Overnight Finance: Ryan seeks manufacturing muscle for tax reform | Warren targets Wells Fargo board | Senators raise concerns over Russian takeover of Citgo | Pelosi hits GOP for budget delays

Ryan seeks manufacturing muscle for tax reform: Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) on Tuesday will rally manufacturers on tax reform, as the tax plan he released nearly one year ago faces increasing pushback from fellow Republicans.

The Speaker will give an address at an event hosted by the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) that his office is billing as his first major address on tax reform this year. He will also participate in a question-and-answer session.

The speech is unlikely to go into the granular specifics of a tax bill. Instead, it will discuss what “tax reform could look like and how it would lead to a more confident America,” Ryan’s office said Monday.

{mosads}”With more jobs, higher wages, and a stronger economy, American workers and families would be the greatest beneficiaries of this reform,” Ryan’s office said. “That’s why, following the principles outlined earlier this year by President Trump, the House, Senate, and administration are working together to meet this historic opportunity.”

The Speaker’s office last week said Ryan chose to give the speech at the NAM conference because one of his goals is to encourage companies to bring jobs back to the U.S.

It won’t be the first time this year that Ryan has discussed tax reform with manufacturers. Last month, he pitched tax reform to Ohio business leaders after touring manufacturing and assembly facilities in the state.

The Hill’s Naomi Jagoda previews Ryan’s speech here: http://bit.ly/2rxvgZC

 

Senators ask Mnuchin, Tillerson to probe possible Russian takeover of Citgo: Six senators are calling on the secretaries of State and the Treasury to review whether a potential Russian takeover of petroleum company Citgo could threaten national security and violate economic sanctions.

Citgo, owned by the government of Venezuela, risks defaulting on a loan from Rosneft, a Russian state-owned energy company. Rosneft could take control of Citgo upon default, giving a company with close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin command of United States infrastructure.

The senators, including Senate Finance Committee ranking Democrat Ron Wyden (Ore.), Foreign Relations Committee ranking Democrat Ben Cardin (Md.) and Majority Whip John Cornyn (R-Texas), expressed national security concerns in a Monday letter to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. 

Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) also signed the letter. I report here: http://bit.ly/2sIOmjf.

 

Warren demands removal of Wells Fargo board members: Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) called Monday for the removal of a dozen Wells Fargo board members over the controversy involving fraudulently opened customer accounts, CNBC reported.

Warren called on Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen to remove the 12 board members, saying the bank has the power to do so under federal law.

“I urge you to use the tools Congress has given you to remove the responsible board members and protect the continued safety and soundness of one of the country’s largest banks,” Warren reportedly wrote in the letter sent Monday.

In September 2016, it came to light that Wells Fargo employees had set up fake accounts for many customers, racking up unauthorized fees.

Warren said those actions hurt the bank’s customers, costing them money and lowering credit scores. She said such risky management practices warranted the “removal of all responsible board members.” http://bit.ly/2sJ1QeP.

 

Happy Monday and welcome to Overnight Finance. I’m Sylvan Lane, and here’s your nightly guide to everything affecting your bills, bank account and bottom line. 

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.

 

On tap tomorrow

• House Speaker Paul Ryan delivers a speech on tax reform at the National Manufacturers Association summit
• The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development: Department of Energy budget hearing with Energy Secretary Rick Perry, 1 p.m. http://bit.ly/2rEbuLv

 

Pelosi blasts GOP for budget delays: House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Monday slammed congressional Republicans for failing to produce a budget resolution.

“Almost five months into the Trump Administration, House Republicans still haven’t met their most basic responsibility to pass a budget,” Pelosi said.

“The House GOP is now months behind the statutory budget deadline, deeply divided but unwilling to abandon their budget giveaways to the richest few.”

The House Budget Committee is aiming to release a budget resolution before the Fourth of July recess, but Republicans remain divided on a number of fronts.

Few have the stomach for the deep cuts to nondefense discretionary spending President Trump proposed, but other options for funding large increases to military spending are politically difficult. The Hill’s Niv Elis has more: http://bit.ly/2sINhb2.

 

Defense spending fight delays GOP budget: Republicans on the House Budget Committee are talking about increasing defense spending beyond President Trump’s proposed $54 billion boost, which has led to an impasse between defense hawks and deficit hawks.

The fight has forced the committee to postpone the rollout of its 2018 budget resolution, a key element in moving forward President Trump’s legislative agenda.

