 Happy Wednesday and welcome back to On The Money. I'm Niv Elis, filling in for Sylvan Lane to bring you a wrap up of the latest finance news from Capitol Hill and beyond See something I missed? Let me know at nelis@thehill.com or tweet me @NivElis. 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 Fed defies Trump new rate hikes: The Federal Reserve on Wednesday raised interest rates for the fourth time this year, defying President Trump who has protested the bank's policies. The Fed's policymaking arm, the Federal Open Market Committee, voted Wednesday to raise the baseline interest rate to a 2.25 percent to 2.5 percent range, a 0.25 percentage point increase. The central bank had been telegraphing a December rate hike for several months, and Wednesday's move had been widely expected by Fed watchers. But the move comes in the face of intensifying attacks from Trump on the bank and its chairman, Jerome Powell, for raising rates amid new questions about the American economy. Key points... - Powell defended the bank's independence, insisting that "political considerations play no role whatsoever in our discussions or decisions about monetary policy." "I know, and everyone who works at the Fed knows, that we're going to do our jobs the way we've always done them," Powell said.
- It's a test for Powell: It is still early in Powell's tenure; he only took over at the bank earlier this year in February. Powell is looking to reassure the public and policymakers that the Fed has control over the economy. That is likely to become harder if the president keeps using him as a punching bag over the economy.
- Although the move was widely expected, it turned into a wild day for Wall Street. The Dow swung wildly, moving higher ahead of the decision. But the Dow reversed course during Powell's press conference over the likelihood of raising rates again next year, falling sharply. The Dow closed for the day down 352 points. The S&P fell 1.54 percent to a 15-month low.
- Expectations for the year ahead: The Fed projected that the economy would grow at 2.3 percent next year, down from earlier estimates of 2.5 percent. The Fed also signaled that it would slow the pace of increases next year (from three to two) amid concerns of a slowing economy and slumping markets.
Naomi Jagoda and Sylvan Lane bring you all the details here. LEADING THE DAY Congress is moving to avert a shutdown!: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Wednesday he will move a stopgap measure funding the government until early February. The measure if passed by Congress and signed into law by President Trump would prevent a partial shutdown set to begin Saturday and would fund government departments and agencies through Feb. 8. It will keep funding for border fencing flat and punt a showdown on that issue until next year -- when Trump will have less leverage with Democrats in control of the House. The Senate was expected to take up the measure on Wednesday evening, with the House likely to vote on Thursday. The Hill's Alex Bolton has more details here. Blowback: But conservatives aren't happy about the decision, with lawmakers blasting it as a strategic mistake and broken promise. "Let me get this straight... our chances of getting the Wall will be better in February when Nancy Pelosi is Speaker than now when we have the majority?" Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), who founded the Freedom Caucus, tweeted in disdain. "Give me a break. #DoWhatWeSaid." Conservative commentators are also going after President Trump for backing down from his shutdown threat. "Well, I'm not going to sugarcoat it. I'm not going to spin it. I wish I could but I can't. This is a cave. This was a blink," writer Michelle Malkin told Fox News. About that name change...: The director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is halting plans to change the agency's name, citing the high costs and potential confusion of rebranding the financial watchdog. CFPB Director Kathy Kraninger told bureau employees Wednesday that she has stopped all efforts to rename the agency "the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection," a process that began in March by former acting chief Mick Mulvaney. Kraninger cited the high financial toll and "operational challenges" of the name-change in her Wednesday email. The controversy: Mulvaney insisted the agency be called the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection, its formal name under the 2010 Dodd-Frank law. The cost: An internal agency analysis of the name-change, first scooped by The Hill, found that rebranding could cost businesses about $300 million. Read more from Sylvan here. Treasury sanctions Russians over alleged interference, never attack: The Trump administration on Wednesday sanctioned nine Russian nationals for allegedly attempting to interfere in the 2016 presidential election. The Treasury Department announced that the nine GRU officers, who had been indicted by special counsel Robert Mueller earlier this year for the 2016 hack of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), are now facing penalties for "their direct involvement in efforts to interfere in the 2016 U.S. election by targeting election systems and political parties, as well as releasing stolen election-related documents." The department also sanctioned two GRU officers over the attempted assassination of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter with a military-grade nerve agent in March. The Hill's Jacqueline Thomsen breaks it all down here. Treasury also lifts some sanctions on firms tied to a Russian oligarch: The Trump administration plans to lift sanctions on companies owned by Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska after he significantly reduced his ownership stake in them. The Treasury Department announced Wednesday that it would lift financial sanctions on Deripaska's aluminum company, United Co. Rusal, as well as En+ Group plc and JSC EuroSibEnergo in 30 days, after Deripaska agreed to reduce his ownership stake in each of the companies to below 50 percent. But hold on: Deripaska, a billionaire aluminum magnate with close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin, will remain sanctioned and his property blocked. Some lawmakers aren't happy: In a joint statement later Wednesday, the leaders of the Senate Intelligence Committee noted that the agreement between Treasury and Deripaska "does not change the fact that Mr. Deripaska, his employees, and his companies work at Vladimir Putin's behest and operate as de facto representatives of the Russian government." Sens. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) and Mark Warner (D-Va.) said the deal "will require constant monitoring." The Hill's Morgan Chalfant has the details. Trump ties make Deutsche Bank a Dem target: California Democratic Reps. Maxine Waters and Adam Schiff are eager to probe Deutsche Bank next year over the German financial titan's dealings with President Trump. Both plan to subpoena Deutsche Bank for Trump's financial records when they likely take over the House Financial Services and House Intelligence committees, respectively, in January. They want to look for any potential connections between the bank's questionable financial practices and its significant outstanding loans to Trump and his business empire. A report in 2016 said Trump's companies had debts totaling $360 million to Deutsche. The big picture: Germany's largest bank is already reeling from a slew of financial and legal troubles in the U.S. and Europe. The firm has paid billions of dollars in fines to settle allegations of money laundering, sanctions violations, market manipulation and risky sales practices. Now it faces the prospect of being dragged into a fierce political fight in the U.S. over its ties to Trump. Sylvan looks at Deutsche Bank's troubles here. GOOD TO KNOW - President Trump complained on Twitter that he was the victim of a "total double standard" of justice after a lawsuit in New York state against the Donald J. Trump Foundation led to the charity's closure.
- Facebook granted major tech companies like Microsoft, Amazon and Netflix access to users' personal data in ways not previously disclosed, according to The New York Times.
- Facebook's troubles over data are mounting. On Wednesday, Washington, D.C.'s attorney general sued the company over the Cambridge Analytica scandal, the first government action the company has faced over the incident.
- Tobacco giant Altria is nearing a deal to take a 35 percent stake in Juul, an e-cigarette startup that the deal values at roughly $38 billion, according to The Wall Street Journal.
- Major League Baseball reached a deal with the Cuban Baseball Federation to allow players entry into the U.S. without defecting.
- Two leading Senate Democrats opposing an effort to protect Israel from boycotts as part of a year-end spending package.
- Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk on Tuesday unveiled his underground transit tunnel in Los Angeles to members of the media, who rode through it in the Tesla Model X.
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