Overnight Finance: Left pushes Hillary on Glass-Steagall

THE SCENE: Dozens of reporters crowded outside of a Senate meeting room behind velvet rope lines waiting to catch a glimpse of Democratic presidential frontrunner Hillary Clinton, who was meeting with Democratic lawmakers.

— But the real buzz was whether or not Taylor Swift was going to emerge anywhere inside the Capitol. There were rumors all day that she was going to be seen. 

TOMORROW STARTS TONIGHT: HAPPY FIFTH BIRTHDAY, DODD-FRANK! And what a five years it’s been. The center-right think tank American Action Forum released their analysis with us: 

{mosads}”The top 5 costliest pending regulations would add $7.8 billion in regulatory costs and 1.7 million in paperwork hours. Small financial companies are experiencing stagnant job growth. The number of firms with 10 to 19 workers and the number with 20 to 49 fell 0.3 percent and 1.0 percent respectively. Meanwhile the number of businesses with fewer than 5 workers only grew 0.7 percent and those with 5 to 9 only increased 1.7 percent.

“Since Dodd-Frank, the number of jobs at federal financial regulatory agencies spiked 19.2 percent. Lending–whether commercial, real estate, or consumer–has not recovered in this economic recovery as quickly as the average post-WWII economic recovery.” Full report: http://bit.ly/1L78uyA

— HAPPENING NOW: Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) talking about the fifth year anniversary of Dodd-Frank.

THIS IS OVERNIGHT FINANCE, and it’s only Tuesday. Tweet: @kevcirilli; email: kcirilli@digital-stage.thehill.com; and subscribe: http://digital-stage.thehill.com/signup/48.

TUNE INN: I’ll be on Fox News tonight with Greta Van Susteren discussing politics for The Hill. Tune in!

LIBERALS PRESS CLINTON ON GLASS-STEAGALL, via me: Progressives are pressing Democratic presidential frontrunner Hillary Clinton to clarify her position on reinstating Glass-Steagall, legislation her husband repealed in 1999 that would break up big banks. Clinton’s economic policy speech on Monday made no mention of the Depression-era law, which Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) reintroduced earlier this month.

Clinton’s challenger, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who is running as a Democrat, was one of the eight senators in 1999 who voted against repealing the law. Neil Sroka, communications director for the progressive Democracy For America, called it “patently absurd that any serious 2016 Democratic candidate would refuse to join Elizabeth Warren in the push for a new Glass-Steagall.”

— FLASHBACK: During a September 2008 interview with CNN, Clinton defended her husband’s repeal of Glass-Steagall in 1999. 

“Your husband could have vetoed the bill, even though it might have been over-ridden, he could have done it symbolically,” said then-CNN anchor John Roberts.

“Well, but there were reasons. There were positive reasons,” Clinton answered. “What I believe the failure in ’99 was — is that once you removed some of those barriers between banks and investment banks and the kind of business that could be done by banks — that there needed to be new regulatory framework. But there was no appetite in the Republican Congress or with a Republican president to take the second step.”

Former President Clinton has defended the repeal of the legislation. He said in 2014 at an economic forum in Washington that “getting rid of Glass-Steagall didn’t have anything to do with the crash.” Story: http://bit.ly/1I13RUq

TRANSPORTATION FUNDING CLIFF, via Keith Laing: “The Obama administration is warning state transportation departments that it will have to stop sending them payments for construction projects on July 31 unless Congress reaches a deal to extend federal infrastructure funding in the next two weeks. 

“The current transportation funding measure is scheduled to expire at the end of the month, and lawmakers are struggling to come up with a way to pay for an extension. 

“Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said in letter to the states that he will be unable to make new payments if Congress allows the law that authorizes the federal government’s infrastructure spending to expire. http://bit.ly/1f0Fg6N

HIGHWAY VOTE SOON? From The Hill’s Bernie Becker: “The House Rules Committee is scheduled to consider a short-term extension of highway funding on Tuesday afternoon, paving the way for the chamber to vote on the measure as soon as Wednesday.

“Ways and Means Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and Transportation Chairman Bill Shuster (R-Pa.) rolled out the plan to fund highways through Dec. 18 on Monday.” http://bit.ly/1M96S7R

FED FIGHT: GOP PRESSES FOR TRANSPARENCY, via Pete Schroeder: “House Republicans are using their gripes about the Federal Reserve’s responsiveness to Congress to bolster their argument the central bank needs tighter restrictions.

“Eyeing a host of potential reforms to the Fed, Republicans made the case Tuesday that the Fed’s insistence on political independence serves as shield from oversight and policy changes from lawmakers.

“Frustrated with how the Fed has responded to congressional inquiries regarding a 2012 leak of sensitive private information, members argued for further Fed restrictions one day before Fed Chair Janet Yellen is set to testify before Congress. http://bit.ly/1SlDlGL

GOP: BAN SANTUARY CITIES, via Rebecca Shabad: The House Appropriations Committee on Tuesday adopted an amendment into a spending bill that would make “sanctuary cities” ineligible for federal grants if they refuse to cooperate with federal officials in immigration cases.

Rep. Kevin Yoder (R-Kan.) offered the amendment to a bill that would fund the Department of Homeland Security following the recent murder of Kathryn Steinle in San Francisco. A felon who was in the United States illegally has been charged in her death. http://bit.ly/1CCptX3

FROM THE NEW YORKER: “Today’s Feminist Fairy Tale: Elizabeth Warren Proposed to Her Husband.” http://thecut.io/1DfbbX8

CRUZ ALL IN ON EX-IM FIGHT, via me: Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) is putting himself front and center in the fight over reauthorizing the Export-Import Bank, as the presidential hopeful looks to raise his profile in the crowded 2016 field.

Cruz, who has frequently worked with House conservatives and has been a thorn in the side of GOP leaders in the lower chamber, is holding a press conference on Wednesday to call on House and Senate GOP leaders not to tie Ex-Im’s reauthorization to a highway spending bill. http://bit.ly/1CBIdWC

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