Happy Monday 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—Battle over timing complicates Democratic shutdown strategy: The November election is complicating the Democratic strategy in the looming government shutdown fight.
Feeling momentum as they aim to win back the Senate and the White House, Democrats are divided over whether to agree to the GOP-favored stopgap bill that lasts into December or push for a longer deal to fund the government into early 2021.
- A shorter bill, supporters hope, would force Congress to reach a larger funding deal before the end of the year.
- But a bill that lasts into next year would take a lame duck shutdown fight off the table and give Democrats more leverage if Democratic nominee Joe BidenJoe BidenDemocrats, advocates seethe over Florida voting rights ruling Trump order on drug prices faces long road to finish line There’s no debate: America needs an equitable and resilient government MORE is elected president.
“We’ve gone back and forth, it’s a split decision in the caucus. If you can tell us what happens Nov. 3 it is a lot easier. … The uncertainty about the presidential election is an element,” Senate Democratic Whip Dick DurbinRichard (Dick) Joseph DurbinOvernight Defense: Dems divided on length of stopgap spending measure | Afghan envoy agrees to testify before House panel | Trump leans into foreign policy in campaign’s final stretch On The Money: Battle over timing complicates Democratic shutdown strategy | Biden’s plans would increase revenue by T, spending by T, analysis says | Mnuchin: Now is not the time to worry about deficits Congress should support independent oversight of federal prisons MORE (Ill.) said when asked about the length of a bill.
The Hill’s Jordain Carney walks us through the battle here.
How we got here: Congress has until Sept. 30 to strike a deal and pass a stopgap funding bill known as a continuing resolution, which will continue current funding levels and let Washington avoid a messy shutdown roughly a month before the election.
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- Though Speaker Nancy PelosiNancy PelosiTrump order on drug prices faces long road to finish line Overnight Defense: Dems divided on length of stopgap spending measure | Afghan envoy agrees to testify before House panel | Trump leans into foreign policy in campaign’s final stretch Pence seeks to boost Daines in critical Montana Senate race MORE (D-Calif.) and Treasury Secretary Steven MnuchinSteven Terner MnuchinHillicon Valley: Oracle confirms deal with TikTok to be ‘trusted technology provider’ | QAnon spreads across globe, shadowing COVID-19 | VA hit by data breach impacting 46,000 veterans On The Money: Battle over timing complicates Democratic shutdown strategy | Biden’s plans would increase revenue by T, spending by T, analysis says | Mnuchin: Now is not the time to worry about deficits Pelosi defends not speaking to Trump for almost a year MORE have informally agreed to a “clean” spending bill, they have not struck an agreement on the length of the legislation.
- Neither Pelosi nor Senate Democratic Leader Charles SchumerChuck SchumerSunday shows – Trump team defends coronavirus response Economist Moore calls on Pelosi, Schumer to ‘get a deal done’ amid stimulus stalemate McConnell: Chance for coronavirus deal ‘doesn’t look that good right now’ MORE (N.Y.) have publicly endorsed a timeline.
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LEADING THE DAY
Analysis: Biden’s plans would increase revenue by $3T, spending by $5T: Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden’s plans would increase tax revenue by $3.375 trillion and raise federal spending by $5.35 trillion over a 10-year period, according to an analysis released Monday by the Penn Wharton Budget Model (PWBM).
After accounting for macroeconomic effects, Biden’s plans would slightly increase the federal debt and decrease gross domestic product in 2030, but the debt would decrease and GDP would increase compared to current law by 2050, the analysis found.
“At the end of the day, they actually decrease debt because they do have significant revenue raisers,” Richard Prisinzano, director of policy analysis for PWBM, said in an interview with The Hill. “And the economy is more productive. As we put in things like education and infrastructure, workers become more productive, and that gives a boost to the economy.”
The Hill’s Naomi Jagoda breaks it down here.
Mnuchin: Now is not the time to worry about deficits: Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Monday said the country should not be focused on deficits as it struggles under the economic weight of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Now is not the time to worry about shrinking the deficit or shrinking the Fed balance sheet,” Mnuchin said in a CNBC interview.
The Hill’s Niv Elis explains here.
The background: The deficit has been a central issue of concern for Republican negotiators on a stalled COVID-19 relief bill.
- The federal deficit is on track to reach an unprecedented $3.3 trillion when the fiscal year closes out at the end of the month, driven in large part by the COVID-19 response.
- Mnuchin credited the large stimulus and extraordinary measures by the Federal Reserve for helping the economy survive the shock of the pandemic.
“I think both the monetary policy working with fiscal policy and what we were able to get done in an unprecedented way with Congress is the reason the economy is doing better,” he said.
GOOD TO KNOW
- The economic downturn caused by the COVID-19 pandemic hit the world’s major economies four times harder than the global financial crisis did at their respective peaks, according to the OECD.
- The Nasdaq composite bounced back Monday from its worst week of losses since March as a rally in tech and pharmaceutical shares lifted the market.
- Business groups are throwing their support behind a pandemic insurance bill modeled after a post-9/11 law that created a federal backstop for claims related to acts of terrorism.
ODDS AND ENDS
- Amazon said Monday that it will hire another 100,000 workers, its fourth such run of hiring this year.
- Oracle on Monday confirmed a deal with TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, to become a “trusted technology provider.”