Trump names his backup plan for Labor Secretary: The purported purpose of Thursday’s wild press conference with the president was to name a new nominee to head up the Labor Department. And before a torrent of questions, Trump did just that, tapping Alexander Acosta as his pick. Acosta is a former member of the National Labor Relations Board and current dean of Florida International University’s law school.
Acosta replaces Andrew Puzder, who withdrew his name as Labor nominee Wednesday, after it became clear he didn’t have enough Senate Republican supporters to win confirmation. If confirmed, Acosta would become the first Hispanic member of Trump’s cabinet. Read more here: http://bit.ly/2kXN3sl
Labor not picking a fresh fight (yet): After unions mobilized to help scuttle Puzder’s nomination, there aren’t any signs yet that they will similarly go to the mat against Acosta. Instead, AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka said labor plans to review Acosta’s record, while noting that just about anyone would be preferable to Puzder in their eyes.
{mosads}”Working people changed the game on this nomination. Unlike Andy Puzder, Alexander Acosta’s nomination deserves serious consideration. In one day, we’ve gone from a fast-food CEO who routinely violates labor law to a public servant with experience enforcing it,” AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka said, according to NBC News’s Carrie Dann. Read more here: http://bit.ly/2kvhEi4
Consumer bureau wins new day in court: The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau lives to fight another legal day, after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit agreed to rehear a case challenging the agency’s structure and powers. The decision for the entire court to rehear the case vacates a ruling made by a three-judge panel that previously found the agency’s structure unconstitutional. And that’s significant because if the CFPB manages to preserve its current structure in court, President Trump faces a much higher threshold for removing its current director, Richard Cordray from power. Our Megan Wilson has the story: http://bit.ly/2ln688n
Trump gets his conservative budget guru: While the Trump administration is mounting a do-over on Labor Secretary, the president can now work with his brand new director of the Office of Management and Budget. Mick Mulvaney, the South Carolinian who most recently served as one of the more conservative Republicans in the House, was narrowly confirmed by the Senate Thursday morning by a vote of 51-49.
Now in Trump’s inner circle, Mulvaney faces a tricky task of sticking to his fiscal conservative bona fides while running the numbers on an ambitious Trump agenda that includes many big-ticket items. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) was the only Republican to oppose the pick, citing Mulvaney’s previous opposition to defense spending increases. Get the full story here: http://bit.ly/2kvapqE
Happy Thursday and welcome to Overnight Finance. I’m Pete Schroeder, filling in for Sylvan Lane, giving you the rundown of everything that happened in Washington when it comes to dollars and cents.
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Riding the wave: Bucking the tradition of past presidents, Trump has shown no reticence for taking credit for the stock market surge since Election Day. He tweeted about it Thursday morning, and noted it as a credit for his policy plan at the press conference later in the day. It’s clear that markets have spiked to record highs since Trump’s surprising win, as investors gear up for tax and regulatory cuts. But in the past, administrations have been reluctant to take a victory lap on stock market gains, out of concern that they could be held to account if the market collapses. http://bit.ly/2lcxZW1
When in doubt, use props: Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) employed a novel strategy Thursday to try and sell the House’s border tax adjustment plan: some light prop work. Ryan relied on two reporters’ recorders during a press conference to highlight exactly how the House plan would tax imports while exempting exports. In his telling, one recorder was made in America and would enjoy a tax break under the GOP pitch, while the other was from Japan and would face tougher competition from US products: http://bit.ly/2lYKT9v
Other stories from The Hill:
A group backed by conservative donors Charles and David Koch is stepping up its fight against a border tax proposal from House Republicans. The Hill’s Naomi Jagoda has the story here: http://bit.ly/2kvixYd
Sen. Bernie Sanders is offering legislation to boost Social Security, in part by making high-earners pay more into the system, reports The Hill’s Jordain Carney: http://bit.ly/2kvi9sJ
The developer of Keystone XL is resubmitting their application to build the energy pipeline through Nebraska, reports Timothy Cama: http://bit.ly/2kDBd3d
New York state’s cybersecurity rules for the financial industry will take effect in March. The Hill’s Morgan Chalfant has more here: http://bit.ly/2lQNyG2
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