Overnight Money: Dodd-Frank blues

Over the weekend, Treasury Secretary Jack Lew vowed the administration would veto bills that cut domestic programs while increasing defense, but the administration has not come out to demand Dodd-Frank funding with such a threat. 

WHAT ELSE WE’RE WATCHING

The Senate is trying this week to pass its first annual appropriations bill of the year, which governs transportation and housing spending. The bill got six Republican votes in committee, and 19 Republicans voted for debate to start. By Tuesday, it should become clearer if enough progress on amendments has occurred to allow the bill to get the 60 votes it needs to pass.

{mosads}Democrats are eager for a bipartisan vote to highlight the division in the GOP over cuts to discretionary spending next year.   

House conservatives are insisting on cuts that go beyond sequestration for domestic agencies in 2014, but centrist appropriators in both bodies are eager for a debt deal that reverses at least some of the agency cuts.

White House officials are expected to continue behind-the-scenes talks with a small band of GOP centrists in the Senate this week. 

The talks have sputtered along since May, and the transport vote could inject some new life into them. Bipartisan feelings should also be increased among appropriators as they release a Defense bill for 2014 for a subcommittee markup on Tuesday. The bill traditionally has near unanimous support on the spending panel. 

Over in the House, a transport bill with $10 billion less in funding is coming to the floor, and leaders expect that to pass on party lines by the end of the week. If both bills pass, they could together form the vehicle for an emergency stopgap continuing resolution after the August recess. A continuing resolution will be needed to keep the government open after Sept. 30. 

The framing for the government shutdown and related debt-ceiling debate will continue Tuesday as the White House unveils its second in a series of speeches.

President Obama will discuss his proposals for building the “middle class” at an Amazon warehouse in Chattanooga, Tenn. The president last Wednesday started his new economic messaging “pivot” with a speech at Knox College in Illinois. He warned Congress in the speech not to hinder the economic recovery with fall brinksmanship.  

LOOSE CHANGE

The Federal Reserve Open Market Committee (FOMC) has Day One of its regular meeting on Tuesday ahead of a new Fed statement on Wednesday. Last month’s statement and press conference by Chairman Ben Bernanke roiled markets, when the chairman was interpreted as indicating a quicker end to monetary easing than had been expected.

United States Trade Representative Michael Froman will be at the Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday to discuss trade talks and “upcoming work with Congress.” The administration is expected this year to push for fast-track trade promotion authority in order to complete a giant TransPacific Partnership free-trade agreement and further work on an FTA with the European Union. 

Former Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) and former Gov. Tommy Thompson (R-Wis.) will weigh in on the budget standoff at a Bipartisan Policy Center event.

Liberal farm bill opponents will speak out against the House-passed farm bill at a morning press conference. The Humane Society of the United States, Oxfam America, Defenders of Wildlife, the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, the Natural Resources Defense Council, United Food and Commercial Workers and the Environmental Working Group will blast the measure that cuts $4 billion from conservation while failing to reauthorize food stamps at all. 

ECONOMIC INDICATORS 

Case-Shiller will be out with its 20-city index of home prices. Prices were up by double-digits in April on an annual basis as the housing sector continues its gradual improvement, and continued to tick up in May. The numbers would not reflect what could be shaping up to be a slowdown in June, according to the National Association of Realtors.

The  Commerce Department’s Bureau of the Census will release a report on housing vacancies for the second quarter of 2013.

The Conference Board’s report could show that consumer confidence improved again in July after a 7.1 point gain in June.  A University of Michigan/ Thomson Reuters survey out Friday was robust. 

WHAT YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED

— White House ups immigration pressure on rural GOP

— GOP looks to broaden IRS probe

— Dead farmers cash in

— Bernanke has a day in court

— Obama set to advance EU trade talks

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