| | | | |  | | By Sam Sutton and Eleanor Mueller | | Presented by |  | | | Editor’s note: Morning Money is a free version of POLITICO Pro Financial Services morning newsletter, which is delivered to our subscribers each morning at 5:15 a.m. The POLITICO Pro platform combines the news you need with tools you can use to take action on the day’s biggest stories. Act on the news with POLITICO Pro.
| | Vice President Kamala Harris’s economic philosophy isn’t tethered to a specific ideology. According to her campaign, that’s the point. Harris is poised to deliver a major speech at the Economic Club of Pittsburgh this afternoon where she is expected to describe her policies through the familiar lens of her upbringing. She’ll contrast her middle-class childhood in the Bay Area against Donald Trump’s in New York. She will — once again — highlight how that background informs her vision for an “opportunity economy” that lifts ordinary Americans, encourages entrepreneurship and invests in industry. It’s a “pragmatic” vision, according to a senior campaign official who was granted anonymity to describe the contours of the speech. She will emphasize her desire to craft practical solutions to kitchen table issues and that she is not “bound by ideology.” The description underscores what’s been obvious about Harris’s strategy since she took over the Democratic ticket in July. With a short runway to Election Day, her campaign has operated on the belief that voters will be more receptive to vibes and vision than any individual economic policy. It has provided her with enough leeway to appeal to business-friendly centrists and progressive reformers. Given how tight the margins are, she’ll need both to win. The more specific she gets, the more susceptible she is to the types of attacks that Trump has used to define — and defeat — his previous opponents. His efforts have been unsuccessful so far. The “Comrade Kamala” shtick did not blunt her rise in the polls and she has narrowed Trump’s previous advantage with voters on economic policy. To be sure, it is not as though her policies are unimportant. She’s expected to outline her plans to spur domestic manufacturing this afternoon, which the Washington Post reports could include tax benefits for certain advanced manufacturing industries. She’ll also give a nod to the importance of unions. Rust Belt Democrats say she needs to hone her messaging on both topics if she’s to preserve the party’s advantage among rank-and-file voters. What’s striking, however, is how Harris’s soft-focus approach to economic messaging has sharpened the attention on Trump’s agenda, which is defined by his steadfast belief in the power of tariffs and light-touch regulation. It’s unorthodox — and potentially calamitous, according to many economists — but it’s definitely rooted in a distinct, protectionist ideology. Trump on Tuesday rolled out his own plan to encourage domestic manufacturing by creating new federal zones with “ultra-low taxes and regulations.” The aim, the former president told rallygoers in Savannah, Ga., is “relocating entire industries” to the U.S., per our Irie Sentner. “You will see a mass exodus of manufacturing from China to Pennsylvania, from Korea to North Carolina, from Germany to right here in Georgia,” Trump said. He also doubled down on a severe tariff policy that would punish companies for moving domestic manufacturing jobs abroad, and pledged to slash “10 old regulations for every one new regulation.” Trump’s claims are grandiose and specific. We’ll find out if voters believe them come November. IT’S WEDNESDAY — If you have thoughts on Harris’s economic policy speech today, I’d love to hear ‘em. Let me know at ssutton@politico.com.
| | The House Financial Services Financial Institutions and Monetary Policy Subcommittee holds a hearing on Basel 3 Endgame at 10 a.m. … The Senate Budget Committee holds a hearing on housing unaffordability at 10 a.m. … Federal Reserve Gov. Adriana Kugler will participate in a Harvard University Kennedy School seminar on the economic outlook at 4 p.m. … Senate Banking taps out — Senate Banking Chair Sherrod Brown is citing scheduling “chaos” as the reason why the committee won’t hear from SEC Chair Gary Gensler or vote on pending nominations before the election, Eleanor reports. “The scheduling didn’t work,” the Ohio Democrat said in an interview. “The last week is such chaos often, and we just couldn’t put it together.” President Joe Biden’s nominees, including for chair of the FDIC, will have to wait until lawmakers return after the election for the “same reasons,” Brown added. “Just scheduling issues.” Senate Agriculture Chair Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) postponed a committee meeting at the same time Wednesday also due to scheduling, a spokesperson said. One potential reason for the delays: Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer got unanimous consent Tuesday night to move quickly on lawmakers’ stopgap spending bill after the House passes it later today, our Ursula Perano reports. Senators will debate for up to two hours before voting sans amendments. Outbound agreement inbound — Key House Republicans say they are close to a deal on legislation that would restrict U.S. investments in China, our Jasper Goodman reports. “House Foreign Affairs Chair Michael McCaul said Tuesday that a GOP working group seeking to reconcile an intraparty split on the issue is near an agreement following a meeting earlier in the day,” Jasper writes. “He has been at odds with House Financial Services Chair Patrick McHenry and McHenry's top deputies on the policy.”
