Overnight Finance: Anxiety grows over Brexit vote | Investors prefer Trump to Clinton in poll | Key chairman open to censuring IRS chief

ANXIOUS WASHINGTON WATCHES BREXIT VOTE: Policymakers in the U.S. will be focused Thursday on the United Kingdom, where voters will decide whether to stay a part of the European Union.

From the White House on down, officials are concerned about what an unprecedented British exit, or Brexit, could mean for the U.S. economy and foreign policy — even as they acknowledge the matter is out of their control

“I think it would be existentially horrible for Europe,” Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) said of Great Britain’s possible departure. The Hill’s Peter Schroeder tells us why: http://bit.ly/28N8bIK.

JUDICIARY CHAIR OPEN TO CENSURING IRS CHIEF: House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) on Wednesday appeared open to censuring IRS Commissioner John Koskinen.

During a committee hearing Wednesday — the panel’s second hearing to examine Koskinen’s alleged misconduct during Congress’s investigation of the political-targeting scandal — Goodlatte asked witnesses questions about other options to punish Koskinen besides impeachment.

{mosads}At the first hearing last month, some House Republicans argued that Koskinen should be impeached because of his actions while the House was investigating 2013 findings that conservative groups’ applications for tax-exempt status were given extra scrutiny by the IRS.

The Republican lawmakers said Koskinen failed to comply with a subpoena, since while he was commissioner backup tapes containing thousands of former IRS official Lois Lerner’s emails were destroyed. They also said that Koskinen made false and misleading statements under oath about the IRS’s efforts to provide Congress with agency official Lois Lerner’s emails. The Hill’s Naomi Jagoda takes us to the hearing: http://bit.ly/28N8eUY.

CHAMBER CHIEF RIPS WARREN FOR ‘POWER’ GRAB: The chief of the nation’s most prominent business group ripped Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) on Wednesday, claiming she and like-minded progressives are angling for power, not pushing for responsible financial reforms.

Tom Donohue, CEO of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, criticized Warren and other financial reform advocates during a speech Wednesday at Nasdaq headquarters in New York.

“They mistakenly think they can make better decisions than the American people,” Donohue said, according to prepared remarks.

“Sen. Warren and her friends aren’t looking out for them; they are looking to gather more power for themselves so that they can run the entire economy from Washington,” he added. I’ve got the details here: http://bit.ly/28OoTs4.

TRUMP TOPS CLINTON AMONG INVESTORS: From Bloomberg: “More voters with a stake in the stock market say Donald Trump would be better as president for their portfolios than Hillary Clinton, with about one in four saying they’ll alter their asset mix if the Republican is elected and a similar share saying they’d do so if the Democrat wins.

“A Bloomberg/Morning Consult national poll on investment, tax and economic issues shows voters with money in the market pick Trump over Clinton, 50 percent to 33 percent, as the person they think will be better for their portfolio. Those with more than $50,000 invested answer the question almost identically as smaller investors.

“Partisanship is a driving force for their choices. Nearly eight in 10 Republicans say Trump would be better for their holdings, while about six in 10 Democrats say Clinton would. Independent voters are twice as likely to pick Trump as better for their portfolios.” http://bloom.bg/28PtZcj.

HAPPY WEDNESDAY and welcome to Overnight Finance, where we’re wondering how long the Democratic gun sit-in will last. I’m Sylvan Lane, and here’s your nightly guide to everything affecting your bills, bank account and bottom line.

Tonight’s highlights include bad news for Medicare, another uptick in home sales and the White House’s push to pass the Pacific Rim trade deal.

See something I missed? Let me know at slane@digital-staging.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:

• Senate Banking Committee: Hearing to examine bank capital and liquidity regulation, focusing on industry perspectives, 10 a.m. http://1.usa.gov/23gvCRm.
• House Financial Services Committee Task Force to Investigate Terrorism Funding: Hearing entitled “The Next Terrorist Financiers: Stopping Them Before They Start,” 10 a.m. http://1.usa.gov/1OuENe8.
• House Small Business Committee: Hearing entitled “Damaging Repercussions: DOL’s Overtime Rule, Small Employers, and their Employees,” 10 a.m. http://1.usa.gov/28KPrnR.
• Puerto Rico in Crisis: A panel hosted by the Center for American Progress Action Fund featuring Puerto Rico Gov. Alejandro Garcia Padilla; Resident Commissioner Pedro Pierluisi; and Antonio Weiss, 10 a.m. http://bit.ly/28NrCAQ.

