Overnight Finance: McConnell offers ‘clean’ funding bill | Dems pan proposal | Flint aid, internet measure not included | More heat for Wells Fargo | New concerns on investor visas

McConnell sets vote on ‘clean’ funding bill to avoid shutdown:  Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has scheduled a vote on what he says is a “clean” funding resolution to avoid a government shutdown on Oct. 1.

Democrats say the bill isn’t good enough, creating a standoff with just days to go until government funding expires.

McConnell took to the Senate floor Thursday afternoon to schedule a vote on funding the government through Dec. 9, prompting an angry response from Democrats, who accused the GOP leader of jamming them. The Hill’s Alexander Bolton tells us what’s inside, what’s not, and what’s got people angry: http://bit.ly/2cVq9wm.

Ryan: Funding vote will be ‘low drama’: With eight days to go until the federal government shuts down, Speaker Paul Ryan on Thursday appeared calm and predicted an upcoming House vote on a funding bill would be “low drama.”

The House would quickly take up the bill, the Speaker indicated, despite grumbling from Democrats and conservatives in his own conference.

“I think our members realize that we want to get our work done. We don’t want to have high drama around here at this time. … I think we want to have a smooth process,” Ryan told reporters at his weekly news conference. “We realize we’re going to have a CR that takes us into December. Everyone is accepting that.” Here’s more from The Hill’s Scott Wong: http://bit.ly/2cKKYLW.

Reid: GOP ‘getting warmed up’ for shutdown: Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) also tried to fuel worries the government could shut down, arguing that Republicans are “getting warmed up” to do it next week.

“I can’t imagine why the Republicans would do this. They’ve shut it for 17 days before, I guess they’ve just getting warmed up to do it again,” Reid said, referring to the 2013 government shutdown over ObamaCare: http://bit.ly/2ddp1DM.

Pelosi pans GOP offer: House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) hammered the Senate Republicans’ latest government spending bill on Thursday, warning that Democrats could never support it.

“Right now, the Senate has received a counterproposal from the Republicans, which, in my view, is not even worthy of a counter. It falls very short,” Pelosi told reporters in the Capitol.

Pelosi listed several reasons for the Democrats’ opposition to the GOP’s latest offer. The Hill’s Mike Lillis has them here: http://bit.ly/2d3OYs0.

Heads up: We’ll unpack the CR later in the newsletter.

Consumer bureau remains partisan target after Wells Fargo settlement: The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) can’t even levy the largest fine in its history without being dragged into a political morass.

Democrats and Republicans have been fiercely divided over the CFPB since its inception, and the news that the agency slapped Wells Fargo with a massive fine has done nothing to move the needle.

For Democrats, the news that a probe by the CFPB and other regulators uncovered widespread fraud at a big bank is proof of the agency’s vital role. But Republicans are wondering why it took the regulator years to take action. The Hill’s Peter Schroeder explains: http://bit.ly/2d3OF0m.

{mosads}Trump policies would push debt to near record level: analysis: Donald Trump’s policy proposals would push the national debt to almost record levels within a decade, according to an analysis released Thursday.

Both Trump and Hillary Clinton’s proposed policies would increase the national debt, according to an analysis from the nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (CFRB). 

While Clinton’s boost to spending and revenue would increase the debt to 86 percent of gross domestic product by 2036, Trump’s massive tax cuts and minimal spending cuts would bring the debt to 105 percent of GDP, the group said. I’ll break it down here: http://bit.ly/2dnw1kI.

Clinton proposes bumping up estate tax: Hillary Clinton is proposing to tax estates valued at over $1 billion per couple at a 65 percent rate.

The campaign described the proposal on an updated webpage after detailing it to the non-partisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (CRFB).

The Democratic presidential nominee previously said that she would restore the estate tax to its 2009 parameters. Doing so would raise the rate from 40 percent to 45 percent, and lower the amount that’s exempt from the tax from $10.9 million per couple to $7 million per couple.

Now the Clinton campaign says that the wealthiest estates would be taxed at even higher rates than 45 percent, with the highest rate being 65 percent. Here’s more from The Hill’s Naomi Jagoda: http://bit.ly/2cURhx7.

Biden: ‘Less than even’ chance Congress approves trade deal: Vice President Biden says there is a “less than even” chance Congress ratifies the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement before the end of the Obama administration.

Speaking at the Council of Foreign Relations on Wednesday in New York, Biden said “our only real shot” to approve the 12-nation trade pact is during the lame-duck session of Congress after the November elections.

