TOMORROW STARTS TONIGHT: WARREN JOINS DEM LEADERSHIP. Americans might’ve demoted Democrats last week in the midterms, but Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) earned herself a promotion today. The progressive rock-star and possible 2016 presidential candidate is joining Democratic leadership.
{mosads}—THE DETAILS: Warren’s post is intended to give liberals a seat at the table and designed specially for her. Warren’s official title will be “strategic policy adviser to the Democratic Policy and Communications Committee.” (That’s almost as much of a mouthful as Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.). Alex Bolton reports for the hometown paper that Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) will still have the reigns on political tactics. Story here: http://bit.ly/14jA4Wu.
—A WARREN ADVISER TELLS OVERNIGHT that the real bonus for the senator will be her seat at the table in Democrats’ weekly leadership meetings. The adviser, who asked not to be named to speak freely on the issue, said it would be an opportunity for Warren to advocate on issues she cares about and play more of a role developing the caucus’s priorities and strategy moving forward.
THIS IS OVERNIGHT FINANCE. Tomorrow is Friday. I’ll be on Fox Business Network tonight at 8 p.m. talking to Neil Cavuto. Tweet: @kevcirilli; email: kcirilli@digital-staging.thehill.com; and subscribe: http://digital-staging.thehill.com/signup/48.
Work harder, it’s not the weekend yet…
BIG DEAL: KEY DEM WANTS CLEAN ISIS VOTE. Rebecca Shabad for The Hill: “A top House Democrat is calling for the $5.6 billion funding request for the fight against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) to be separate from a vote on the next government spending bill. Rep. Peter Welch (D-Vt.), the chief deputy minority whip, told The Hill Thursday the funding request should be tied to an authorization for the use of military force (AUMF).”
— WELCH tells Rebecca: “I believe there should be a separate debate on the authorization. It shouldn’t be tied into a larger bill. All of us should be required to take a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ position on this.” Story: http://bit.ly/1EAR9pX.
EX-IM WATCH: BANK BOTCHED SMALL BIZ NUMBERS. Reuters’ Howard Schneider and Krista Hughes with the scoop: “The U.S. Export-Import Bank has mischaracterized potentially hundreds of large companies and units of multinational conglomerates as small businesses, a flaw in its record keeping that could undermine the export lender’s survival strategy.
“A Reuters analysis showed companies owned by billionaires such as Warren Buffet and Mexico’s Carlos Slim, as well by Japanese and European conglomerates, were listed as small businesses and Ex-Im acknowledged errors in its data in response to those findings.” Story: http://yhoo.it/112I4Jo.
CRITICS POUNCE ON EX-IM REPORT: House Financial Services Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) and House Oversight Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) said the Reuters report illustrated the need for more oversight of the bank.
—HENSARLING: “Rarely does Ex-Im miss a PR opportunity to claim that it primarily helps small business, but Ex-Im is again playing fast and loose with the facts… The bulk of Ex-Im’s help indisputably goes to large corporations that can finance their own operations without putting it on the taxpayer balance sheet.”
—ISSA: “Gross inaccuracies in the Bank’s self-reported data make vigorous congressional oversight all the more necessary. It is time for the Bank to stop stonewalling Congress.”
Not so fast?
—FORMER SENIOR WHITE HOUSE OFFICIAL, who supports the bank: “That’s a classification error of less than 5 percent of all transactions. That’s unfortunate, nothing more. And it should also be noted that the Bank’s IT systems are antiquated and in the process of being upgraded. No smoke, no fire.
And finally, remember those are still US jobs and US exports that are being supported. That’s still a good thing, right?”
My story on the Ex-Im backlash: http://bit.ly/1u7bpN9.
TERRORISM INSURANCE TALK — INSURERS: SAY ‘NO’ TO A SHORT-TERM TRIA DEAL. My take for The Hill: “Insurance companies are warning Congress not to pass a short-term extension of the federal terrorism insurance program. The National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies (NAMIC) sent a letter to House lawmakers Wednesday night calling for a long-term reauthorization of the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA), which was created after the terrorist attacks of 2001.”
THE SCENE — Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) blasted P. David Lopez at a Senate HELP hearing on his nomination to be general counsel of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The potential 2016 presidential candidate pulled no political punches. Actual transcript:
— PAUL: “How can you show up to work? How can you show up to work with a straight face and prosecute people where there’s been no complaint? How can you do this? I don’t understand why you wouldn’t resign immediately and say, ‘This is so against everything that America stands for.’ That you would go after people where there’s been absolutely no complaint, run them through the ringer? And use the threat of the bully-nature of your office to punish business and as a consequence punish the worker? I don’t get it.”
—LOPEZ: My mother owned a shoe store for 15 years and so that’s the family I grew up in. And so I understand the challenges of a small business owner.
—PAUL, interrupting: “Ask her how she would feel if you came into her business and started harassing her over her hires.” Video: http://bit.ly/1tNZ9O6.
QUOTABLE, House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Jonathan Gruber: “I don’t know who he is.” Mike Lillis reports on the ObamaCare drama: http://bit.ly/1wYLwBE.
NOTABLE, via Michael S. Derby for The Wall Street Journal: “Paul Volcker, the man who broke the back of inflation in the opening years of the 1980s, is a man at odds with what Federal Reserve policy making has become.” http://on.wsj.com/1GU1am7.
FED WATCH: US OR ENGLAND – WHO WILL RAISE RATES FIRST? Eshe Nelson for Bloomberg: “Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen may just beat Bank of England Governor Mark Carney to the first interest-rate increase since the financial crisis.
“Investors extended bets yesterday on how long the BOE will keep its benchmark at a record-low 0.5 percent after officials cut their growth and inflation forecasts. Markets are now pricing in a quarter-point increase by November next year, Sonia forwards show. As recently as August, wagers were for around February. In the U.S., the Fed is seen acting by September.” http://bloom.bg/1qGh8pA.
EXTENDERS WATCH – BIZ ROUNDTABLE URGES ACTION. Vicki Needham reports: “A leading business group is urging congressional lawmakers and the White House to take action on trade, taxes and fiscal issues during the lame-duck session. The Business Roundtable pressed House and Senate leaders to fund the government, extend expired tax provisions and pass updated Trade Promotion Authority (TPA).” http://bit.ly/1qGhNaw.
PROMOTION: TESTER TO LEAD DSCC. Peter Sullivan for The Hill: “Senate Democrats have chosen Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) as the new chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee on Thursday.” http://bit.ly/1tNVRKA.
BOEHNER KEEPS HIS JOB. Scott Wong for The Hill: “Ohio Republican Rep. John Boehner on Thursday cruised to another two years as Speaker of the House. After Republicans captured their biggest House majority since the 1920s, not one of his conservative critics launched a last-minute bid to challenge Boehner for the top job.” http://bit.ly/112O8Sc.
BIG STORIES FOR YOUR RADAR — Congress is tackling Keystone, and President Obama is gearing-up to release his immigration proposal. The Hill’s Laura Barron-Lopez on Sen. Mary Landrieu’s (D-Louis.) last-ditch hope for reelection: http://bit.ly/1124F8N. Our Justin Sink on whether Obama will go big on immigration: http://bit.ly/1140idK.
PARTING NOTE: Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Calif.), a member of the House Financial Services Committee, was bumped out of the room he wanted by Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) this morning during room selection, according to a source who saw it all go down. She picked the room he wanted and the California lawmaker wasn’t there to get it back.
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