Overnight Finance: CBO predicts millions will lose coverage under repeal bill | Trump to pitch tax reform plan in Indiana | AIG downsizing | SEC under scrutiny after hack
Trump to sell new tax framework in Indiana Wednesday: President Trump will travel to Indiana Wednesday to promote a new tax-reform framework being produced by congressional Republicans and administration officials, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Monday.
With Republican hopes to repeal ObamaCare fading, the drive to cut taxes and make other changes to the tax code is rising as they seek a legislative and political win.
“During his remarks, the president will discuss new details on the framework for these cuts and reforms,” Sanders said during a press briefing. “These details will include specific proposed rates for individuals, small businesses and corporations, and he will also discuss the elimination of loopholes that have rigged the current tax code in favor of the wealthy and well-connected.”
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The framework is being created by the so-called Big Six to provide guidelines for the congressional tax-writing committees as they craft legislation. The Hill’s Naomi Jagoda has more: http://bit.ly/2ftSGPc.
AIG to restructure: Financial services giant AIG will restructure its business and shut down its consumer and commercial divisions as it attempts to shed stricter federal oversight.
AIG will divide its operations into general insurance, life and retirement planning and a tech platform while dropping two major finance units, the company announced Monday.
The general insurance division will include commercial, personal insurance, and U.S. and international field operations, while the life and retirement side will include group retirement plans, individual retirement plans, life insurance, and institutional markets.
The company expects to update its financial reporting and disclosures following the changes, which come amid AIG’s push to lose the “systemically important financial institution” (SIFI) label that was largely inspired the company: http://bit.ly/2fuYUOB.
Ryan pledges aid for storm-ravaged Puerto Rico: Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) said Congress is working with the Trump administration on humanitarian aid for Puerto Rico in the wake of devastating damage from Hurricanes Irma and Maria.
Ryan said in a statement Monday that lawmakers are working with the White House “to ensure necessary resources get to the U.S. territory,” where island-wide power outages and widespread damage have imperiled more than 3 million U.S. citizens.
“The stories and images coming out of Puerto Rico are devastating,” Ryan said. “Our fellow citizens in Puerto Rico remain in our prayers as we make sure they have what they need.”
Puerto Rico is expected to be without power for months while government officials struggle to address food and fuel shortages across the territory. The island had already been reeling from a debt crisis that froze swaths of the Puerto Rican financial system and led to severe cuts to critical state health care, social services and education: http://bit.ly/2fuyJr8.
Romney: Put aside controversies, prioritize Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands: Former GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney on Monday joined the chorus of voices calling on lawmakers to prioritize hurricane relief efforts in Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands before a humanitarian crisis unfolds.
Romney made the plea in a tweet to “put aside controversies” and “prioritize rescue” efforts in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands after Hurricane Maria tore through the Caribbean last week.
He said former Puerto Rican Governor Luis Fortuño warned him that the American territory is on the “brink of a humanitarian disaster.” http://bit.ly/2fvcYYu.
Breach of Wall Street’s top regulator triggers scrutiny: The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is coming under fire in Washington after revealing a data breach that may have allowed hackers to profit from stolen insider information.
Jay Clayton, the SEC’s new chairman, revealed late Wednesday that hackers breached its EDGAR corporate filing system last year by exploiting a software vulnerability. The incident was detected in 2016 but only recently found to have potentially provided a basis for illicit trading gains.
The breach, revealed less than two weeks after the massive breach of credit reporting firm Equifax, generated immediate scrutiny on Capitol Hill. Lawmakers warned of growing cyber threats to the financial industry, long a top target of hackers.
“The risks from cyber breaches continue to threaten consumers and our financial markets,” Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) told The Hill on Friday. “We expect corporations that hold sensitive data to disclose information about breaches as soon as possible, and the SEC is no different.” http://bit.ly/2furfED.
Happy Monday and welcome back 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@thehill.com or tweet me @SylvanLane. And if you like your newsletter, you can subscribe to it here: http://bit.ly/1NxxW2N.
CBO finds ‘millions’ will lose coverage under ObamaCare repeal bill: The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projected Monday that the last-ditch GOP ObamaCare repeal bill would result in “millions” of people losing coverage.
The agency did not give a specific number given a lack of time to do the analysis before a vote, but said the “direction of the effect is clear.”
CBO said the reduction in coverage would be felt in three areas: in Medicaid, because the bill repeals ObamaCare’s expansion of Medicaid; in private coverage, because the bill repeals subsidies that help people afford it; and because the mandate to have coverage would be repealed.
CBO predicted some states would charge those who are sick more money for health coverage.
“CBO and JCT also anticipate that some states would allow insurers to set premiums on the basis of an individual’s health status,” the analysis states.
“However, the higher the expected health care costs, the higher the premiums would be; for some people, premiums would be a very large share of their income.”
The CBO finds that spending under the bill would be $230 billion less from 2020 to 2026 compared to ObamaCare. The Hill’s Peter Sullivan has more here: http://bit.ly/2y4KMDo
Shortly after the CBO analysis came out, Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) came out against the repeal bill, leaving it all but dead.
