As events warrant, Palmer Schoening, Chairman of the Family Business Coalition and President of Schoening Strategies, offers tED magazine and our readers updates on the happenings in Congress and the White House.
Here is his update for June 8, 2017:
Financial CHOICE Act to Pass the House this Afternoon: Final passage of H.R.10 is expected between 4:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. today after six amendments are considered. See Ed Orlet’s video on Dodd-Frank repeal and conflict minerals reporting requirements.
All Eyes on Former Director Comey’s Testimony: His prepared remarks were posted yesterday. Watch it live on C-SPAN3 starting at 10 AM EDT. President Trump is watching live with his lawyers and smartphone. He has no events scheduled for the morning.
President Trump will Deliver Remarks at 12:35 p.m. EDT today at the Faith and Freedom Coalition’s Road to Majority Conference at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in D.C. Watch it on White House Live. At 3:30 p.m., President Trump will hold an Infrastructure Summit with governors and mayors at the White House. See yesterday’s White House statement for more.
Debt Limit Increase discussed by House Speaker Ryan (R-WI): At yesterday’s regular weekly news conference, Speaker Ryan saiid:
“So we’re going to address the debt ceiling before we hit the debt ceiling. … So, naturally the treasury secretary should be in charge of the debt limit because it’s the treasury secretary who runs the numbers; who runs the levers that control the flow of us paying our debts. So, the treasury secretary is and should always be the person in charge of debt limit negotiations, debt limit legislation. So that’s — that’s a natural thing. Every treasury secretary is in charge of that. … I’m not going to — I’m not going to negotiate with myself in the media. We’re going to have these kinds of conversations with our members and find the best way forward. We’ll come up with a solution. I’m confident that a debt limit increase will be enacted in time to avoid default this year as it always has been in the past.”
Tax Reform Through House by the End of the Year is Goal of House Speaker Ryan:
Yesterday, in an MSNBC interview, Speaker Ryan said, “Yes, we will have tax reform by the end of the year. We’re working very diligently on that – the House, the White House and the Senate.” Maybe the House could pass a tax reform bill this year, but I’d be very surprised if the Senate can, and enactment this year is very unlikely because of major differences in the preliminary House and Senate versions.
“Time to Move Past the Proposed Border Adjustment Tax.” That in today’s analysis and The Hill op-ed by the Heritage Foundation’s Adam Michel. House leaders are still backing the controversial BAT, but several Republican senators have publicly rejected it.
“Brownback Tax Cuts Set Off a Revolt by Kansas Republicans.” Yesterday’s vote to undo $1.2B of tax cuts by the Kansas Legislature is a watershed moment in state fiscal history as described in yesterday’s New York Times article.
$87B Deficit Estimated by CBO for the June 12 Monthly Treasury Statement: Yesterday, the Congressional Budget Office estimated that May’s deficit would be $87B, $35B higher than last May. Removing calendar effects would have resulted in a $93B deficit last May and a $6B decline this May. Look for receipts of $240B versus $225B last May and outlays of $327B versus $277B Receipts rose $15B because of increased wages and profits and because this May had one more business day. After removing calendar effects, outlays rose $9B, $5B more in Medicare, $2B in Social Security, $1B less in Medicaid, $3B more for the FDIC, $3B more for Net Interest, and $3B less in other programs.
Tagged with congress, government, tax reform, tED