“But it’s going to be hard,” he said, according to Reuters. “I think it’s less than an even chance, but there is a genuine chance. It’s possible we can get it passed.”

While Biden did not rule out the possibility of Congress approving the TPP, his comments are a candid admission that the politics surrounding the trade deal are shrinking the chances that it takes effect. The Hill’s Jordan Fabian has more: http://bit.ly/2cpmlRO.

Happy Thursday and welcome to Overnight Finance, where we’re getting ready for a hectic last push to fund the government. I’m Sylvan Lane, and here’s your nightly guide to everything affecting your bills, bank account and bottom line.

Tonight’s highlights include bipartisan fury over the CR, more heat on Wells Fargo (including a resignation), an investigation into a controversial investor visa program and new legislation on taxes.

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.

Top Senate Dem: Dems won’t vote for funding bill over Flint: Senate Democrats will not vote for the short-term government funding bill the GOP has proposed because it has no funding for the drinking-water crisis in Flint, Mich., a top senator said.

Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.), the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee, cited the lack of Flint aid as the main reason her caucus opposes the continuing resolution that Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) unveiled Thursday afternoon.

“We Democrats cannot vote … for that substitute and urge others to vote against it,” she said on the floor shortly before McConnell released the proposal publicly.

She noted that the Senate’s version of the Water Resources Development Act, passed last week, has a $220 million aid package for Flint and other cities with drinking-water crises. Here’s more from The Hill’s Timothy Cama: http://bit.ly/2d80qEs.

Spending bill doesn’t include Cruz internet fight: A push by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) to block the Obama administration from handing over management of the internet is not part of a short-term spending bill backed by Senate GOP leadership.  

Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) filed the continuing resolution (CR) on Thursday without Cruz’s initiative, which had gotten fierce pushback from Democrats and the White House. 

Cruz and other conservatives wanted to block the administration from transferring the supervision of website domains from a Commerce Department contractor — the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers — to a broader body that includes foreign governments.

Cruz, who has kept the internet battle at the center of the spending fight, said Thursday that he was “profoundly disappointed” that the provision is being left out. Jordain Carney has more: http://bit.ly/2deCLm8.

Senators buck spending bill over Export-Import Bank: A bipartisan pair of senators indicated Thursday that they will vote against a short-term spending bill after GOP leadership left out a provision to bolster the Export-Import Bank

“I will not vote for a Continuing Resolution which does not contain a fix for the Export-Import (EX-IM) Bank. We are losing American jobs to foreign competitors for no good reason,” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said in a statement. 

Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.) will also likely oppose the spending bill over the financial fight. 

“Heitkamp has been pushing both members of the Democratic caucus and calling on Republicans in the House and Senate to support including Ex-Im in the CR, and at this point she is not planning on voting for the CR without it,” an aide said: http://bit.ly/2cKIPQ9.

Top GOP chairmen investigating foreign visa program: Two top Republican committee chairmen are investigating an interagency panel that advised the federal government to shut down a controversial investor visa program that expires in October.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (Iowa) and House Oversight and Government Affairs Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz (Utah) requested documents from the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) regarding a 2010 working group investigating the EB-5 investor visa program.

The EB-5 visa program lures foreign investment to U.S. construction with the promise of legal status and eventual citizenship. Despite securing billions in funding for projects, the program has faced intense scrutiny from lawmakers after several federal and media investigations revealed fraud and corruption.

In a letter made public Thursday, Grassley — a longtime critic of the program — and Chaffetz asked the USCIS for information, as the program’s renewal is likely to be included in a continuing resolution (CR) to fund the government. I’ve got it all here: http://bit.ly/2dntZBj.

Dem senator won’t back spending bill without visa reforms: Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) is warning that he won’t support a short-term government spending bill unless it includes reforms to a visa program that encourages foreign investment in domestic businesses set to expire at the end of the month. 

“I cannot simply support extending it yet again. I don’t come to this decision lightly, but I cannot support a continuing resolution that leaves these flaws in place,” Leahy said. “The time has come: Either reform EB-5 or get rid of it.” http://bit.ly/2d3OJgH.

Senate Dems call for investigation into Wells Fargo’s wage practices: Eight Democratic senators are urging the Obama administration to launch an investigation into whether Wells Fargo violated wage and labor rules amid a protracted fraud scheme.

