Happy Friday and welcome back to On The Money, where we’re wishing you a happy long weekend and will see you back on Tuesday. 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–Conservative blocks House passage of disaster relief bill: Rep. Chip RoyCharles (Chip) Eugene RoyOn The Money: Conservative blocks disaster relief bill | Trade high on agenda as Trump heads to Japan | Boeing reportedly faces SEC probe over 737 Max | Study finds CEO pay rising twice as fast as worker pay The Hill’s 12:30 Report: Trump orders more troops to Mideast amid Iran tensions Conservative blocks House passage of disaster relief bill MORE (R-Texas), a member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, blocked a disaster relief bill in the House on Friday by objecting to a unanimous consent vote.
The Texas Republican, who previously worked for Sen. Ted CruzRafael (Ted) Edward CruzOn The Money: Conservative blocks disaster relief bill | Trade high on agenda as Trump heads to Japan | Boeing reportedly faces SEC probe over 737 Max | Study finds CEO pay rising twice as fast as worker pay Conservative blocks House passage of disaster relief bill The Hill’s Morning Report — After contentious week, Trump heads for Japan MORE (R-Texas), argued the House should not have recessed before debating the legislation and holding a vote in explaining why he moved to stall the legislation.
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“I’m here today primarily because if I do not object, Congress will have passed into law a bill that spends $19 billion of taxpayer money without members of Congress being present in our nation’s capital to vote on it,” he said on the floor. The Hill’s Juliegrace Brufke explains what happened.
How we got here:
- The $19.1 billion disaster aid package, which did not include the $4.5 billion in border funding requested by President TrumpDonald John TrumpPapadopoulos on AG’s new powers: ‘Trump is now on the offense’ Pelosi uses Trump to her advantage Mike Pence delivers West Point commencement address MORE, passed the Senate in an 85-8 vote on Thursday, and the House GOP leadership had also supported moving forward with the bill.
- The president previously agreed to sign the legislation, siding with Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Richard ShelbyRichard Craig ShelbyOn The Money: Conservative blocks disaster relief bill | Trade high on agenda as Trump heads to Japan | Boeing reportedly faces SEC probe over 737 Max | Study finds CEO pay rising twice as fast as worker pay Conservative blocks House passage of disaster relief bill The Hill’s Morning Report — After contentious week, Trump heads for Japan MORE (R-Ala.) and Sen. David Perdue (R-Ga.), who called on him to support the measure.
- Roy slammed the Democrats’ objection to provide border funding as a reason why he moved to block the disaster aid bill.
What happens next: The House is due to come back on June 3, but will hold a “pro forma” session on Tuesday. While pro forma sessions are typically just a few minutes long, it gives the House another chance to send the bill to Trump before lawmakers return in earnest.
“While political games over disaster assistance continue as a Member from TX blocked a package from getting to @POTUS desk today, one thing is clear: This bill has broad support & will advance when the House reconvenes & will be signed into law by POTUS the first week of June,” wrote Rep. Austin ScottJames (Austin) Austin ScottOn The Money: Conservative blocks disaster relief bill | Trade high on agenda as Trump heads to Japan | Boeing reportedly faces SEC probe over 737 Max | Study finds CEO pay rising twice as fast as worker pay Conservative blocks House passage of disaster relief bill Thirty-four GOP members buck Trump on disaster bill MORE (R-Ga.) in a tweet.
LEADING THE DAY
AP: CEO pay rising twice as fast as worker pay: CEO pay is rising more than twice as fast as pay for regular workers, according to a study from Equilar commissioned by the Associated Press.
CEOs at the biggest companies got an $800,000 pay raise in 2018, equivalent to roughly a 7 percent increase, while the median worker saw just a 3 percent increase in their paychecks.
The data examined pay for 340 CEOs from the S&P 500 who had served at least two full years and found that their median level of overall compensation increased to $12 million last year.
