Overnight Finance: Trump tax reform push enters new phase | Consumer bureau defenders brace for Dodd-Frank vote | Schumer links debt hike to tax cuts | US, Mexico strike trade deal on sugar

Trump’s tax reform push enters next phase: The White House is starting the next phase of its tax reform push with the expected launch of a formal set of listening sessions with industry groups.

Since the release of President Trump’s one-page tax plan in April, administration officials have been meeting with lawmakers as they work to flesh out the proposal. Now, the officials are branching out to meet with business leaders, who are eager to make their priorities known.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn on Tuesday also held a listening session focused on the transportation sector. White House spokeswoman Natalie Strom said the meeting is about one of a dozen that the White House plans to hold this summer with business leaders from a variety of sectors of the economy. The Hill’s Naomi Jagoda reports on the new phase in the tax push: http://bit.ly/2rJxMNH.

For her report on the listening session with transportation execs, click here: http://bit.ly/2sQkdv4

Rules panel clears Dodd-Frank rewrite for House vote: The House Rules Committee on Tuesday night cleared for a vote on the House floor a Republican effort to strip much of the Dodd-Frank Act.

The powerful panel — the last stop for every bill considered by the House — cleared the Financial CHOICE Act 9-4 along party lines and with few amendments. The full House is scheduled to vote on the bill by Friday morning, and it is expected to pass it without Democratic support.

{mosads}The CHOICE Act is an effort to roll back Dodd-Frank, long panned by Republicans as a burden on the U.S. economy and businesses. The bill, sponsored by House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas), passed that panel earlier this month with unanimous Republican support and unified Democratic opposition.

“It’s time to help small businesses. It’s time to make Washington and Wall Street accountable,” Hensarling said at the hearing. “We have way too much capital sitting on the sidelines of this economy.”

I have more on the bill and the coming vote here: http://bit.ly/2se14X6 And keep reading for more Dodd-Frank news below…

CEO economic confidence hits 3-year high: The nation’s business leaders expressed the highest level of economic optimism in three years despite the obstacles facing President Trump’s legislative agenda, according to a new survey released Tuesday.

CEO projections for sales, capital spending and employment over the next six months rose to 93.9 in the second quarter, from 93.3 during the first three months of the year, the highest level since the April–June period of 2014, according to the latest Business Roundtable (BRT) report.

Prospects for comprehensive tax and regulatory reform lifted CEO optimism through the spring, even though the White House has provided few details on its plans and Congress has yet to make much progress on tax legislation. The Hill’s Vicki Needham breaks it down: http://bit.ly/2rJmOaF.

Happy Tuesday and welcome to Overnight Finance. I’m Sylvan Lane, and here’s your nightly guide to everything affecting your bills, bank account and bottom line.

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.

On tap tomorrow:

• House Budget Committee: Hearing entitled “The Economic and Fiscal Benefits of Pro-Growth Policies,” 10 a.m. http://bit.ly/2qJa6HU.
• House Financial Services Committee: Hearing entitled “Flood Insurance Reform: A Taxpayer’s Perspective,” 10:30 a.m. http://bit.ly/2qJ6wgS.

Schumer links debt hike to tax cuts: Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) warned Tuesday that Democrats might not back a clean debt ceiling hike if Republicans separately seek to cut tax rates for the rich.

“It’s going to be a lot harder to get a debt ceiling raised if our Republican colleagues insist on raising the deficit dramatically by huge tax cuts for the wealthiest of Americans,” Schumer said.

Schumer also said it will be the GOP’s responsibility to raise the debt ceiling, not Democrats who are in the minority in the House and Senate.

Democrats have generally backed raising the debt ceiling as long as the hike has not been attacked to other measures, such as spending cuts or laws that would limit regulation. A decision to oppose a clean debt-ceiling bill because of other legislative measures under consideration in Congress would be a significant turnabout for the party.

The Hill’s Niv Elis has more here: http://bit.ly/2rJC47v

US, Mexico strike deal on sugar trade: The United States and Mexico on Tuesday announced an agreement in principle on the sugar trade, which should smooth upcoming renegotiation talks over the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

The long-awaited agreement, which is not yet supported by the U.S. sugar industry, will suspend steep tariffs against Mexican sugar imports that flow into the United States.

“We have gotten the Mexican side to agree to nearly every request made by U.S. industry to address flaws in the current system and ensure fair treatment of American sugar growers and refiners,” Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said Tuesday at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Ross said he hoped that the U.S. industry would come on board with the agreement while the final details are worked out. The deal, he said, prevents harm to other U.S. industries, including confectioners, beverage producers and corn growers. Here’s more from Vicki Needham: http://bit.ly/2rJzu1i.

Consumer bureau defenders brace for vote on Dodd-Frank rollback: Some of the Dodd-Frank Act’s staunchest defenders are making a last-ditch effort to kill a bill that would strip much of the 2010 financial regulations.

Progressive lawmakers and political groups are attempting to rally opposition before the House votes on the Financial CHOICE Act this week. That bill, sponsored by House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas), would roll back much of Dodd-Frank, a long-standing Republican target.

The CHOICE Act is almost certain to pass the House along party lines. It’s largely considered dead on arrival in the Senate, where it would fail to gain enough bipartisan support to overcome a Democratic filibuster.

Even so, liberal lawmakers and allies are speaking out to defend key parts of Dodd-Frank, particularly the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), from future GOP attacks. I have more here: http://bit.ly/2rJfgot.

Ex-Fed chief Bernanke defends Dodd-Frank measure ahead of House vote: Former Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke defended a key portion of the Dodd-Frank Act on Tuesday, ahead of this week’s House vote on a bill that would replace much of the 2010 law.

Bernanke, the Fed’s chairman from 2006 to 2014, said Congress should keep Dodd-Frank’s orderly liquidation authority (OLA), the process through which the federal government would take over and manage the assets of a failing bank to prevent a financial crisis.

“I’m puzzled by arguments that say ‘OLA isn’t perfect, let’s get rid of it,'” Bernanke said at a Brookings Institute panel.

The House is scheduled to vote this week on the Financial CHOICE Act, a sweeping rewrite of Dodd-Frank. The GOP bill would replace OLA with an addition to the bankruptcy code, which banks can’t currently use when they fail. The Hill’s Will Costello takes us there: http://bit.ly/2rJmTuZ.

White House hopes for Dem support on tax reform: A top aide to President Trump said Monday that the Trump administration hopes to get some Democratic support on tax reform.

“Ideally that will become a bipartisan effort,” White House legislative affairs director Marc Short said during a briefing with reporters.

Short noted that administration officials met with both Democrats and Republicans on the Senate Finance Committee and also met with the centrist Democratic Blue Dog Coalition.

Congressional GOP leaders intend to pass a tax reform bill through a process known as reconciliation in order to avoid a Democratic filibuster. Short said that even if a tax bill is moved through reconciliation, the administration hopes it receives backing from some Democrats. Naomi Jagoda reports: http://bit.ly/2rJ2V3O.

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