Overnight Finance: House GOP plans short-term spending bill | Senate Republicans not happy | Yellen intends to finish term

GOP opts for short-term spending bill: House Republicans on Thursday settled on a plan to fund the government through March 31 and avoid a final budget deal with President Obama.

Lawmakers decided during a closed-door meeting to back a path toward a short-term spending bill instead of a broad, year-end package. Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) personally made the case for the short-term bill, pitching it as the preference of President-elect Donald Trump, according to multiple lawmakers.

{mosads}

GOP leadership had been eying a continuing resolution, rather than a massive omnibus funding the government for a year, since Trump’s election.

House Appropriations Chairman Hal Rogers (R-Ky.) told reporters that Trump was driving factor behind the short-term spending bill – which his committee had largely opposed. The Hill’s Sarah Ferris tells us what happened: http://bit.ly/2f9fSPt.

GOP Senators slam short-term plan: Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) on Thursday slammed a House-backed plan to pass a short-term spending bill, arguing it would hurt the military. 

“Put simply, this cockamamie idea, this abrogation of our responsibilities called a continuing resolution would shortchange American troops,” he said from the Senate floor. “We’re just going to kick the can down the road for another three months or more.”

He added a short-term spending bill would “cut resources” for troops, “hamper” the war against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and go against the theme of the elections.

“Fresh off an election where the American people were clear that they are fed up with business as usual, that’s exactly what we’re about to get if Congress adopts another continuing resolution,” he said. The Hill’s Jordain Carney reports: http://bit.ly/2g1Ghjx.

Fed chief Yellen says she’s not resigning: Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen has no plans to resign following the election of Donald Trump.

Yellen told lawmakers Thursday that she has every intention of completing her term as head of the central bank, which expires more than a year into Trump’s tenure as president.

“It is fully my intention to serve out that term,” she told the Joint Economic Committee.

Yellen became the first woman to lead the Fed in 2014 and was appointed to a four-year term that expires at the end of January 2018. Her commitment to staying on in that role could lead to some tension between the Fed and the upcoming Trump administration. The Hill’s Peter Schroeder tells us what comes next: http://bit.ly/2g3aKfd.

Lew: Don’t paint Wall Street execs with ‘broad brushstroke’: Treasury Secretary Jack Lew says he doesn’t think all financial sector executives should be categorically blocked from taking over the Treasury.

Asked at a Georgetown University event Thursday whether Wall Street execs should serve in government, Lew said running the Treasury is “enormously important and complicated” and requires bringing together several perspectives.

“I think it’s a mistake to label any group with a broad brushstroke, and I think you have to look at each individual,” he said. “And you need individuals of personal ability, personal integrity and of a varied background because you’re doing many different things.” I’ve got more on his remarks here: http://bit.ly/2g0qLAS.

Happy Thursday and welcome to Overnight Finance, where we’re just a week away from Thanksgiving!  I’m Sylvan Lane, and here’s your nightly guide to everything affecting your bills, bank account and bottom line.

Tonight’s highlights include the future of Iran sanctions, an update on Jeb Hensarling’s candidacy for Treasury Secretary, a major JPMorgan settlement and one Dem’s theory for why Hillary Clinton lost.

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.

Hensarling willing to work with Trump ‘in any capacity’: House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) said he is ready to help President-elect Donald Trump “in any capacity possible.”

Hensarling met with Trump privately at Trump Tower in New York on Thursday amid talk that he is under consideration to serve as Treasury secretary.

In brief remarks to reporters after the meeting, Hensarling did not address that position specifically but painted himself as a true Trump team player.

“I stand ready to help the President in any capacity possible,” he said. “I’ve got a great position in public policy today, if he wants to talk to me obviously, about serving somewhere else, we’ll look at serving somewhere else.” http://bit.ly/2g0IJo2.

JPMorgan to pay $264M to settle foreign corruption charges: JPMorgan Chase will pay $264 million to settle charges that a Hong Kong-based subsidiary hired more than 100 interns and full-time employees at the request of government workers, winning lucrative contracts in exchange.

The bank will pay $130 million to settle charges from the Securities and Exchange Commission for violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the SEC announced Thursday. The bank was also charged with violating SEC anti-bribery, record-keeping and internal control rules. 
The program in question brought in roughly $100 million in revenue for JPMorgan, the SEC said.

“JPMorgan engaged in a systematic bribery scheme by hiring children of government officials and other favored referrals who were typically unqualified for the positions on their own merit,” said Andrew J. Ceresney, director of the SEC Enforcement Division. I’ll tell you what happened here: http://bit.ly/2g3am07.

