“Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell: The 60 Minutes interview.” See yesterday’s 13- minute CBS 60 Minutes video and transcript highlights here.
The “First Phase” of President Trump’s FY20 Budget will be released at 11:30 AM here. The “Second Phase,” the Appendix, Analytical Perspectives, and Major Savings and Reforms, will be released on March 18.
“Trump Plan Postpones Balanced Budget Despite Deep Spending Cuts.” Last night’s Bloomberg article led with:
President Donald Trump will propose a U.S. budget that wouldn’t balance for 15 years, even assuming stronger economic growth than private forecasters expect and with deep domestic spending cuts that have little chance of passing Congress.
Trump’s budget blueprint, to be released Monday, asks lawmakers to slash funding for most federal government agencies while boosting defense spending and setting aside $8.6 billion for a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, according to a White House preview. The plan faces certain rejection by Democrats now in control of the U.S. House and will kick off a new political battle over spending priorities.
“Trump to Request $8.6 Billion for Border Wall in 2020 Budget.” Last night’s Wall Street Journal article led with:
WASHINGTON—President Trump plans to seek $8.6 billion for additional barriers along the southern U.S. border as part of his budget proposal to be released Monday, a potential prelude to another fight over funding the president’s long-promised border wall.
The White House budget document will propose $2.7 trillion in cuts to nondefense discretionary spending over the next decade, in part by reducing such spending by 5% next year below current federal spending caps, the president’s top budget official said Sunday. The administration didn’t offer specific details of the spending cuts, while also proposing increases on certain military matters and on veterans health care.
Congress is unlikely to approve anything that closely resembles the White House budget, as Democrats control the House and spending bills in the GOP-led Senate need bipartisan support. Instead, the blueprint serves to lay out a presidential administration’s priorities each year and represents the opening bid in negotiations over new spending bills for the next fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1.
Doug Holtz-Eakin on President Trump’s FY20 Budget: This morning, the American Action Forum President and former Congressional Budget Office Director concluded:
In short, there are only two important budgetary events on the 2019 horizon — passing a debt limit increase/suspension and cutting a deal on spending caps — and the President’s Budget is going to be irrelevant to both of them.
I agree. Either congressional leaders will cut a deal this spring, which President Trump could torpedo, like he did in January, or Congress will resort to passing lesser controversial appropriations and a last-minute debt limit/continuing resolution in late September. No default, and I very much doubt we’ll see another shutdown.
“Why Americans Don’t Cheat on Their Taxes.” The Atlantic Monthly’s Rene Chun writes:
If such a thing as American exceptionalism remains, maybe it can be found in this: Despite deep IRS budget cuts, an average audit rate that has plunged in recent years to just 0.6 percent, and a president who has bragged that dodging federal taxes is “smart,” most Americans still pay their income taxes every year.
How long can this last? If we don’t bolster the IRS soon, we will find out. In numerous conversations with friends at the IRS, the first concern of all is the “brain drain” as the experienced retire and either aren’t replaced or are replaced with inexperienced who don’t stay long.
“Wall Street’s Got It All Wrong When It Comes to the U.S. Bond Market.” This morning’s Bloomberg article leads with:
What, exactly, is the bond market telling us?
It’s an age-old question on Wall Street, but one that’s gained newfound urgency as the topsy-turvy markets leave everyone wondering where the U.S. economy is headed. Yet to a small but growing number of analysts, academics and former policy makers, the standard answers may not apply.
The debate centers around the term premium, a notoriously hard-to-understand feature of the U.S. Treasury market. Recently, it’s fallen toward historic levels, setting off alarms among prognosticators who say it is an ominous sign the slowdown in U.S. growth won’t merely be a fleeting event — and that investors who have poured into risk assets are living in a fantasyland.
The reality may be far less dire. To Jeremy Stein and William Dudley, two former Federal Reserve officials, the drop-off has more to due with a subdued inflation environment and the fact that long-term Treasuries are a natural hedge for investors who have seen their stock portfolios surge in value. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Deutsche Bank AG point to hiccups in how the term premium is measured, which may overstate its actual decline. And one of the creators of the most widely followed model says the Fed’s crisis-era bond investments have changed the way the term premium should be understood.
