On The Money: Trump digs in on tariff threat against Mexico | House passes much-delayed disaster aid bill | House Judiciary launches antitrust probe of tech giants | House to vote on first ‘minibus’ spending bill next week

by Sylvan Lane - 06/03/19 6:12 PM ET

Happy Monday and welcome back to On The Money, where we’d be just as happy with a $10 bottle from the supermarket. 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.

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

THE BIG DEAL–Trump digs in on tariff threat at Mexico seeks solution: President Trump on Monday reiterated his demand that Mexico halt all illegal immigration and drug smuggling, the latest sign he is refusing to back away from his threat to impose sweeping tariffs on the nation’s largest trading partner.

“As a sign of good faith, Mexico should immediately stop the flow of people and drugs through their country and to our Southern Border. They can do it if they want!” Trump tweeted.

The message came on the same day top Mexican officials, including Foreign Secretary Marcelo Ebrard, arrived in Washington for talks with the Trump administration in order to avoid the tariffs.{mosads}

Trump announced last week he would slap a 5 percent tariff on all imports from Mexico starting June 10 if the country does not stop all illegal migration and the flow of drugs to the U.S., a goal that hasn’t been achieved in modern history.

The tariffs imposed by Trump are slated to bump up 5 percent each month to a maximum of 25 percent in October, unless Mexico can convince the White House it is doing enough to stop Central American migrants from reaching the U.S.-Mexico border.

The decision, spearheaded by a small group of the president’s advisers, was opposed by many in Trump’s administration who fear it could hurt the economy and halt progress toward ratifying a new North American trade deal.

Mexico looks for a solution: Ebrard told reporters in Washington on Monday that the tariffs would be counterproductive in combating mass migration from Central America, and that the economic fallout could further weaken Mexico’s ability to control migration in the region.

“What is Mexico’s proposal? To work with the United States as we have, and the rest of the international community,” said Ebrard. “Particularly with the countries involved in transit as countries of origin in migratory flows, with the final objective of reducing forced migration.”

What comes next: Ebrard said the delegation’s first step will be to meet with their American counterparts to hear their proposals directly and “not guide ourselves only by [what we read] in the media.”

“So, what are we doing? Diplomacy. In what does Mexico specialize? Diplomacy with the United States — 200 years,” said Ebrard.

What happens from there is hard to predict. Trump has delayed or postponed tariffs before and import taxes on Mexican goods could add up quickly for consumers. But, the president is also a self-described “Tariff Man” who rarely yields to the arguments of his economic advisers.

ON TAP TOMORROW:

The Senate Banking Committee holds a hearing entitled “Confronting Threats From China: Assessing Controls on Technology and Investment, and Measures to Combat Opioid Trafficking,” 10 a.m.

The House Financial Services Committee holds a hearing entitled “Protecting American Jobs: Reauthorization of the U.S. Export-Import Bank,” 10 a.m.

The House Ways and Means Committee holds a Members’ Day hearing on various tax and health care proposals, 10 a.m.

A House Small Business subcommittee holds a hearing on apprenticeships, training programs and the skills gap, 11:30 a.m.

A House Financial Services subcommittee holds a hearing on the systemic risk of leveraged lending, 2 p.m.

A House Oversight subcommittee holds a hearing on federal labor-management relations, 2 p.m.

LEADING THE DAY

House passes disaster aid bill: The House on Monday passed a $19.1 billion disaster relief package, finally sending legislation to the White House that had been repeatedly blocked by conservatives over the Memorial Day recess.

The legislation was approved in a 354-58 vote.

Lawmakers overcome delays: The House sought to move the bill three times by unanimous consent over the last week, but each time the vote was blocked by a different conservative Republican.

Reps. Chip Roy (Texas), Thomas Massie (Ky.) and John Rose (Tenn.) each blocked the unanimous consent vote, arguing there should be a full debate on the measure.

Roy, a former staffer to Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), argued the spending should be offset with other spending cuts, and that he was concerned about adding to the national debt.

A number of lawmakers during Monday’s debate criticized Congress’s failure to pass the bill last week.

What’s in the bill: The measure includes funding for communities hit by various natural disasters across the country. It also includes $900 million in aid to Puerto Rico, funding that was initially opposed by President Trump as being too much.

What’s next: The bill heads to President Trump’s desk. The measure passed the Senate in an 85-8 vote in late-May.

The Hill’s Juliegrace Brufke has the details on the vote here.

House panel launches antitrust investigation into tech giants: The House Judiciary Committee is launching a bipartisan investigation into large tech companies such as Facebook, Google and Amazon are using their vast market power to suppress competition.

The panel’s Democratic and Republican leaders announced the investigation on Monday, which will address the question of whether Congress should pass more stringent antitrust laws to rein in Silicon Valley.

“The open internet has delivered enormous benefits to Americans, including a surge of economic opportunity, massive investment, and new pathways for education online,” Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) said in a statement. “But there is growing evidence that a handful of gatekeepers have come to capture control over key arteries of online commerce, content, and communications.

“Given the growing tide of concentration and consolidation across our economy, it is vital that we investigate the current state of competition in digital markets and the health of the antitrust laws,” he added. The Hill’s Harper Neidig tells us more here.

Why it’s important: The investigation will be the first Congress has ever conducted into how Silicon Valley’s dominant platforms wield their vast market power.

The probe will include a series of hearings and will give lawmakers an opportunity to seek information from the companies about their practices through requests and subpoenas.

The committee said that the probe would focus on three areas: documenting where competition is lacking in digital markets, exploring whether large companies are suppressing competition and determining whether Congress and regulators need to do more to address Big Tech’s dominance.

More trouble: The news comes as regulators are also reportedly setting themselves up for a broad investigation into Silicon Valley. In recent days, media outlets have reported that the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission agreed to divvy up the largest tech companies into their respective jurisdictions.

The FTC would reportedly have the responsibility to investigate Facebook and Amazon, while the Justice Department could pursue Google and Apple. It’s unclear whether there are any investigations in the works, but the reports sent each of the companies’ stocks tumbling Monday.

The news of the House probe came a few hours after Reuters reported that the Department of Justice (DOJ) will take the lead in any future investigation of Apple’s market power.

House to vote on first ‘minibus’ spending bill next week: House Democrats seeking to keep the lights on in the federal government will put a roughly $1 trillion package of spending bills on the floor next week, pursuing a “minibus” strategy of combining bills to try to pass them quickly.

The first minibus is expected to include the two largest of the 12 annual appropriations bills: the Defense bill, and the Labor, Health, Human Services and Education bill.

It will also include legislation covering energy and water, the State Department and Foreign Operations spending bills and funding for the legislative branch. The Hill’s Juliegrace Brufke and Niv Elis tell us more here.

GOOD TO KNOW

A top Federal Reserve official said Monday that the central bank may be forced to cut interest rates this year if economic growth slows and inflation remains low.

A closely watched gauge of U.S. manufacturing slumped in May to its lowest level during President Trump’s time in the Oval Office as the rising costs of trade battles weigh on American businesses.

House Democrats are proposing a 3.1 percent pay hike for federal workers in 2020.

One of President Trump’s top economic advisers on Monday said that his decision to leave the administration had nothing to do with the president’s reliance on tariffs in trade negotiations.