| | | | A message from Synchrony: Your refrigerator is on the brink. Your child needs braces. Your car could use new tires. Credit plays an important role in our everyday lives. Access to credit is critical for Americans to get the things that matter, while helping build healthy credit history necessary for reaching long-term financial goals. Learn more about how access to credit can transform lives. | | | | | Housing hell to pay — Civil rights and housing advocates are angry with the White House over delays in finalizing a long-promised fair housing rule — but are divided over whether to publicly pressure the administration as the election nears, our Katy O’Donnell reports. “Three years and eight months after Biden directed his administration to adopt a sweeping plan to tackle housing discrimination, the keystone regulation of that initiative, the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing rule, is stalled,” Katy writes. “Some advocates suspect election-year-politics is thwarting the effort because then-President Donald Trump used the issue to pillory Democrats for trying to “abolish the suburbs” in the heat of the 2020 campaign.” “I think it’s very much a political calculation, which disappoints me,” said Noelle Porter, director of government affairs at the National Housing Law Project, who has discussed the issue with the White House. “This is a story of Donald Trump four years ago getting his hands on one talking point and just blowing up decades of policy research, and we need to stop deferring to how that man messages.”
| | Huizenga talks gavel for the first time — Rep. Bill Huizenga (R-Mich.) is underscoring his years of experience on House Financial Services as he competes to replace retiring Chair Patrick McHenry, Eleanor reports. "It’s the longevity of doing this," Huizenga said in his first sitdown interview about how he's approaching the race. "I’m not a flash in the pan.” If he gets it, the current oversight and investigations subcommittee chair plans to prioritize cracking down on the SEC. “What Gensler has done, both pushing the historic and legal bounds, we’ve got to go in there and repair,” Huizenga said. “It’s everything from looking at why we’re not having IPOs, to why we’re focusing on certain elements that traditionally haven’t been the focus of the SEC, like ESG.” For the final stretch, Huizenga is spending this month hosting listening sessions with committee members and holding "Beers with Bill" fundraisers for six other lawmakers. He pledged $175,000 to the House GOP's campaign arm, the National Republican Congressional Committee, last week. Runnin’ out of time — House Financial Services ranking member Maxine Waters urged McHenry to strike a deal with her on stablecoin legislation before the end of the year, our Declan Harty reports. "I strongly believe we can reach a deal that prioritizes strong protections for our nation's consumers and strong federal oversight,” Waters said at the opening of an SEC oversight hearing. “But I'll be honest, with less than three months left in the 118th Congress, we're running out of time to pass this." McHenry responded later by touting similarly stalled market structure legislation. He declined to expand further when he left the hearing, per Jasper. Scott picks a lane — Senate Banking ranking member Tim Scott indicated Tuesday that he’d rather chair the committee than accept a role in a Trump administration, Jasper reports. “If Trump wins, I still think that I'm probably better off serving the people of our country as chairman of the Banking Committee, as opposed to going into the administration,” he said at an event hosted by Punchbowl News. “We’ll see what happens, obviously.”
| | | | A message from Synchrony:   | | | | | DOJ comes for Visa — The Justice Department on Tuesday sued Visa over its alleged monopoly of the debit card market, our Michael Stratford and Josh Sisco report. The lawsuit alleges that Visa has used its dominance to “thwart the growth of its existing competitors and prevent others from developing new and innovative alternatives,” according to a DOJ statement, including by artificially inflating the prices the payment company charged merchants and cutting off competition from newer financial technology companies like PayPal, Square and Apple. Ready, set, wait — The SEC’s Gensler told lawmakers that his agency is waiting on the Fed before moving forward with a bank executive accountability rule, Declan reports. "We need the Federal Reserve," Gensler said, adding that the SEC can only propose something jointly. "If they're ready, we'll be ready." Bowman explains rate cut dissent — Federal Reserve Governor Michelle Bowman on Tuesday said she voted against cutting interest rates last week out of fears it could stoke more inflation. Wall Street firms to pay SEC $88M — The SEC said Tuesday that 11 financial firms including Stifel, Invesco and CIBC will pay more than $88 million to settle record-keeping violations, Declan reports. “The settlements are the latest in a long-running investigation by regulators into whether financial firms are monitoring and tracking their employees' communications through their personal devices,” Declan writes. Invitation Homes to pay FTC $48M — The FTC said Invitation Homes will pay $48 million to settle allegations that it charged renters hidden fees, Katy O’Donnell reports. “The FTC also alleges that Invitation Homes, the largest landlord of single-family rental homes in the country, failed to inspect homes before residents moved in and unfairly withheld tenants’ security deposits after they moved out,” Katy writes. “Under the terms of the proposed settlement, the company will be required to disclose rental costs and establish new procedures to handle security deposit refunds.”
| | | | New advocacy org — Peter Stavros, the co-head of global private equity at Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, has launched a new coalition of banks, asset managers, law firms and nonprofits aimed at expanding the use of employee stock ownership plans. The group, called Expanding ESOPs, says it wants to educate policymakers on how to create opportunities for employees to own a stake in the companies they work for.
| | | | A message from Synchrony: Your refrigerator is on the brink. Your child needs braces. Your car could use new tires. Credit plays an important role in our everyday lives. Access to credit is critical for Americans to get the things that matter, while helping build healthy credit history necessary for reaching long-term financial goals. Research shows that nearly 50 million Americans do not have access to credit. By looking at data beyond credit scores, Synchrony can make smart decisions about how much credit to extend and to whom. Responsible access to credit helps Americans build a pathway to financial mobility. Learn more about the importance of providing access to credit. | | | | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Follow us | | | | |
