Overnight Finance: Corker unveils tax reform details | White House may drop some cuts for wealthy from tax bill | Trump using RNC cash to pay legal bills | Massachusetts AG sues Equifax

Corker unveils tax reform details: Senator Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), a key member of the Senate Budget Committee, unveiled some details Tuesday about the guidelines the committee resolution would include for tax reform.

Corker told reporters that the budget resolution that will unlock the process for reconciliation — the procedure that will allow Republicans to pass tax reform without Democratic support — could be marked up in the coming week or two, depending on whether the Senate is focused on healthcare. 

Corker said a deal was in the works on the committee to write a significant amount of tax breaks into the reconciliation instructions, in order to increase lawmakers’ flexibility in the legislative process. In order to take advantage of reconciliation, the Senate will have to both stick to the instructions written by the budget committee and follow certain other strict rules pertaining to deficits: http://bit.ly/2youT7x.

 

CEOs optimistic on tax reform, making plans for more hiring: The nation’s top CEOs were more optimistic in the July-September quarter, with plans to boost hiring by the most in six years as Congress and the White House make tax reform a priority. 

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The Business Roundtable CEO Economic Outlook Index — a composite of CEO projections for sales, capital spending and hiring over the next six months — rose to 94.5 in the third quarter, the highest level since the second quarter of 2014, and up from 93.9 in the spring.

“The survey results demonstrate that CEOs remain confident in the U.S. economy and that we must seize on the opportunity to continue to press for pro-growth economic policies that create jobs and fuel wage growth at all levels of the economy,” said Jamie Dimon, chairman and CEO of JPMorgan Chase & Co. and chairman of BRT.

“Our CEOs are committed and actively engaged in the effort to pass tax reform because they recognize that it will make us stronger as a country and create more opportunity for all Americans.” Here’s The Hill’s Vicki Needham with more: http://bit.ly/2ynu7YN.

 

Trump using RNC money to pay legal fees in Russia probe:  President Trump is reportedly using money from the Republican National Committee (RNC) and his reelection campaign to pay some of the legal costs surrounding the federal probe into Russian interference in the 2016 election.

Reuters reported Tuesday that the payments from the RNC of unknown amounts have already been made and would be disclosed on federal election forms.

Trump has also used money from his campaign coffers for lawyer costs associated with the Russia investigation being run by former FBI director Robert Mueller, the report said.

Lawmakers and political officials can use their campaign accounts to pay for attorneys, as long as it stems from any work related to being a public official: http://bit.ly/2yorDsZ.

 

Massachusetts attorney general sues Equifax after hack: Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey filed suit against Equifax on Tuesday, alleging that the credit reporting company ignored obvious cybersecurity vulnerabilities for months before hackers accessed the personal information of as many as 140 million people.

Healey, a Democrat, said Equifax “utterly failed to keep the personal information of nearly three million Massachusetts residents safe from hackers” and waited too long to disclose the hack.

“We are suing because Equifax needs to pay for its mistakes, make our residents whole, and fix the problem so it never happens again,” Healey said.

The lawsuit was filed in Boston’s Suffolk County Superior Court and alleges that Equifax violated several state consumer protection and data security laws. I’ve got it all here: http://bit.ly/2yo7Z0o.

Happy Tuesday and welcome back 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-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 

• Federal Reserve Board Chair Janet Yellen holds a press conference, 2:30 p.m.

 

White House may drop some cuts for wealthy from tax bill: The White House and congressional GOP leaders might scrap some aspects of a tax bill that would benefit wealthy individuals, The Washington Post reported, citing three people briefed on the discussions.

Administration officials are considering keeping the top individual tax rate at 39.6 percent, rather than lowering it to 35 percent as the White House proposed in April. The White House is also considering abandoning its efforts to repeal the estate tax, according to the report.

Abandoning those tax cuts could help President Trump in his outreach to Democrats on taxes and other issues. Most Senate Democrats have signed a letter saying that they would oppose any plan that cuts taxes for those earning in the top 1 percent of income.

In a meeting with a bipartisan group of House members last week, Trump said that the rich “will not be gaining at all” under his tax plan. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin also said last week that if rates are lowered for the rich, the cut will be offset by eliminating deductions. http://bit.ly/2yo36UX.

 

GOP group launches digital ad blitz ahead of tax framework release: The American Action Network (AAN) on Tuesday announced that it is launching a new $500,000 digital ad blitz to promote tax reform, one week before key GOP lawmakers and administration officials are expected to release a framework to overhaul the tax code.

The ads feature a Wisconsin couple who argue that a simpler tax code could benefit working families. AAN released television ads last week that also featured the couple.

AAN, which is aligned with Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) has been investing heavily in recent weeks on radio, television and digital ads that advocate a tax-code revamp. The latest ads bring the group’s total spending on its tax efforts to $8 million: http://bit.ly/2yn68IV.

  

More on Equifax — 100,000 Canadians affected by breach: Equifax’s Canada division has revealed that as many as 100,000 Canadian consumers may have had their personal information compromised by hackers in a massive security breach that the credit reporting firm disclosed earlier this month. 

Equifax revealed the breach on Sept. 7, saying that hackers gained unauthorized access to Social Security numbers, birth dates and other personal information belonging to as many as 143 million Americans. Thousands also had their credit card numbers compromised. 

While the company initially said that some customers in the U.K. and Canada were affected, Equifax released more definitive information on Tuesday. The company said an investigation has indicated that roughly 100,000 Canadian consumers may have had their personal information accessed — including their names, addresses, Social Insurance Numbers and some credit card numbers. http://bit.ly/2yoiLDO.

 

Senators worry troops could fall victim to fraud in wake of Equifax hack: A bipartisan pair of senators is pressing Equifax for details on how it plans to protect data on U.S. service members caught up in a massive breach, underscoring fears of potential identity theft and financial fraud.

Sens. Joe Donnelly (D-Ind.) and Dean Heller (R-Nev.) wrote to the credit-reporting firm on Tuesday, raising concerns that active-duty troops stationed overseas might not have the resources to place credit freezes on their accounts if affected by the breach. 

Equifax revealed on Sept. 7 that hackers had accessed personal information on as many as 143 million Americans earlier this summer, opening the firm up to broad scrutiny. 

“We are particularly concerned about the roughly 1.3 million active-duty U.S. military personnel, especially the nearly 200,000 currently stationed overseas, who may lack the access and resources required to place a credit freeze on their files or take other necessary measures to adequately protect their personal information,” Donnelly and Heller wrote in a letter to Equifax CEO Richard Smith: http://bit.ly/2yofLY8.

 

House, Senate Dems urge action on international labor law violations: Four top House and Senate trade Democrats on Tuesday called on the Trump administration to take immediate specific action to combat international labor law violations that hurt U.S. workers.

Senate Finance Committee ranking member Ron Wyden (Ore.), House Ways and Means Committee ranking member Richard Neal (Mass.) and Trade Subcommittee ranking members Sen. Bob Casey (Pa.), and Rep. Bill Pascrell (N.J.) called for the White House to act immediately to end foreign labor practices that lower wages of U.S. workers and cost jobs.

They argue that despite promises from President Trump and other top administration officials, the administration has failed to take action to address trade-related labor violations overseas. http://bit.ly/2yoh1ub.

 

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