“The Experts Keep Getting the Economy Wrong.” Yesterday’s New York Times article by David Leonhardt led with:
President Trump likes to brag about the supposedly booming economy. So do other Republican politicians. Some journalists have gotten into the habit too, exaggerating the strength of the economic expansion, because it makes for a good story.
Here’s the truth: There is no boom. The economy has been mired in an extended funk since the financial crisis ended in 2010. G.D.P. growth still has not reached 3 percent in any year, and 3 percent isn’t a very high bar.
Last week, while attending an economics conference in Washington, I discovered one particularly clear sign of the economy’s struggles — namely, that it keeps performing worse than the experts have predicted.
Washington Calendar, March 11 – March 15
Fed Chair Powell, 7 PM tonight, will deliver “Welcoming Remarks” to the National Community Reinvestment Coalition’s Just Economy Conference in D.C.
Fed Gov. Brainard, 8:45 AM tomorrow, will speak on “Community Reinvestment Act Modernization” to the National Community Reinvestment Coalition’s Just Economy Conference in D.C.
The Sprint-T-Mobile merger will be questioned by the House Judiciary Committee at 2 PM Tuesday. Watch it live here.
China trade talks and the WTO will be the focus of USTR Lighthizer’s testimony on 10:15 AM Tuesday before the Senate Finance Committee.
China trade talks and the Budget will be the focus of Treasury Secretary Mnuchin’s testimony on Thursday before the House Ways and Means Committee at 9 AM and the Senate Finance Committee at 1:30 PM.
President Trump’s schedule (EDT):
12:15 PM: Lunch with Vice President Pence; and
1:30 PM: Daily intelligence briefing.
TUESDAY: Receives the Boy Scouts’ report to the nation.
THURSDAY: Meets with Ireland’s Prime Minister Varadkar and attends the “Friends of Ireland” luncheon at the Capitol.
President and Mrs. Trump will attend the Shamrock Bowl Presentation by Varadkar.
FRIDAY: Lunch with Secretary of State Pompeo.
The Senate will return at 3 PM today to consider a judicial nomination with a 5:30 PM cloture vote.
The House will return at noon today with votes postponed until 6:30 PM on four bills from the Suspension Calendar. Tuesday, the House will consider eight more bills from the Suspension Calendar. Wednesday and Thursday until 3 PM, the House will consider a resolution, H.Con.Res.24, “Expressing the sense of Congress that the report of Special Counsel Mueller should be made available to the public and to Congress.” It will also consider H.Res.206, a non-binding resolution from House Financial Services Chair Waters (D-CA) “Acknowledging that the lack of sunlight and transparency in financial transactions and corporate formation poses a threat to our national security and our economy’s security and supporting efforts to close related loopholes.”
Monday 11 5 PM MARK-UP, H.Con.Res.24, House Rules
Tuesday 12 10 AM FY20 Budget, House Budget
10 AM Protecting Social Security, House Ways and Means
10 AM “Treasury’s Role in Combating Financial Crimes,” House Appropriations
10 AM DOJ Civil Rights Division, House Appropriations
10 AM State-Foreign Operations Budget, House Appropriations
10 AM House of Representatives Budget, House Appropriations
10 AM Wells Fargo Consumer Abuses, CEO Sloan, memo and webcast, House Financial Services
10 AM Net Neutrality, House Energy and Commerce
10 AM The Future of Aviation, House Transportation
10 AM Voting Rights Act Enforcement, House Judiciary
10 AM Carcinogens in Consumer Products, House Oversight
10 AM Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Program, House Homeland Security
10 AM SBA’s State Trade Expansion Program, House Small Business
10 AM Engineering a Sustainable Bioeconomy, House Science
10 AM Service Organizations Legislative Proposals, House and Senate Veterans’ Affairs
10 AM MARK-UP, House Judiciary
10 AM Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Semi-Annual Report, Senate Banking
10 AM Consumer Privacy Laws Impact on Competition/Innovation, Senate Judiciary
10 AM Higher Education Act Reauthorization, Senate HELP
