issue.
So, let’s drink…
SHOT, White House press secretary Josh Earnest on his first day of the job: “The Ex-Im Bank helps American companies create and support jobs here at home at no cost to taxpayers.”
CHASER, then-candidate Barack Obama campaigning in Green Bay, Wis., on September 22, 2008: “I am not a Democrat who believes that we can or should defend every government program just because it’s there. There are some that don’t work like we had hoped, …that have been duplicated by other programs that we just need to cut back — like waste at the Economic Development Agency and the Export-Import Bank that has become little more than a fund for corporate welfare.” Transcript: http://cnn.it/1rrKLMI.
ON-TAP FOR TOMORROW: Senate Appropriations marks-up its FY2015 Financial Services and General Government Appropriations bill at 10:30 a.m. … Senate Finance holds a student loan hearing at 10 a.m. … Treasury Secretary Jack Lew testifies before the House Financial Services Committee at 10 a.m. …Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker speaks in Denver at Clinton Global Initiative America 2014 Annual Meeting.
SCOTUS WATCH, via Robert Barnes for The Washington Post: “The Supreme Court on Monday took a modest step toward making it harder for individuals to band together in class action suits alleging securities fraud.” http://wapo.st/1q2hdI2.
FIRST LOOK – OXFORD ECONOMICS’ HOUSEHOLD SAVINGS STUDY. “Left on the current path, the saving rate will fall to an extremely low 3 percent in the next two decades, according to the analysis, whereas 5 percent – 9 percent is needed for healthy growth. Increasing the saving rate to the middle of that range would enable higher investment without an unsustainable rise in net foreign borrowing.”
—Study sponsors: The study, dubbed Another Penny Saved, was sponsored by AARP, American Society of Pension Professionals and Actuaries, Aspent Institute, Bank of America, Merrill Lynch, Financial Services Roundtable, John Hancock Financial, LPL Financial, Natixis Global Asset Management, the New England Council, Putnam Investments, and the US Chamber of Commerce. Study: http://bit.ly/1j8OppF
WARREN IN WEST VIRGINIA – GOOD OR BAD FOR CAPITO? Rep. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) is challenging Natalie Tennant for the open seat left vacated by retiring-Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.). The AP’s Jonathan Mattise reports:
“Warren is hardly an exact match for Appalachia. Both Republicans and Democrats, including Tennant, largely oppose President Barack Obama’s plans to limit carbon emissions from the coal industry. Warren has supported them… Capito is favored and holds nearly a 4-to-1 cash advantage… Warren said [in an emailed statement] that she and Tennant don’t agree on everything…
— KEY GRAPH: “President Barack Obama has burdened Democrats campaigning in Kentucky and West Virginia, particularly because of his proposed rules to limit emissions from coal-fired power plants.” http://bit.ly/1j8hgKV.
—CAPITO SPOX, Amy Graham to OF: “Elizabeth Warren is anti-coal, anti-gun, anti-business and pro-ObamaCare. Everything she stands for is completely at odds with the West Virginia values Natalie Tennant claims to put first. By choosing to align herself with someone like Elizabeth Warren, Natalie Tennant has taken her stunning hypocrisy to a new level.”
MORE FROM THE HILL’s TEAM:
–Murray: ‘The window is closing’ for transportation funding fix’: http://bit.ly/1m7cTQ5.
–White House opposes gas tax hike to fix transportation funding: http://bit.ly/1pFNQcE.
–Coats: Missing IRS emails ‘defies incredulity’: http://bit.ly/1m7cZqY.
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