The House GOP may have the opportunity to settle on a strategy when it meets for its weekly policy discussion this Wednesday, a meeting that will focus on budget and appropriations.

A House GOP aide with knowledge of the process said it would be “a very strong possibility” that the defense cap proposed in the House budget resolution would be higher than Trump’s request of $603 billion for the next fiscal year.

The Hill’s Niv Elis has more here: http://bit.ly/2sMobZs

 

Lawmakers urge Treasury to keep state, local tax deductions: A bipartisan group of lawmakers is urging the Trump administration to keep the deduction for state and local taxes, after the White House proposed eliminating it in its tax plan.

Reps. Leonard Lance (R-N.J.), Bill Pascrell (D-N.J.) and 68 other House members from high-tax states argued that eliminating the deduction would disproportionately burden their constituents.

“The elimination of this deduction unfairly penalizes residents in high-tax states like New York, California, Illinois, and New Jersey, where middle-class families can least afford another tax increase,” the lawmakers said in a letter sent Monday to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.

The tax plan that the White House released in April proposes eliminating the state and local tax deduction and all other itemized deductions except those for mortgage interest and charitable giving. Mnuchin has said that the administration backs eliminating the state and local deduction because it doesn’t think the federal government should be subsidizing states.

The tax plan House Republicans released last year similarly would scrap the state and local deduction. But the letter shows that Republicans are not completely united on every tax-reform issue.

The Hill’s Naomi Jagoda explains the debate here: http://bit.ly/2tltiNj

 

Business leaders hesitate to take White House meetings: Business leaders are thinking twice about their relationship with businessman-turned-President Trump, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The paper says business leaders are becoming aware that their influence on the president is limited.

Despite appearing to be in his element when surrounded by businessmen, the president has struggled with the community as of late.

The president bucked many business industry leaders and influencers in June when he pulled the U.S. from the Paris climate deal.

Business leaders appear to be losing hope in overhauling the corporate tax code, due to a lack of consensus between the White House and lawmakers: http://bit.ly/2sJfIWc.

 

Senators offer bipartisan bill on retirement savings for grad students: A bipartisan group of senators on Monday offered legislation aimed at helping graduate students save for retirement. 

The bill — from Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Tim Scott (R-S.C.) — would allow graduate students to put money from stipends and fellowships into tax-deferred individual retirement accounts (IRAs). Under current law, stipend and fellowship funds are not treated as compensation that can be deposited into an IRA.

“This bipartisan bill opens a door for students who want to do the right thing and start saving early for their futures,” Warren said in a news release. Warren and Lee previously introduced the bill last year. 

The bill’s reintroduction comes as the White House and congressional Republicans aim to pass a tax reform bill by the end of the year. GOP leaders on the tax reform effort have said they want a bill to preserve and streamline incentives for retirement savings: http://bit.ly/2sJ22e3.

 

Biz leaders slam Trump air traffic control plan: Business leaders are coming out in fierce opposition to President Trump’s controversial proposal to privatize air traffic control.

In a letter to House and Senate leaders on Monday, over 100 CEOs called for targeted improvements to the nation’s air navigation system as opposed to separating it from the federal government.

The group, which includes a wide range of companies, such as Hewlett-Packard and Life Time Fitness, said their community depends on air traffic control to keep their businesses running.

“As members of the business community who depend on our nation’s air traffic control (ATC) system, we are writing to express our opposition to turning it over to a private board,” they wrote.

The administration argues that removing operations from the unpredictable appropriations process will help speed up long-stalled modernization efforts.

But critics, including GOP appropriators and tax-writers, worry about removing air traffic control from congressional oversight and granting a nongovernmental agency the power to collect fees.

The Hill’s Melanie Zanona has more here: http://bit.ly/2tlR0cu

 

Senators pan Trump’s proposed cuts to rural airports: A bipartisan group of senators is fighting to maintain commercial air service in rural communities after the Trump administration called for eliminating federal support for such a program.

In a letter to the administration on Monday, a group of lawmakers led by Sen. Deb Fischer (R-Neb.) expressed concern over the president’s budget proposal, which would cut all funding for Essential Air Service (EAS). 

The 40-year-old program helps give small towns and remote communities access to air service, where it can otherwise be difficult to support financially.

“Without this support, many rural areas may no longer have access to air services,” the letter says. “This would significantly reduce support for rural communities in our states.  A reduction in support could lead to a reduction in services and ultimately in jobs for rural America.” Here’s more from The Hill’s Melanie Zanona: http://bit.ly/2sITmnV.

 

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