On The Money — Sponsored by Prudential — Trump nominates budget official Kraninger for consumer chief | Senate votes to block Trump ZTE deal | Stocks fall on trade tensions | House panel moves to markup budget

Sponsored by Prudential | View in your browser     Happy Monday and welcome back to On The Money, where we're wondering if our middle school-era lightsaber skills would prepare us well for the space force.  I'm Sylvan Lane, and here's your nightly guide to everything affecting your bills, bank account and bottom line. See something I missed? Let me know at slane@thehill.com or tweet me @SylvanLane. And if you like your newsletter, you can subscribe to it here: http://bit.ly/1NxxW2N. Write us with tips, suggestions and news: slane@thehill.com, vneedham@thehill.com, njagoda@thehill.com and nelis@thehill.com. Follow us on Twitter: @SylvanLane, @VickofTheHill, @NJagoda and @NivElis.   THE BIG DEAL: President Trump on Monday formally nominated White House budget official Kathy Kraninger to be director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). Kraninger, an associate director of the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB), would take control of a controversial agency created by the Dodd-Frank Act to police the financial sector. The White House announced Kraninger's nomination on Saturday, less than a week before a key deadline to name a permanent director for the CFPB. Kraninger would replace OMB Director Mick Mulvaney, who has simultaneously served as the CFPB's acting chief since November 2017. Mulvaney's term as acting chief would have ended on June 22, this Thursday, if Trump had not nominated his replacement by then. I've got more on the nomination here.   In a nutshell: At OMB, Kraninger oversees $250 billion in federal spending for seven Cabinet departments and 30 federal agencies, according to the White House, including the Treasury Department and Department of Housing and Urban Development. She also oversees the CFPB budget in her White House role, though the bureau is independently funded through the Federal Reserve system. Kraninger is also a former Senate Appropriations Committee staffer and helped open the Department of Homeland Security before her congressional career. Her supporters point to her work at OMB reviewing the budgets and policies of federal financial regulators as critical background for the new post. Even so, Kraninger's limited experience in financial regulation ties to Mulvaney has raised questions about the ways she'd wield the extensive authority given to the bureau's leader.   Reactions "I am especially pleased that President Trump nominated an individual with management and budget experience--two qualities that are desperately needed at [the CFPB]." -- Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas), chairman of the House Financial Services Committee. "Her apparent lack of experience in consumer finance, coupled with the Administration's hostility to consumer protection, raises questions about her qualifications to lead such an important agency." -- House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). "Ms. Kraninger is an experienced manager, has the necessary budgetary knowledge, and can serve as a steady hand shepherding the Bureau." -- Richard Hunt, president and CEO of the Consumer Bankers Association. "I've heard a number of supporters say how smart she is, and how the right people speak up for her. I don't doubt it, but both things were true of the Harriet Miers nomination as well." -- J.W. Verret, George Mason University law professor and former chief economist to Hensarling. "For months I have called for a CFPB Director with a track record of holding Wall Street and payday lenders accountable. The White House should pick an experienced, serious, independent leader." -- Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), ranking Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee. "Kraninger's appointment was a surprise to many because she's not well-known in Washington or a high-ranking official. But she works for Mulvaney and can be expected to either follow his lead or share his views." -- Ian Katz, analyst at Capital Alpha Partners   What comes next: Kraninger is likely to face a lengthy confirmation battle as the Senate rushes to finish must-pass legislation and clear a slew of other Trump appointees before the November elections. She's likely to be confirmed sometime toward the end of 2017, as her nomination is not controversial among Republicans and could be supported by some moderate Democrats.     ON TAP TOMORROW SIFMA and The Clearing House host the 2018 Prudential Regulation Conference, featuring interviews with Comptroller of the Currency Joseph Otting and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Chairman Jelena McWilliams, 8 a.m. Senate Judiciary Committee: Hearing on the EB-5 investor visa program, 10 a.m.   