Overnight Finance: House GOP to huddle on Puerto Rico bill

GOP COMES TO TERMS WITH NO BUDGET: House Republicans are coming to a consensus on this year’s budget bill: There won’t be one.

GOP lawmakers are universally accepting that the party will blow past a budget deadline on Friday, and say voting on a budget at all this year is unlikely.

{mosads}”That’s the way it is. C’est la vie,” Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) told The Hill on Wednesday when asked about missing the April 15 deadline.

Faced with resistance from the right, GOP leaders are now barreling forward on individual appropriations bills.

They hope to leapfrog the spending fight that tanked the budget blueprint while making good on Speaker Paul Ryan’s (R-Wis.) high-profile promise to restore regular order to the spending process. The Hill’s Sarah Ferris explains what went wrong: http://bit.ly/23yGr55.

RYAN CALLS HUDDLE ON PUERTO RICO: Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) will try to sell fellow Republicans on a bill to help Puerto Rico deal with its debt crisis at a special meeting Friday.

Ryan said the morning conference meeting would be solely devoted to Puerto Rico, in an effort to educate members and bring them on board with the bill, which has faced persistent conservative opposition.

“A lot of members are just coming up to speed on this,” he said Thursday. “It is why tomorrow morning, we’re doing a policy conference on just the issue of Puerto Rico. The members who have been spending a lot of time on this are going to give a presentation to the broader conference to bring people up to speed.”

The fate of that legislation took a turn for the worse late Wednesday, when the House Natural Resources Committee abruptly canceled a markup of the bill. The Hill’s Peter Schroeder tells us why: http://bit.ly/1Wuatl8.

SENATE DEMS CAST DOUBT ON DEBT BILL: Senate Democrats are pushing House lawmakers to make “substantial improvements” to legislation aimed at helping Puerto Rico handle its debt crisis.

“While we appreciate House Republicans’ acknowledgment that Congress must swiftly act to address this crisis, the legislation introduced yesterday falls short in several key areas,” Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (Nev.) said in a joint statement with Democratic Sens. Maria Cantwell (Wash.), Charles Schumer (N.Y.), Dick Durbin (Ill.), Bob Menendez (N.J.), Patrick Leahy (Vt.), Ron Wyden (Ore.), Elizabeth Warren (Mass.), Richard Blumenthal (Conn.), Kirsten Gillibrand (N.Y.), and Bill Nelson (Fla.).

The comments are the latest pushback for the House bill since it was released Tuesday: http://bit.ly/1TTVYpW.

SENATE CLEARS TWO SPENDING BILLS: The Senate Appropriations Committee voted Thursday to pass a pair of spending bills covering the federal government’s energy, water, military construction and veterans’ affairs programs.

The votes line the bills up for consideration on the Senate floor, which Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said he has planned for next week.

The bills had bipartisan support, with senators agreeing to hold off on proposing any controversial amendments until it reaches the Senate floor. The Hill’s Timothy Cama tells us what’s inside them: http://bit.ly/1V4mONA.

HAPPY THURSDAY and welcome to Overnight Finance, where we’re giving a shout out to Bryce Harper’s 100th career home run and quest to Make Baseball Fun Again. I’m Sylvan Lane, and here’s your nightly guide to everything affecting your bills, bank account and bottom line.

Tonight’s highlights include lots of pressure on the IRS from Republicans, a crackdown on a Mexican drug cartel and a Senate energy bill on the way.

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://www.digital-staging.thehill.com/signup/48.

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MCCONNELL TEES UP ENERGY BILL: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is turning the Senate toward taking up its first appropriations bill of the year.  

The Republican leader filed cloture on proceeding to a House bill that senators will use as a vehicle for their energy and water appropriations bill.

The move comes after McConnell told reporters the Senate would start work on appropriations bills next week.

“Probably starting with energy and water, and we’ll mark these bills to the top line that we agreed to in the [budget] agreement last year,” he said Tuesday at a weekly press conference.  

The Senate’s work comes as Republicans are expected to miss an April 15 deadline to pass a budget resolution: http://bit.ly/1ScL10k.

HOUSE GOP HITS IRS CHIEF ON CYBERSECURITY: Lawmakers on Thursday pressed Internal Revenue Service Commissioner John Koskinen on the agency’s cybersecurity practices in his third straight day of testifying on Capitol Hill.

“The IRS has not taken the necessary steps to ensure that individuals are who they claim to be before handing over Americans’ confidential tax information,” Chairman Lamar Smith (R-Texas) said in his opening statement during a House Committee on Science, Space and Technology hearing.

The beleaguered IRS has been under increased pressure from lawmakers — including Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) — to ensure the security of its systems after a series of embarrassing breaches.

Hinting at seemingly widespread impatience, Smith asked if Koskinen’s staff members could find out before the hearing was over how many recommendations from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) had been implemented. The Hill’s Katie Bo Williams walks us through the contentious hearing: http://bit.ly/1qK3Xup.

WHO’S AFRAID OF THE IRS?: Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) said Thursday that the Internal Revenue Service “is the most feared federal agency in the country.”

“I wish I could say ‘Happy Tax Day,’ to you, but there really isn’t anything good or happy about it,” Hatch said at a press conference hosted by Americans for Tax Reform (ATR). The event came several days before the April 18 tax-filing deadline.

