Happy Friday and welcome back to On The Money. I’m Sylvan Lane, and here’s your nightly guide to everything affecting your bills, bank account and bottom line.
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THE BIG DEAL—Trump asks Supreme Court to block House Democrats’ subpoena for financial records: President Trump on Friday filed an emergency request to the Supreme Court to block a subpoena from House Democrats for his financial documents, the second time Trump asked the justices to shield his records in as many days.
Trump’s latest request to the high court follows recent losses at the federal appeals court in Washington, D.C.
At issue is a subpoena from the House Oversight Committee for financial records from Trump’s accounting firm Mazars USA that was set to take effect next week. The Hill’s John Kruzel explains the case here.
- In a 2-1 ruling, a three-judge panel of the D.C. Circuit last month said the Democratic-led House Oversight and Reform Committee could subpoena Trump’s accountants for his records.
- This week, the same court voted 8 to 3 against rehearing the case, prompting Trump’s emergency request that the Supreme Court stay, or suspend, that order.
Trump’s lawyers asked the Supreme Court to temporarily suspend the D.C. Circuit’s ruling from going into effect on Nov. 20 to allow the justices to consider a more formal forthcoming petition that the appeals court’s decision be overturned.
The stakes: Trump’s requests to the Supreme Court this week set the stage for potentially groundbreaking deliberations over the separation of powers, the scope of Congress’s oversight authority and the boundaries of presidential immunity.
House Democrats object to giving Trump notice before seeking NY tax returns: Earlier in the day, House Democrats filed a motion objecting to Trump’s request that they give him advance notice if they intend to request his New York state tax returns in a separate fight.
- Trump filed a lawsuit over the summer, in his personal capacity, in an effort to block House Democrats from obtaining his state tax returns.
- The lawsuit was filed shortly after New York enacted a law that allows the chairmen of Congress’s tax committees to request public officials’ returns from the state’s department of taxation and finance.
- On Monday, Judge Carl Nichols, a Trump appointee, dismissed two New York officials from the case. The New York officials had been ordered not to provide any requested Trump tax returns to the House until one week after Nichols ruled on their motion to dismiss.
LEADING THE DAY
Kudlow ‘very optimistic’ on USMCA prospects: The White House’s top economic advisor Larry Kudlow on Friday said he was “very optimistic” about the prospects of passing the United States-Mexico-Canada trade agreement in the coming months.
On Thursday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said a deal was “imminent” after months of negotiations between House Democrats and the administration.
Kudlow, referring to Pelosi’s remarks, spoke positively about their implications.
“I read her remarks very optimistically, and I remain very optimistic that this can pass this fall,” Kudlow told reporters Friday morning.
“I think it’s a home run, I think it’s going to pass, and I was just delighted to hear her remarks,” he added, throwing in praise for Pelosi as “cooperative” and “accommodating.”
Why it’s big: Kudlow’s praise for Pelosi and optimistic view of the USMCA’s chances come as Trump and GOP lawmakers ramp up pressure on Democrats to strike a deal with the White House.
While Trump has repeatedly bashed Pelosi, accusing her of holding up the deal, Kudlow and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer have been far more accommodating to her requests.
Passing USMCA before the end of the year could still get complicated by the impeachment inquiry, but Kudlow’s comments are an encouraging sign for the deal’s supporters.
ON TAP NEXT WEEK
Tuesday:
- The House Financial Services Committee holds a hearing on the practices of private equity funds, 10 a.m.
- The House Agriculture Committee holds a hearing on farm credit conditions and the Farm Credit Administration, 10 a.m.
- The Bipartisan Policy Center hosts a panel discussion entitled “Shareholder vs. Stakeholder: The Role of the Corporation,” featuring former SEC Commissioners Dan Gallagher and Roel Campos, 10 a.m.
Wednesday:
- The House Ways and Means Committee holds a hearing on U.S.-Japan trade agreements, 10 a.m.
- A House Financial Services subcommittee holds a hearing and regulatory efforts to “preserve and promote” minority depository institutions, 10 a.m.
- The House Budget Committee holds a hearing on the economic costs of the federal debt, 10 a.m.
- A House Energy and Commerce subcommittee holds a hearing on building a clean economy, 10 a.m.
- A House Financial Services subcommittee holds a hearing on the health and safety conditions in federally subsidized public housing, 2 p.m.
Thursday:
- The House Financial Services Committee’s task force on financial technology holds a hearing on data and the financial services industry, 9 a.m.
- Funding for wide swaths of the federal government expires at midnight.
NEXT WEEK’S NEWS, NOW
- Congress will be racing to pass a stopgap funding measure before the current spending legislation expires on Thursday. While administration officials and lawmakers have expressed a desire to avoid a shutdown, we never truly know what will happen until the ink is dry.
GOOD TO KNOW
- The House on Friday passed a bill along party lines to fund and overhaul the Export-Import Bank after a bipartisan agreement crumbled under Democratic opposition. The bill won’t go far in the upper chamber though, where Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has said he won’t take it up. The White House has also come out against the bill.
- Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) are pressing the IRS about a study the agency commissioned to review its Free File program, raising concerns that the report viewed the program too favorably.
- The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to take up the long-running legal battle over Oracle’s allegations that Google illegally used its code, setting the stage for a landmark battle over copyright that could shake Silicon Valley.