According to the AP, a typical worker would need to work for 158 years to earn what their CEOs earn in just one year.
Bloomberg: Boeing faces SEC probe over 737 Max disclosures: The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has reportedly opened an investigation into Boeing’s handling of problems with its 737 Max line of aircraft.
Multiple sources familiar with the probe told Bloomberg News that the agency is investigating whether senior Boeing executives were forthcoming to shareholders about problems associated with the planes before the line was grounded worldwide earlier this year following two deadly crashes in six months.
A spokesperson for Boeing declined to comment when contacted by The Hill, and the SEC declined to comment on the probe to Bloomberg.
News of the probe comes as the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced this week that it could be up to a year before Boeing’s line of 737 Max aircraft are legally certified to take flight for commercial purposes.
ON TAP NEXT WEEK
Lawmakers will be home for the Memorial Day recess, so we’ll be keeping an eye on Trump’s trip to Japan for any trade headlines. The president announced last week that he’s delaying a potential decision to impose tariffs on foreign cars, which would be a significant blow to the Japanese economy.
A senior administration official told reporters will be “some very interesting announcements” at a joint press conference with Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, but suggested substantive policy discussion is not a priority.
GOOD TO KNOW
- Senate Republicans voted on Thursday to permanently ban the practice of including earmarks — money directed by lawmakers into pet projects — in government funding bills.
- China’s state media on Friday accused the Trump administration of seeking to “colonize global business” after the Trump administration took steps to blacklist tech giant Huawei as well as other measures against Chinese tech companies the U.S. sees as too close to China’s government.
- Facebook founder and CEO Mark ZuckerbergMark Elliot ZuckerbergHillicon Valley: Facebook won’t remove doctored Pelosi video | Trump denies knowledge of fake Pelosi videos | Controversy over new Assange charges | House Democrats seek bipartisan group on net neutrality On The Money: Conservative blocks disaster relief bill | Trade high on agenda as Trump heads to Japan | Boeing reportedly faces SEC probe over 737 Max | Study finds CEO pay rising twice as fast as worker pay Zuckerberg met with Winklevoss twins about Facebook developing cryptocurrency: report MORE met with Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss recently as his company considers launching its own cryptocurrency.
ODDS AND ENDS
- Senate Democrats are pushing the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to make former Administrator Scott PruittEdward (Scott) Scott PruittOn The Money: Conservative blocks disaster relief bill | Trade high on agenda as Trump heads to Japan | Boeing reportedly faces SEC probe over 737 Max | Study finds CEO pay rising twice as fast as worker pay Overnight Energy: Democrats push EPA to collect 4K in ‘excessive’ Pruitt travel expenses | Greens angered over new rules for rocket fuel chemical | Inslee to join youth climate strikers in Las Vegas Democrats push EPA to collect 4K from Pruitt for ‘excessive airfare expenses’ MORE cough up almost $124,000 for excessive travel expenses from when he was EPA chief.
- Republican candidates and campaign committees have spent more than $4 million at hotel, golf and vineyard properties that bear President Trump’s name since he was inaugurated in 2017.
RECAP THE WEEK WITH ON THE MONEY:
- Monday: Judge upholds House subpoena for Trump financial records | Trump vows to appeal ruling by ‘Obama-appointed judge’ | Canada, Mexico lift retaliatory tariffs on US | IRS audit rate falls
- Tuesday: Congress, White House aim to include debt limit increase in spending deal | McConnell optimistic budget deal near | Carson defends HUD eviction plan | Senate votes to undo tax hike on Gold Star families
- Wednesday: Judge rules banks can give Trump records to House | Mnuchin pegs debt ceiling deadline as ‘late summer’ | Democrats see momentum in Trump tax return fight | House rebukes Trump changes to consumer agency
- Thursday: Senate passes disaster aid bill after deal with Trump | Trump to offer $16B aid package for farmers | House votes to boost retirement savings | Study says new tariffs to double costs a for consumers