The senators sent a letter asking Labor Department Secretary Tom Perez and Wage and Hour Division Administrator David Weil to probe if Wells Fargo denied their employees overtime or misclassified them under federal and state labor laws as overtime-exempt under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

The senators — Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), and Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) — argue in the letter that there is a history of employee complaints over wages at Wells dating back to 1999 and ranging across the insurance, mortgage and retail banking divisions. Here’s more from Vicki Needham: http://bit.ly/2deD14B.

Wells CEO Stumpf resigns from Fed advisory panel: Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf has resigned from a banking advisory panel with the Federal Reserve. 

The Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco announced Stumpf’s departure, effective Thursday, as the 12th district’s representative to the Federal Advisory Council (FAC).

A search process for a successor will begin soon. 

Earlier on Thursday, five senators called on the San Francisco Fed to replace Stumpf on the council, a panel of banking experts that regularly advises the Fed. Peter Schroder and Vicki Needham have more: http://bit.ly/2d3NDBs.

Iran president hints at future prisoner swaps, cash settlements with US: Iranian President Hassan Rouhani hinted at future coordinated prisoner swaps and lawsuit settlements between the U.S. and his country as the Obama administration faces bipartisan heat over a billion-dollar cash payment to Iran earlier this year.

Rouhani told NBC’s Chuck Todd in an interview published Thursday that the January prisoner swap and settlement of a decades-old lawsuit ran on “parallel tracks” and that similar arrangements could happen in the future.

“These two issues [were] being talked about simultaneously on parallel tracks,” said Rouhani. “And perhaps these dialogues can be still conducted simultaneously on parallel tracks while we’re conducting those same conversations in order to free the sums of money that are still owed to us.”

The U.S. paid Iran $1.7 billion in international banknotes to settle a nearly 40-year-old case over money owed to the Islamic republic for a failed arms deal. That payment happened shortly after a prisoner swap that freed four Americans held captive in Iran. I’ll break it down here: http://bit.ly/2d3NcHH.

House votes to eliminate Olympic medal tax: The House on Thursday passed several bills relating to taxes and the IRS, including a measure that would make many Olympians’ medals and prize money tax-exempt.

The Olympics bill, which passed by a vote of 415-1, would eliminate federal taxes on the value of Olympians’ and Paralympians’ medals, as well as on prize money provided by the U.S. Olympic Committee. The only no vote was Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.).

Rep. Bob Dold (R-Ill.), who sponsored the bill, said on the House floor earlier this week that lawmakers should support the bill to show “our appreciation for the hard work and dedication of our Olympians and Paralympians.”

When the House Ways and Means Committee approved the bill last week, lawmakers amended it so the tax exemption would not apply to people with income of more than $1 million. Here’s more from Naomi Jagoda: http://bit.ly/2d0IKWe.

Sales of existing homes fall in August on low inventory levels: Sales of previously owned homes slowed in August for the second straight month as low supply puts a strain on the housing market.

Existing home sales, which are completed transactions that include single-family homes and townhomes, declined 0.9 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.33 million in August from 5.38 million in July, the National Association of Realtors said Thursday.

After last month’s decline, sales are at their second-lowest pace of the year but are slightly higher than a year ago.

Despite record-low mortgage rates and steady labor market growth, higher prices and continued low inventory is stymieing potential buyers: http://bit.ly/2d3PFlb.

China moves to lift ban on US beef: China is moving to lift a long-standing ban on U.S. beef after a mad cow disease scare locked out imports more than a decade ago. 

The Obama administration said Thursday that Chinese officials have taken the first step to ending the 13-year moratorium, a move that could boost U.S. exports to one of the world’s fastest growing markets for beef.

“We look forward to prompt engagement by the relevant authorities for further technical discussions on the specific conditions that will allow trade to resume,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack in a statement: http://bit.ly/2cKH9X7.

Dem unveils proposal for middle-income housing tax credit: Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) unveiled a proposal on Thursday to create a new tax credit to incentivize the development of rental housing for middle-income people.

The draft bill would create a middle-income housing tax credit that would work with the existing low-income housing tax credit used to finance construction of rental housing for low-income people.

“The bottom line; America’s housing policy needs a remodel. It should start by using proven tools to develop new homes for Americans earning low and moderate incomes,” Wyden, the top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, said in a news release. “This new tax credit will work hand-in-hand with the tax credit for low-income housing, which has been a huge success for decades.” http://bit.ly/2cPp3Gq.

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