She joins Sens. John McCain (Ariz.) and Rand Paul (Ky.) as GOP “no” votes. Republicans can only afford two defections and still muscle the bill through the Senate.
In a lengthy statement, Collins said the most recent ObamaCare repeal bill, which had been reshaped Sunday in an effort to win her over, “was as deeply flawed as its previous iterations.”
The Hill’s Jordain Carney, Peter Sullivan and Rachel Roubein recap a dramatic day on health care: http://bit.ly/2yCXXbT
GOP senators reject tying health care, tax reform in 2018: With the latest effort to overhaul ObamaCare looking dead just days before the September 30 deadline, Senate Republicans are putting the kibosh on suggestions that the effort be combined with tax reform in 2018.
“Heavens no. We’re not going to do that,” said Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), chairman of the Senate Tax Committee. “It would just screw up the whole thing.”
Republicans were relying on a budget process called reconciliation to avert a Democratic filibuster on health reform. The health-specific instructions passed in the 2017 budget expire on Saturday, and Republicans plan on using the 2018 instructions to pass tax reform.
Some, such as Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) have suggested broadening the 2018 reconciliation instructions to pave the way for both health care and taxes, a process that could imperil both causes, as they would have to be passed together.
“There’s no reason why you couldn’t do more than one thing in a budget resolution, [why] you couldn’t taxes and healthcare at the same time,” Paul said at a Monday press conference.
But the suggestion didn’t go over well with his colleagues. Niv Elis explains here: http://bit.ly/2fuUszx
GOP senators introduce DREAM Act alternative: Three Republican senators are rolling out new legislation that would create a track to legalization for people who were brought to the United States illegally as children.
Sens. James Lankford (Okla.), Thom Tillis (N.C.) and Orrin Hatch (Utah) introduced the SUCCEED Act on Monday, pitching it as an alternative to the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act, or DREAM Act, backed by Democrats.
“The DREAM Act has been floated around for a decade,” Lankford told reporters. “We don’t believe the DREAM Act is a conservative solution to how to be able to resolve this, but we also don’t want to leave this question unanswered.”
Lankford signaled that President Trump was supportive of the concept behind the bill. But he cautioned that Trump hasn’t seen the text and that the bill would need to be part of a broader legislative package. http://bit.ly/2fuYEiB.
Six ways Trump could hit the rich with the tax plan: President Trump will have to make significant changes to his previous reform proposals to achieve his goal of providing no tax cuts for the rich.
The president recently told a bipartisan group of House members that the wealthy “will not be gaining at all” from his plan. Foregoing a tax cut for the rich could help get Democrats on board and limit the bill’s overall cost.
But previous tax plans from the White House and congressional Republicans would have disproportionately helped those at the top income brackets, according to independent analysts, so hewing to Trump’s goal could require some major changes.
Here are six ways that Republicans could revise their tax plans to prevent the rich from getting a windfall: http://bit.ly/2fuBuZw.
Mnuchin: No absolute tax cut for upper class ‘was never a pledge’ Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Sunday said he never made a “pledge” that there would be no absolute tax cut for the upper class in the administration’s tax plan.
During an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Mnuchin was asked about previous comments, in which he said there would be no absolute tax cut for the upper class.
“Can you reaffirm that pledge that there will be ‘no absolute tax cut’ for the upper class?” CNN’s Jake Tapper asked Mnuchin.
“It was never a promise. It was never a pledge. … It was what the president’s objective was,” Mnuchin said. http://bit.ly/2fuyZX8.
Five things to know about Trump’s new travel ban: President Trump rolled out a new and more targeted version of his controversial travel ban over the weekend — and this time the policy is permanent.
The new set of travel restrictions were designed to replace Trump’s 90-day ban on visitors from six predominantly Muslim countries, which came to an end on Sunday. The White House said the stoppage was needed so that it could review, and possibly beef up, its vetting procedures for visa holders and refugees.
The latest version of the ban, delivered in a presidential proclamation, covers five countries from the earlier ban, adds three new nations to the list and includes travel restrictions that vary from country to country.
Trump’s third effort to tighten the nation’s borders has prompted the Supreme Court to cancel previously scheduled oral arguments over whether the initial travel ban is legal.
“The travel ban — the tougher, the better,” Trump told reporters on Sunday.
Here are five things to know about the new policy: http://bit.ly/2fv51CG.
Senate confirms second Trump nominee to labor board: The Senate confirmed President Trump’s second pick to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Monday evening, shifting the balance of power from Democrats to Republicans.
The Senate voted 49-47 to confirm William Emanuel to the board charged with enforcing fair labor practices and workers’ collective bargaining rights.
Emanuel, a corporate lawyer who works for Littler Mendelson in Los Angeles, is the second Trump nominee to be confirmed to the board after Marvin Kaplan’s confirmation in August.
With Emanuel, Republicans now hold the majority on the five-member board.
Industry groups have long claimed the NLRB has catered to labor unions.
They are hoping the newly aligned board will reverse the ruling that redefined what constitutes a joint-employer and made franchisors responsible for labor law violations committed by their franchisees, as well as a ruling that allowed unions to organize employees in so-called micro-unions.
Lydia Wheeler has more here: http://bit.ly/2xGsCH7
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