MEDICARE RUNNING OUT OF MONEY: Medicare’s main trust fund will run dry by 2028, two years earlier than previous estimates, according to a review released Wednesday by the Obama administration.

The Social Security trust fund will run dry by 2034, the same as expected last year.

Both programs, which made up about 40 percent of federal spending in 2015, face major solvency concerns in the next two decades, officials warned Wednesday.
“Medicare faces a substantial, long-term shortfall that needs to be addressed,” Treasury Secretary Jack Lew told reporters.

The long-term financial picture for Medicare is worsening despite a spate of government actions to reduce healthcare costs systemwide. The Hill’s Sarah Ferris tells us why: http://bit.ly/28MZj7z.

WHITE HOUSE VETO THREAT: The Obama administration on Tuesday threatened to veto a House spending bill that would cut funding for the Internal Revenue Service by $236 million.

The House is expected to consider the fiscal 2017 financial services and general government appropriations bill this week. In addition to the IRS, the legislation provides funding for the Securities and Exchange Commission, the General Services Administration, the Small Business Administration and other agencies.

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) said that the reductions in IRS funding “exacerbate the damaging reductions inflicted on the IRS since 2010.” OMB also said that the bill cuts funding for agencies tasked with implementing Wall Street Reform and “underfunds the Federal Trade Commission’s efforts to promote economic competition.” http://bit.ly/28N1kRb.

WHITE HOUSE PRESSURE TO PASS TPP: Top Obama administration officials are ramping up efforts to convince Congress to pass an expansive Asia-Pacific trade agreement this year.

Treasury Secretary Jack Lew and U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman continued the White House’s full-court press to push the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) across Capitol Hill before President Obama leaves office.

“The president remains firm in his commitment to TPP, and is intent on seeing it approved as soon as possible this year,” Lew said on Tuesday at the SelectUSA Investment Summit in Washington.  

“The sooner we pass TPP, the sooner we can deliver the benefits of this landmark agreement for American innovators, businesses and workers,” he added. The Hill’s Vicki Needham takes us inside the effort: http://bit.ly/28Q7B11.

BARNEY FRANK SAYS ABANDON SHIP: A former Massachusetts Democratic lawmaker said Tuesday that President Obama and congressional leaders should forgo efforts to pass a Pacific Rim trade deal this year.

Former Rep. Barney Frank said trying to move the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) through Congress after the November elections could further erode Americans’ withering confidence in the federal government.

“The very act of their trying would further contaminate our already toxic political culture,” Frank wrote in an op-ed in the Boston Globe.

“And while sometimes the substantive value of succeeding justifies risking the downside of a failed attempt, winning in this case would do more damage than losing,” he said: http://bit.ly/28OrzWu.

WARREN, DAINES OFFER RETIREMENT SAVINGS BILL: Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Steve Daines (R-Mont.) on Tuesday introduced legislation to protect the retirement savings of people who change jobs.

The legislation would create a national, online “lost and found” for retirement accounts so that workers can easily locate accounts sponsored by former employers. The lost and found would use data that employers already have to report to the Treasury Department.

“Our country faces a retirement crisis, and it’s important that all workers have a real chance to build retirement security. But today, millions of Americans are losing critical savings when they move between jobs,” Warren said in a news release. “This bipartisan bill will help protect the retirement savings employees have earned.”

When workers with individualized retirement plans such as 401(k)s move from job to job, they are responsible for managing and consolidating their accounts. However, people often leave their accounts behind at previous employers because it is difficult to move them, and small accounts are often lost or neglected, according to a fact sheet on the bill: http://bit.ly/28S4dCs.

EXISTING HOME SALES IN MAY HIT HIGH MARK: Sales of existing homes surged in May to their fastest pace in nearly a decade, a new report showed on Wednesday.

Total sales, which are completed transactions that include single-family homes and condominiums, increased 1.8 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.53 million in May, the fastest pace since February 2007, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR).

Sales are up 4.5 percent from May 2015.

Stronger demand fueled by low mortgage rates combined with lagging inventory has helped drive up the median sales price to an all-time high: http://bit.ly/28URlsE.

Write us with tips, suggestions and news: slane@digital-staging.thehill.com, vneedham@digital-staging.thehill.com; pschroeder@digital-staging.thehill.com, and njagoda@digital-staging.thehill.com. Follow us on Twitter: @SylvanLane,  @VickofTheHill; @PeteSchroeder; and @NJagoda.