Hatch called the process of filing taxes an “onerous annual chore.” He added that “you sure as heck hope that the IRS won’t be asking you for more of your hard-earned money after you file your taxes.”

Hatch was not the only lawmaker to blast the IRS at the event. The Hill’s Naomi Jagoda was there: http://bit.ly/1V4mSwC.

SHOT: A congressional hearing on Washington’s Metrorail system grew heated on Wednesday as lawmakers and officials clashed over whether the beleaguered transit agency should be granted more federal funding in light of its rampant safety and oversight issues: http://bit.ly/1NaRyd5.

CHASER: A Metro train got stuck in a tunnel under the Potomac River on Thursday on the line that services the House side of the Capitol complex and the Pentagon: http://bit.ly/1NbwhzV

JOBLESS CLAIMS FALL TO LOWEST LEVEL SINCE ’73: First-time claims for unemployment benefits fell sharply last week to a new 43-year low as the labor market continues to outperform economic growth.

Weekly applications decreased 13,000 to a seasonally adjusted 253,000, a sign that employers are holding on to their workers as the labor market tightens, the Labor Department said Thursday.

The four-week average, a measure that better reflects the labor market’s trajectory, dipped by 1,500 to 265,000: http://bit.ly/1VZE3yr.

GOP RIPS NEW INVERSION RULES AHEAD OF TAX DAY: Ahead of the tax filing deadline, congressional Republicans on Thursday took aim at the Obama administration’s actions against “corporate inversions” and stressed the need for tax reform.

Inversions are transactions in which U.S. companies reincorporate overseas for tax purposes after they merge with foreign companies. The Treasury Department last week issued temporary and proposed rules that are designed to curb the transactions.

“The president’s answer is to go punish the companies and try and raise even more taxes instead of understanding the problem,” House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) said at an event hosted by Americans for Tax Reform. “The reason that companies are moving out of our country is because we have the highest corporate tax rate in the world.” http://bit.ly/1qsFjxU.

TREASURY SANCTIONS MEXICAN HEROIN CARTEL: The Treasury Department on Thursday targeted a Mexican drug cartel and the three brothers who run it, freezing their assets and banning American people and institutions from doing business with them.

The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated Job, Ismael and Ruben Laredo Donjuan as Specifically Designated Narcotics Traffickers, along with the Laredo Drug Trafficking Organization (Laredo DTO).

That distinction could lead to millions in fines and years in jail.

Laredo DTO has manufactured, imported and distributed heroin within the United States since 2008, according to Thursday’s announcement, and two of the brothers have faced federal organized crime, drug trafficking and money laundering charges. Here’s more from me: http://bit.ly/1SDIwBp.

FANNIE AND FREDDIE TO OFFER HELP FOR BUYERS: Mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will offer one-time principal reductions to certain seriously delinquent underwater borrowers to help them avoid foreclosures.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) on Thursday announced the long-awaited decision that is expected to assist approximately 33,000 borrowers that meet eligibility criteria. It’s likely to meet with a backlash of opposition on Capitol Hill, from lawmakers on both sides of the political spectrum.

“This plan will no doubt be viewed by some as too small and too late and viewed by others as too large and unnecessary,” FHFA Director Mel Watt said in a statement. Vicki Needham breaks it down: http://bit.ly/1Sd5FgR.

HOUSE PASSES BILL TO TIGHTEN OVERSIGHT OF REGULATORS: The House passed a bill Thursday that would put two key financial regulators under tighter congressional oversight.

The bill would make the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) and the Treasury Department’s Office of Financial Research (OFR) subject to direct congressional appropriations, giving Congress the ability to dictate how much money each regulator gets. The regulators are currently funded by fees charged to major American financial firms.

Called the Financial Stability Council Reform Act, the bill passed along party lines 239-178 after clearing the House Financial Services Committee in November.

“FSOC typifies not only the shadow regulatory system but also the unfair Washington system that Americans have come to fear and loathe: powerful government administrators, secretive government meetings, arbitrary rules, and unchecked power to punish or reward,” committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) said after the vote. “Thus, oversight and reform is paramount.” http://bit.ly/1Nbfg8T.

YOU WON’T BELIEVE WHAT THIS SENATE BILL WOULD LET YOU DO WITH YOUR REFUND: A bipartisan pair of senators have introduced legislation that would allow taxpayers to save part of their refunds for a “rainy day.”

Under the bill, offered this week by Sens. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), taxpayers could defer up to 20 percent of their refunds by opting into a savings program on their 1040 forms. The money set aside would accumulate interest in accounts held by the Treasury Department and then would transfer into the taxpayers’ accounts through direct deposit after six months: http://bit.ly/1NaRnOJ.

US, CHINA SIGN EXPORT DEAL: The United States and China have signed an agreement that eliminates a significant subsidies program used by Beijing to bolster its exports across several sectors.

U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman said the deal will not only help U.S. workers but highlights the Obama administration’s commitment to challenging violations of the World Trade Organization’s international trade rules.

Froman called the deal a win “for Americans employed in seven diverse sectors that run the gamut from agriculture to textiles to medical products, who will benefit from a more level playing field on which to compete.”

“This agreement once again underscores that President Obama’s commitment to enforce our trade rights aggressively to secure real economic results for American workers, farmers and businesses of all sizes and in every part of the country,” Froman said: http://bit.ly/1Qa2y4W.

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