Overnight Finance: House votes to extend highway funding

TOMORROW STARTS TONIGHT: HOUSE PASSES INFRASTRUCTURE BILL WITHOUT EX-IM. Keith Laing: “The House voted Wednesday to approve an $8 billion bill to extend federal transportation funding until December. The funding extension was approved in a 312-119 vote. The legislation now goes to the Senate, which is considering a funding bill that could also include an extension of the Export-Import Bank. That would introduce a new complication to the fight over highway funding, since conservatives in the House want to prevent Ex-Im from moving forward. Republican leaders said the stopgap measure will buy time to negotiate a long-term highway bill.”

Three quick points…

{mosads}1.) Democrats aren’t happy. Laing explains: “Democrats complained bitterly about the temporarily extension, which is the 34th highway funding patch that has been approved by Congress since 2005.” 

2.) The deadline is quickly approaching. “Lawmakers face a July 31 deadline to extend highway funding. Congress has been grappling since 2005 with a transportation funding shortfall that is estimated to be about $16 billion per year. Lawmakers have not passed a transportation bill that lasts longer than two years during that span.”

3.) Ex-Im isn’t dead — yet. More from Keith: “In the Senate, it is expected that lawmakers will add the Ex-Im bill to the highway funding measure, and then send that package back to the House.” Story: http://bit.ly/1O7aYeh

THIS IS OVERNIGHT FINANCE, and what a day. Tweet: @kevcirilli; email: kcirilli@digital-stage.thehill.com; and subscribe:http://digital-stage.thehill.com/signup/48.

EX-IM WATCH – – WILL TED CRUZ FILIBUSTER SENATE HIGHWAY BILL? My take for the hometown paper:  Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) did not rule out filibustering a federal transportation-funding bill if it includes an amendment to reauthorize the Export-Import Bank.

“I’m willing to use any and all procedural tools to stop this corporate welfare and this corruption from being propagated,” Cruz said at a press conference in Washington on Wednesday.

Cruz was flanked by leaders of top conservative groups, including Heritage Action and Tea Party Patriots, which have clashed with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Manufacturers over the bank’s future.

Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), chairman of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Rep. Bill Flores (R-Texas), chairman of the Republican Study Committee, also attended the press conference. http://bit.ly/1K8mSq8

QUOTABLE, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), weighing in on Greece: “The current situation in Greece is a tragedy of enormous proportions. The austerity measures proposed for Greece are not only cruel and counterproductive, they are terrible politics.” http://bit.ly/1RA5dM5

NOTABLE: YELLEN VERSUS HENSARLING, via Pete Schroeder: “Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen on Wednesday butted heads with GOP lawmakers, as long-simmering frustrations boiled over during a congressional hearing. Yellen and high-ranking Republicans on the House Financial Services Committee sparred over her response, or lack thereof, to a congressional subpoena tied to a probe of a 2012 leak of sensitive Fed information.” http://bit.ly/1LaOxqE

CFPB ON DEFENSE, via Tim Devaney: “The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has returned more than $10 billion to consumers who were scammed since the watchdog agency opened its doors four years ago. CFPB Director Richard Cordray revealed the results of the relief the agency has provided to more than 17 million consumers on Wednesday in his semi-annual report to Congress.”

“Cordray is on the hill this week defending the CFPB from Republicans who are seeking to weaken the consumer watchdog. He testified Wednesday before the Senate Banking Committee. The creation of the CFPB stems from the Dodd-Frank financial reform laws passed five years ago this month. The Obama administration and Democrats defend the agency’s work, but Republicans have long decried its ‘lack of accountability.'” http://bit.ly/1HxQNCj

TRUMP RELEASES FINANCIAL DISCLOSURES, via Jesse Byrnes: “Donald Trump cemented his 2016 presidential bid Wednesday by filing his personal financial disclosure paperwork with the government, according to his campaign. Trump’s net worth has increased from the year-old $8.7 billion figure used by his campaign during his White House campaign launch last month to more than $10 billion, according to his campaign. The celebrity real estate developer claimed $362 million in income during 2014, according to numbers provided by his campaign, not including dividends, interest, capital gains, rents and royalties.” http://bit.ly/1DhLGV3

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