Dem senator calls on Trump to stick to economic promises: Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) is calling on President-elect Donald Trump to take action to protect workers in the Buckeye State, prioritizing their needs over proposals put forth by the GOP establishment.

“Ohio families will watch to see if the new president follows the billionaire agenda of the Republican leadership in Washington, which has called for overturning a new rule that increases overtime pay for many workers — an action that would strip thousands of dollars in wages from 130,000 of Ohio’s moderate-income workers,” Brown wrote in a New York Times op-ed.

The Ohio Democrat added that Trump would also be judged on whether he will support a raise in the minimum wage. Trump over the summer backed a $10 federal minimum wage, but said states should take the lead on the issue. Here’s more from The Hill’s Harper Neidig: http://bit.ly/2flSBHU.

Jobless applications hit 43-year low: First-time claims for unemployment benefits plummeted to a 43-year low last week, a sign that businesses are hanging on to their workers as the labor market tightens.

Weekly applications for jobless benefits dropped 19,000 in the week ending Nov. 12 to a seasonally adjusted 235,000, the lowest level since Nov. 24, 1973, when it was 233,000, the Labor Department said Thursday.

The four-week average, which better reflects the trajectory of the labor market, fell 6,500 to 253,500, the lowest level in more than 16 years.

Applications for benefits have remained below 300,000 for 89 straight weeks, the longest streak since 1970 when the labor force and U.S. population was much smaller.

Overall, the number of those receiving benefits fell 66,000 to 1.98 million, the best showing since April 2000. The Hill’s Vicki Needham breaks it down: http://bit.ly/2gluVY4.

Dem: Obama’s trade push may have cost Clinton the Rust Belt: Rep. Rosa DeLauro on Thursday said President Obama’s push for passing a sweeping Asia-Pacific trade deal might have contributed to Hillary Clinton’s defeat in the presidential election.

The Connecticut Democrat spoke with reporters during a Capitol Hill event marking the end of Obama’s Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) drive, which now appears to have no chance of passing Congress.

“I’ve left the open question, which I have said since the day after, as to whether or not the administration’s push for a lame-duck vote [on the TPP] and getting people dispatched all over the country and all over the world, saying we were going to move on this, you have to question as to whether or not that resulted in the loss of the Rust Belt states,” she said. The Hill’s Ben Kamisar explains: http://bit.ly/2f5gMt3.

Levin concerned about GOP approach to tax reform: The top Democrat on the House Ways and Means Committee on Thursday expressed concerns about the approach that President-elect Donald Trump and congressional Republicans want to take on tax reform.

At an event hosted by The Century Foundation, Rep. Sandy Levin (D-Mich.) said he was worried that everything wouldn’t be in “good hands” during the next administration.

“And that’s true in terms of tax policy,” he added.

Republicans view next year as the ideal time to pass tax-reform legislation because they will control both houses of Congress and the White House.

House Republicans in June released a tax-reform blueprint that lowers rates for individuals and businesses. GOP staff members on the Ways and Means Committee are working to produce legislation based on the blueprint. The Hill’s Naomi Jagoda tells us about Levin’s issues: http://bit.ly/2g1GnI7.

McConnell: Senate will extend Iran sanctions in lame duck: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Wednesday that the Senate will vote to extend sanctions on Iran sanctions before the end of the year. 

“Yes, we are going to pass that,” he told reporters, asked about the Iran Sanctions Act (ISA). “We’re going to take up the House bill. I think it’s already held at the desk. And we’re going to pass it.”

The House voted Tuesday 419-1 to extend the ISA, currently set to expire before 2017, for 10 years.

Senate Republicans had initially hoped to pass an extension as part of a broader bill of new sanctions on Iran amid lingering fallout over the Iran nuclear agreement and a string of ballistic missile tests. Jordain Carney breaks it down: http://bit.ly/2f5kOBE.

Housing construction jumps by largest amount in 34 years: Housing starts surged 25.5 percent in October, which is the biggest jump in 34 years behind strong gains across single- and multi-family construction.

Construction rose to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.32 million units, up from 1.05 million in September, the highest level since August 2007 and before the economic downturn, the Commerce Department reported on Thursday. 

The jump in starts was the largest percentage gain since July 1982.
Single-family starts bolstered last month’s figures, rising 10.7 percent to the highest level since October 2007. Multi-family production jumped 68.8 percent following a decline in September.

“These robust figures correlate with strong builder optimism in the housing market,” said Ed Brady, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and a home builder and developer from Bloomington, Ill. Vicki Needham has more: http://bit.ly/2gln1y6.

 

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