10:15 AM WTO and China trade talks, USTR Lighthizer, Senate Finance
10:15 AM Federal Child Nutrition Programs, House Education and Labor
10:30 AM Military-VA Related Agencies Budget, House Appropriations
11 AM Passenger Rail Development, House Appropriations
12 PM HHS Budget, House Appropriations
2 PM Committee Funding for the 116th Congress, House Administration
2 PM Military Personnel Policy, House Armed Services
2 PM T-Mobile/Sprint Merger, House Judiciary
2 PM “Temporary Policy in the Internal Revenue Code,” witnesses, House Ways and Means
2 PM For-Profit Colleges, House Appropriations
2 PM State of Wildlife, House Natural Resources
2:30 PM Disaster Recoveries, House Appropriations
2:30 PM USDA Inspector General, House Appropriations
2:30 PM Broadband Investments in Rural America, Senate Commerce
2:30 PM DOD’s Artificial Intelligence Initiatives, Senate Armed Services
2:30 PM U.S. Postal Service Sustainability, Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
Wednesday 13 9:30 AM FOIA Transparency Under the Trump Administration, House Oversight
10 AM Barriers to Prescription Drugs Market Competition, House Energy and Commerce
10 AM MARK-UP, Violence Against Women Act Reauthorization, House Judiciary
10 AM MARK-UP, 7 bills, House Homeland Security
10 AM National Flood Insurance Program Reauthorization, House Financial Services
10 AM Building Resilient Communities, House Appropriations
10 AM Federal Surface Transportation Policy, House Transportation
10 AM GSA, House Oversight
10 AM America’s Future in Space, House Science
10 AM Military Activity in Europe, House Armed Services
10 AM The NATO Alliance at 70, House Foreign Affairs
10 AM Diesel Emissions Reduction, Senate Environment
10 AM U.S. Leadership in Space, Senate Commerce
10 AM Air Force Budget, Senate Appropriations
10:15 AM U.S.-China Competition, Senate Foreign Relations
10:15 AM College Affordability, House Education and Labor
10:30 AM Gun Violence Prevention/Enforcement, House Appropriations
10:30 AM Protecting Workers from Toxic Chemicals, House Energy and Commerce
11 AM VA Inspector General, House Appropriations
11:30 AM Rural Digital Entrepreneurship, House Small Business
2 PM “Promoting Corporate Transparency: Examining Legislative Proposals
to Detect and Deter Financial Crime,” House Financial Services
2 PM “Ensuring Resiliency of Military Installations and Operations
in Response to Climate Changes,” House Armed Services
2 PM Securing Federal Networks/State Election Systems, House Appropriations
2 PM Social Security Benefit Enhancements, House Ways and Means
2 PM HHS Budget, House Appropriations
2 PM Cyber Command/Cyberspace Operations Budget, House Armed Services
2 PM The State of Federal Emergency Management, House Homeland Security
2 PM Federal Agency/Contractor Job Applicant Criminal History Requests, House Oversight
2:30 PM President’s Budget, Acting OMB Director Vought, Senate Budget
2:30 PM Cyber Crime Threats, Senate Small Business
2:30 PM U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Oversight, Senate Judiciary
4 PM Prohibiting Unauthorized Military Action in Venezuela, House Foreign Affairs
Thursday 14 9 AM President’s Budget, Treasury Sec. Mnuchin, House Ways and Means
9 AM Air Force FY2020 Seapower/Projection Forces, House Armed Services
9:30 AM “Putting Investors First? Examining the SEC’s Best Interest Rule,” House Financial Services
9:30 AM Defense Budget, Senate Armed Services
10 AM Financial Stability Oversight Council Nonbank Designations, Senate Banking
10 AM Ebola Outbreak in Congo, Senate Appropriations
10 AM Outdoor Recreation Access/Infrastructure/Permitting, Senate Energy and Natural Resources
10 AM Census Citizenship Question, Commerce Sec. Ross, House Oversight
10 AM MARK-UP, Venezuela bills, House Foreign Affairs
10 AM Preventing Drunk Driving Technology, House Energy and Commerce
10 AM Murdered/Missing Indigenous Women, House Natural Resources
10:15 AM Member’s Day, House Education and Labor
10:15 AM HHS Budget, Sec. Azar, Senate Finance
1:30 PM Treasury Budget, Sec. Mnuchin, Senate Finance
