OVERNIGHT MONEY: GOP leaders take aim on student loans

House Democrats punched back. Budget Committee ranking member Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) said that the House GOP was being unreasonable in insisting on a plan that includes deficit-reduction provisions.  

“[The House GOP] attempt now to cast blame, instead of working with us to find a solution, is simply more of the same from a party that isn’t interested in solving problems and getting things done. We must act now to address this problem — failure to do so will not just make college more expensive, but will also undermine our middle class and America’s future,” he said in a statement.

{mosads}The House Republican bill would tie the loan rate to the 10-year Treasury bill, expected to be about 2.9 percent next year, and is similar to a proposal included in the White House budget. 

Under the proposal, rates could rise in subsequent years. The White House has threatened to veto the House GOP bill, arguing the GOP plan would reset rates each year, whereas the White House plan would lock in rates when the loans were made.

A group of centrist senators announced they had crafted a compromise bill just days before the deadline, but Reid did not sign off on the agreement, arguing that any interest rate measure should be deficit-neutral. The compromise bill included about $1 billion in deficit reduction.

The Senate will likely consider a bipartisan bill championed by Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), Tom Carper (D-Del.), Angus King (I-Maine), Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), Richard Burr (R-N.C.) and Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) that would peg loan rates to 10-year Treasury notes, plus 1.85 percent. Interest rates would be higher on graduate student loans, but students would lock in their rate at the time they borrowed.

White House spokesman Jay Carney on Monday said President Obama expects Congress to “quickly” pass legislation.

“We expect and hope that Congress will fix this problem, quickly,” Carney said, adding that the “differences are not that different” between Republican and Democratic proposals.

WHAT ELSE WE’RE WATCHING 

Getting started: The first round of Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) negotiations began Monday in Washington with talks centering around investment, government procurement, cross-border services, textiles, rules of origin, energy and raw materials and legal issues. The chief negotiators from the United States and the European Union also met.

On Tuesday, the negotiating groups are set to discuss sanitary and phytosanitary measures, market access and industrial goods, government procurement, cross-border services, investment, and energy and raw materials. The negotiating groups on labor and environment also will hold a joint session. 

Leg branch spending: House appropriators will mark up on Tuesday the fiscal 2014 legislative branch spending bill that cuts the House’s budget along with spending for the Government Accountability Office. The bill spends $3.2 billion for all congressional activities excluding those of the Senate, which is $113 million below the 2013 enacted levels.

Meanwhile, Senate appropriators will be tackling the spending package for the Labor, Health and Human Services and Education departments. The full committee is set to consider the measure on Thursday.

Collecting consumer data: The House Financial Services Committee will examine the breadth of the data collection efforts of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which has come under scrutiny from GOP lawmakers and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The CFPB has argued that its existing data-gathering activities are authorized by the Dodd-Frank Act and do not require additional rulemaking. 

In the afternoon, the subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations will turn to the Dodd-Frank financial reform law and will chat about potential constitutional problems posed by it.

Let’s get competitive: A House Small Business subcommittee will talk to academics and small-business owners about what they can do to boost exports and become more competitive in the global economy. 

BREAKING NEWS

Budget deficit shrinking: The White House estimated on Monday that the budget deficit will be $759 billion this year, a difference of $214 billion from the $973 billion deficit projected in President Obama’s budget.

If the projection proves correct, it would be the first time since Obama took office that the deficit fell below $1 trillion for the fiscal year.

The mid-session review showed that the budget would be 4.7 percent of gross domestic product, compared with 6 percent projected in the budget.

LOOSE CHANGE

New banking rules: Federal regulators may propose on Tuesday a set of new rules that would require eight of the largest U.S. banks to increase their ratio of equity to loans and other assets from 3 percent to 5 or 6 percent, The Associated Press reported. 

The Federal Reserve, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency are expected to move forward on the issue to ensure banks are healthy and not a threat to the stability of the nation’s financial framework.

The rule would apply to Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Morgan Stanley, Bank of New York Mellon and State Street Bank.

Show me the money: Consumer borrowing hit its fastest pace in a year in May. The category that includes credit cards increased $6.6 billion, the largest gain in a year. Credit card debt reached $847.1 billion, the most since September 2010. 

WHAT YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED

— GOP leaders keep pushing Senate Dems on student loans

— Tax chairmen begin reform tour

— Transparency advocate: IRS disclosed thousands of Social Security numbers

— Lebanese bank accused of terrorist ties hires Patton Boggs

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