Overnight Finance: McConnell pitches budget unity to House GOP

MCCONNELL’S BUDGET PITCH: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is privately urging House Republicans to unite behind a budget resolution and end the lower chamber’s weeks-long impasse over $30 billion in spending.

In a closed-door meeting on Tuesday, McConnell told House Republicans to stand by last fall’s accord with President Obama, which would increase federal spending to $1.07 trillion. The Hill Sarah Ferris tells us how receptive the House was: http://bit.ly/1oWCrtb.

COAL MINERS PLEA FOR PENSION FIX: The leader of a union for coal industry workers on Tuesday urged senators to act quickly on legislation that would help retired miners and their families who are in danger of losing their pension and healthcare benefits.

{mosads}”I think the coal miners in this country have been promised these benefits, these coal miners in this country have earned these benefits,” Cecil Roberts, international president of the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA), said at a Senate Finance Committee hearing. “These coal miners in this country have sacrificed greatly to this nation so all of us can have a better way of life, and we urge consideration of this.” The Hill’s Naomi Jagoda takes us there: http://bit.ly/1LTaQ0u.

DNC CHAIR PUSHES BILL TO SLOW PAYDAY LOAN RULES: Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) is co-sponsoring and rallying Democratic support behind the Consumer Protection and Choice Act, which would delay for two years pending rules from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) meant to crack down on abusive payday lending: http://bit.ly/1UwYTEK.

HAPPY SUPER TUESDAY and welcome to Overnight Finance, where we’ve got lots of questions about how tonight’s primaries will end. 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 rough year for Donald Trump’s pick for Treasury secretary, a House spending brawl and scary fallout from the Great Recession.

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://www.digital-stage.thehill.com/signup/48.

ON TAP TONIGHT: It’s Super Tuesday, and tonight’s primaries and caucuses could reshape the presidential race. Stick with us online and on Twitter at TheHill.com and @TheHill for the latest results, news and analysis.

ON TAP TOMORROW:

• House Ways and Means Committee: Hearing on “Protecting the Free Exchange of Ideas on College Campuses” 10 a.m.
• House Small Business Committee: Hearing on Commercializing on Innovation: Reauthorizing the Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer Programs, 11 a.m.
• House Appropriations Committee: Budget Hearing on Department of the Interior with Secretary Sally Jewell, 1 p.m.
• Senate Judiciary Committee: Hearings to examine EB-5 visa program, 10 a.m.
• Joint Economic Committee Hearings to examine the Economic Report of the President, 2:30 p.m.
• The Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) will hold a closed executive session.

BUDGET BRAWL AT HEARING: Lawmakers on a House committee sparred Tuesday over President Obama’s 2017 budget request for the Interior Department — and Republicans’ inability to so far agree on a budget blueprint of their own.

The committee’s leading Republican and Democrat fought over both the Interior budget request and the recent failure of the House to pass a spending plan for the Interior Department. The Hill’s Devin Henry fills us in: http://bit.ly/1QqwFd2.

OPIOID ABUSE SPIKES AFTER RECESSION: A new study highlighted the troubling link between the Great Recession and drug addiction: http://on.wsj.com/1QJNuvB.

TRUMP’S TREASURY PICK LOSES BIG IN 2015: Hedge fund chief Carl Icahn reported Tuesday that his firm posted an 18 percent loss in 2015, according to CNBC. The last time Icahn Enterprises lost that much money, it was down 36 percent in 2008, during the depths of the financial collapse. Trump has said he’d pick Icahn as Treasury Secretary, which Icahn has played down: http://bit.ly/1T6w0zW.

HOUSE LAUNCHES MUNICIPAL FINANCE CAUCUS: Reps. Randy Hultgren (R-Ill.) and Dutch Ruppersberger (D-Md.) announced the “Municipal Finance Caucus” on Tuesday. The group will consider issues including maintaining the tax exemption for municipal bonds —  the debt state and local governments issue to finance the construction and maintenance of infrastructure. Here’s more from The Hill’s Naomi Jagoda: http://bit.ly/1oWI5eK.

DIMON SEES DOORS CLOSING FOR WALL STREET: The head of one of the nation’s largest financial institutions believes bankers are not welcome to fill powerful positions in Washington.

Jamie Dimon, head of JPMorgan Chase, said in an interview published Tuesday that it will be at least a decade before a banker can be tapped for a top spot in the nation’s capital. He argued that lingering anger toward the financial sector has made it “not politically feasible.” Peter Schroeder explains why: http://bit.ly/1QqAYVY.

GROWTH HAMPERED BY LESS SKILLED WORKFORCE: Speaking of JPMorgan Chase, a recent research note from the bank theorizes that the American workforce isn’t as skilled as it used to be: http://on.wsj.com/1TlNTLu.

NIGHTCAP: See why traders are stoked about Donald Trump (and why they’re not): http://cnb.cx/1QljDwf.

Write us with tips, suggestions and news: slane@digital-stage.thehill.com, vneedham@digital-stage.thehill.com, pschroeder@digital-stage.thehill.com, and njagoda@digital-stage.thehill.com. Follow us on Twitter: @SylvanLane,  @VickofTheHill, @PeteSchroeder, and @NJagoda.