Overnight Finance: Senators spar over Wall Street at SEC pick’s hearing | New CBO score for ObamaCare bill | Agency signs off on Trump DC hotel lease

Senators war over Wall Street during Trump SEC pick’s hearing: Senators battled over Wall Street’s relationship with the White House Thursday during the confirmation hearing for President Trump’s pick to lead the financial sector’s top watchdog.

The three-hour Senate Banking Committee hearing featured little hostility toward Jay Clayton, President Trump’s nominee to chair the Securities and Exchange Commission, but plenty of partisan skirmishes over Wall Street.

Democrats repeatedly expressed concerns over Clayton’s deep Wall Street connections and the roster of financial sector veterans in Trump’s administration. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, White House chief strategist Stephen Bannon and National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn are all Goldman Sachs alumni.

Republicans countered that Clayton’s two decades of experience working with high-profile financial powerhouses made him a perfect choice to lead the SEC. I’ll fill you in here: http://bit.ly/2nNQi8k.

CBO releases new score for ObamaCare repeal bill: The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) on Thursday released a new score for a revised plan to repeal and replace ObamaCare that Republican leaders are struggling to pass in the House.

The CBO found that this version of the healthcare plan contains significantly less deficit reduction than the original but would lead to essentially the same levels of coverage losses and premium increases.

{mosads}The legislation would reduce the deficit by $150 billion over 10 years, down from $337 billion in the original legislation, the report said. The plan would still result in 24 million more people being uninsured in 2026, a finding that has been a rallying cry for Democrats.

Premiums would still initially rise by 15 percent to 20 percent before eventually becoming 10 percent lower, the CBO said. The Hill’s Peter Sullivan breaks it down: http://bit.ly/2nNM1Sf.

Agency: Trump’s Washington hotel not in violation of lease: A federal agency has ruled that President Trump’s hotel in Washington, D.C., does not violate lease terms that prohibit elected officials from receiving benefits, The Associated Press reported on Thursday.

A clause in the hotel’s lease states that “no … elected official of the Government of the United States … shall be admitted to any share or part of this Lease, or to any benefit that may arise therefrom,” as reported by the Government Executive.

Trump signed the document with the General Services Administration (GSA) in 2013, before his presidential campaign. The hotel opened last year. Here’s more from The Hill’s Nikita Vladmirov: http://bit.ly/2nNQcgR.

Happy Thursday and welcome to Overnight Finance, where we’re waiting with baited breath to see when the House will vote on ObamaCare repeal. I’m Sylvan Lane, and here’s your nightly guide to everything affecting your bills, bank account and bottom line.

Tonight’s highlights include notable moments from the confirmation hearing for Trump’s Agriculture secretary nominee, mounting opposition to the border adjustment tax, and the latest CFPB enforcement action.

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.

Vulnerable Senate Dem: Border tax concerning for agriculture: Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.), who is up for reelection next year in a state President Trump won, expressed concerns that the House Republicans’ proposed border-adjustment tax would be harmful for agriculture.

“I don’t think the border-adjustment tax can pass the Senate,” she said Thursday at a Wall Street Journal event. “I think there’s too many concerns among agriculture.”

The border-adjustment proposal would tax imports and exempt exports. House Republicans have made the proposal a key part of their tax plan and argue that the proposal would remove incentives for companies to move factories and jobs overseas.

However, the proposal has met considerable opposition from senators, who are worried that it would lead to higher prices for consumers. The Hill’s Naomi Jagoda explains: http://bit.ly/2nNC9I7.

Experian fined $3M over ‘inaccurate’ credit scores:Experian, one of the nation’s largest credit bureaus, was fined $3 million Thursday for providing consumers with “inaccurate” credit scores.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) accused Experian of deceiving people about their credit scores, a financial measurement lenders use to determine how likely a borrower is to repay everything from their mortgage to their credit card bill.

“Experian deceived consumers over how the credit scores it marketed and sold were used by lenders,” CFPB Director Richard Cordray said Thursday. “Consumers deserve and should expect honest and accurate information about their credit scores, which are central to their financial lives.” Here’s more from The Hill’s Tim Devaney: http://bit.ly/2nNLYpJ.

Perdue vows to be chief salesman for US agriculture abroad: Former Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue, President Trump’s choice to lead the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) said Thursday he will be a tenacious advocate for expanding global trade.

Perdue told the Senate Agriculture Committee during his congenial nomination hearing that he plans to play an intimate role in shaping U.S. trade policy to ensure it benefits the nation’s farmers.

“I plan to be onsite as USDA’s chief salesman around the world to sell these products, to negotiate these deals side by side with USTR [the U.S. trade representative], side by side with [Commerce] Secretary [Wilbur] Ross and our whole team there,” Perdue told the panel. The Hill’s Vicki Needham take us there: http://bit.ly/2nNU5CI.

GOP senators offer bill to require spending cuts with debt-limit hikes: A group of GOP senators on Thursday introduced a bill that would require debt-limit increases to be offset by spending cuts.

The bill — from Sens. Rob Portman (R-Ohio), Mike Lee (R-Utah), John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) and Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.) — comes one week after the debt limit was reinstated.

“If we’re going to raise the debt limit, we should also rein in spending and address our massive debt. That’s just common sense,” Portman said in a statement.

“Our current spending and debt levels are unsustainable. They threaten to drive up tax rates, reduce economic growth, and leave an increasingly heavy burden on future generations of Americans.” http://bit.ly/2nNPEYl.

Dem senator to reintroduce ‘Buy America’ legislation: A Democratic senator is renewing a push to advance so-called “Buy America” legislation after House GOP leadership killed a similar effort last year.

Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) plans to unveil a measure on Friday that would require American iron and steel products to be used in certain drinking water projects. She will make the announcement at Neenah Foundry, a Wisconsin manufacturer.

“We must rebuild our country’s infrastructure with American labor and American products,” Baldwin is expected to say, according to prepared remarks.

“The choice for the Republican establishment in Washington is clear: Do you stand with American manufacturers and workers or do you support spending taxpayer dollars on Chinese and Russian steel for American water infrastructure projects?”

Join us Wednesday, May 3 for “Main Street Matters: Jobs, Wages & the Small Business Economy,” featuring Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) and Rep. Steve Chabot (R-Ohio). Topics of discussion include job creation, wages and the kinds of policies that can help small businesses thrive in the United States. RSVP here.

Write us with tips, suggestions and news: slane@digital-staging.thehill.com, vneedham@digital-staging.thehill.com, and njagoda@digital-staging.thehill.com. Follow us on Twitter: @SylvanLane,  @VickofTheHill and @NJagoda.