On The Money — Biden warns prices to go up amid Russia ban

by Sylvan Lane,Aris Folley and Karl Evers-Hillstrom - 03/08/22 6:49 PM ET

Happy Tuesday and welcome to On The Money, your nightly guide to everything affecting your bills, bank account and bottom line. Subscribe here: digital-stage.thehill.com/newsletter-signup.

Today’s Big Deal: President Biden is moving ahead with the Russian oil import ban. We’ll also look at lawmakers’ massive Ukraine spending package and the messaging battle over inflation.

But first, even Ferrari and Lamborghini are avoiding Russia.

For The Hill, we’re Sylvan Lane, Aris Folley and Karl Evers-Hillstrom. Reach us at slane@digital-stage.thehill.com or @SylvanLane, afolley@digital-stage.thehill.com or @ArisFolley and kevers@digital-stage.thehill.com or @KarlMEvers.

Let’s get to it.

Prices to ‘go up further,’ president says

President Biden announced Tuesday that the U.S. will ban Russian oil, natural gas and coal imports as part of his administration’s response to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.

“The United States is targeting the main artery of Russia’s economy. We’re banning all imports of Russian oil and gas and energy,” Biden said in remarks from the White House’s Roosevelt Room. “That means Russian oil will no longer be acceptable at U.S. ports and the American people will deal another blow to Putin’s war machine,” he added.

However: Prices at the pump for U.S. consumers, which have already been on the rise, are expected to “go up further” following the ban on Russian energy imports, Biden warned.

Biden signed an executive order banning Russian energy imports as well as new U.S. investment in Russia’s energy sector, the White House said in a fact sheet.
The order will also prohibit Americans from “financing or enabling” foreign companies investing in Russian energy production, the White House said.

The White House had been reluctant to ban Russian energy imports as gas prices have soared, but there have been growing calls from members of both parties to ban Russian oil as punishment for Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

As calls from members of both parties to ban the imports grew, lawmakers introduced legislation last week banning U.S. imports of Russian oil and the measures gained bipartisan support.

Here’s more from The Hill’s Amie Parnes, Rachel Frazin and Morgan Chalfant.

Read more:

Here’s where US oil and gas supplies come from
Biden defends energy policies amid GOP attacks
Lawmakers wary of potential oil talks with Venezuela, Saudi Arabia and Iran

HELP ON THE WAY

Congress reaches deal on billions in Ukraine aid

Congressional leaders have reached a deal to provide roughly $14 billion in Ukraine-related aid, which they expect to include in a massive government funding package.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) announced the deal, which will include humanitarian assistance and military aid in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“Where we’ve ended up is at $14 billion,” McConnell said.

An aide confirmed there was a deal but tagged the figure closer to $13.5 billion. Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y) told reporters it would be “a little less than” $14 billion.

The spending is higher than the $6.5 billion initially requested by the administration and the $10 billion in the White House’s formal request to Congress.
But congressional leaders had signaled they were likely to build on that, in part to give the administration more flexibility in providing additional assistance to Ukraine. The final deal is even higher than the $12 billion floated by Schumer on Monday.

Read more from The Hill’s Jordain Carney.

INFLATION SITUATION

House Dems take aim at corporate greed during inflation hearing

House Democrats on Tuesday blamed corporate greed, market concentration and Wall Street investor pressure for contributing to rising prices during a House Financial Services Committee hearing on inflation.

The committee’s Democrats and Republicans traded blame over the root causes of the worst inflation the U.S. has seen in four decades as the price of gas, food, housing, cars and common household goods has skyrocketed.

“Right now, we’re seeing big corporations take advantage of economic conditions and a lack of real competition to pass higher prices onto consumers simply because they can,” said Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), the committee’s chairwoman.

Democrats cited earnings calls where corporate executives said customers were more willing to accept price hikes due to the current inflationary environment.
Republicans cast the Democratic talking points as an attempt to deflect blame and win back voters who are struggling to keep up with inflation.

Karl has more on the hearing here.

GOING FOR GOLD

Senators seek to freeze Russian gold reserves

A bipartisan group of senators offered legislation on Tuesday to freeze Russia’s gold reserves, arguing the move would make it more difficult for Moscow to avoid the pain from international sanctions imposed over the country’s invasion of Ukraine.

“The free world’s sanctions are devastating Russia’s economy — and as long as Putin continues his unprovoked and horrific invasion of Ukraine, we must keep up the pressure,” Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) said in a statement announcing the legislation. “Russia’s massive gold supply is one of the few remaining assets that Putin can use to keep his country’s economy from falling even further.”

Sharon Udasin explains here.

Stay ahead of the news cycle with The Hill’s new Evening Report, featuring the day’s top stories and a look ahead to tomorrow.

Good to Know

The Coca-Cola Co. and PepsiCo on Tuesday said they will suspend their business in Russia, joining other leading U.S. brands in boycotting the country amid its invasion of Ukraine.

The soft drink giants made their announcements shortly after McDonald’s and Starbucks said that they would suspend their operations in Russia.

Here’s what else we have our eye on:

President Biden is set to sign an executive order this week that will direct several federal agencies to investigate and develop policies and regulations on digital currencies.
Uber, Lyft, DoorDash and other app-based companies unveiled a new trade association that will push back on Democratic efforts to allow gig workers to unionize.
The Biden administration’s willingness to engage with the likes of Venezuela, Saudi Arabia and Iran to potentially fill voids of foreign oil imports is rattling some lawmakers.
A coalition of conservative organizations and nonpartisan advocacy groups urged the Biden administration to end the moratorium on federal student loan payments.