LEADING THE DAY Senate votes to block Trump's ZTE deal: The Senate moved to block President Trump's deal to save Chinese telecommunications giant ZTE despite pushback from the White House. Senators passed an annual defense policy bill on Monday that included a provision keeping the penalties in place against ZTE despite a deal reached earlier this month by the Trump administration.  What's in the measure: In addition to keeping the Commerce Department penalties in place, the bill bans government agencies from buying or leasing telecommunications equipment and services from ZTE and Chinese telecom firm Huawei, as well as banning the government from providing loans to or subsidizing either company. Background: The provision — spearheaded by Sens. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) — sparked backlash from the White House, which is signaling it will try to remove it from the final bill. White House response: “The Administration will work with Congress to ensure the final NDAA conference report respects the separation of powers” said Hogan Gidley, a deputy press secretary for the White House. More on the background to the fight here.   Ross faces questions about stock trades: Five days before reports surfaced last fall that Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross was connected to cronies of Vladimir Putin through a shipping firm called Navigator Holdings, the secretary shorted stock in the Kremlin-linked company, positioning himself to make money on the investment when share prices dropped, according to Forbes.   Homebuilder confidence down on higher lumber prices: Homebuilder confidence fell in June behind spiking lumber prices because of an ongoing spat between the United States and Canada. Builder sentiment in the market for new single-family homes fell 2 points, to 68, on the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index released on Monday.  The decline was mostly due to elevated lumber prices, although overall sentiment remains on solid footing. "Builders are increasingly concerned that tariffs placed on Canadian lumber and other imported products are hurting housing affordability," said NAHB Chairman Randy Noel, a custom-home builder from LaPlace, La. "Record-high lumber prices have added nearly $9,000 to the price of a new single-family home since January 2017." The Trump administration slapped tariffs averaging 20.83 percent on Canadian lumber imports in November. The Hill's Vicki Needham tells us more about the issue here.   MARKET CHECK--Stocks fall as trade fears reemerge: From CNBC: "Stocks fell on Monday as a potential trade war between the U.S. and China -- the world's largest economies in the world -- left Wall Street rattled. "The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 103.01 points to close at 24,987.47, with Intel as the worst-performing stock in the index. The Dow also extended its losing streak to five days. "The S&P 500 fell 0.2 percent to 2,773.63, with telecom lagging. The Nasdaq composite meanwhile, pared losses to close flat at 7,747.03 as tech shares rose and Amazon hit an all-time high. "Shares of Boeing and Caterpillar both fell 0.9 percent. The two companies are seen as bellwethers for global trade concerns given their large amounts of overseas business."     GOOD TO KNOW The House Budget Committee will move this week to mark up a budget for the 2019 fiscal year, the panel's chairman announced Monday, despite some expectations it would refrain from doing so this year. The digital payment company Square has obtained a license that will allow New York state residents to buy and sell Bitcoin through its mobile payments app, Cash. An American businessman who lives in Singapore played a role in the wild string of events that led to Trump's meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un, according to the New York Times. The tax law President Trump signed in December will lower charitable giving in 2018 by $17.2 billion, or 4 percent, before accounting for economic growth, according to a new report from the right-leaning American Enterprise Institute (AEI). The European Union and Australia launched free-trade negotiations Monday, part of a push by U.S. allies world-wide to bolster economic links and counter fallout from President Donald Trump's "America First" policies, according to The Wall Street Journal.   ODDS AND ENDS SurveyMonkey on Monday said that it has confidentially filed for an initial public offering with the Securities and Exchange Commission via its parent company SVMK. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has launched the regulatory review for T-Mobile's proposed $26 billion acquisition of Sprint.           Did a friend forward you this email? Sign up for Finance Newsletters     Forward Finance Newsletters       Privacy Policy  |  Manage Subscriptions  |  Unsubscribe  |  Email to a friend  |  Sign Up for Other Newsletters   The Hill 1625 K Street, NW 9th Floor, Washington DC 20006 ©2016 Capitol Hill Publishing Corp., a subsidiary of News Communications, Inc.