Overnight Finance: Trump, lawmakers take key step to immigration deal | Trump urges Congress to bring back earmarks | Tax law poised to create windfall for states | Trump to attend Davos | Dimon walks back bitcoin criticism

View in your browser     Trump, lawmakers take key step to immigration deal: President Trump and congressional negotiators on Tuesday outlined the parameters of a potential immigration deal during a lengthy bipartisan meeting at the White House, a major step toward avoiding a government shutdown. The president and lawmakers who are leading immigration talks on Capitol Hill agreed that an agreement should include four key components. It should protect an estimated 700,000 to 800,000 immigrants known as "Dreamers" from deportation, beef up security along the U.S.-Mexico border, change the weighting given to family relationships when granting legal status and reform the diversity visa lottery program. White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders later hailed the meeting as "successful." Trump told Republican and Democratic negotiators that he would rely on them to hammer out the details and indicated that he would sign into law whatever they send to his desk. "What I approve is going to be very much reliant on what the people in this room come to me with. I have great confidence in the people," he told the two dozen lawmakers arrayed around a table with him in the Cabinet Room. Trump expressed sympathy to immigrants who came to the country illegally at a young age and now face deportation, urging negotiators to pass "a bill of love." But many thorny details remain unresolved, and it appears Congress won't have enough time to work through them before government funding expires on Jan. 19. The Hill's Alexander Bolton and Jordain Carney have the details: http://bit.ly/2mcX5oT   Schumer: Trump will be blamed for shutdown over wall: Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) warned President Trump on Tuesday that he will be blamed if the government shuts down because of a fight over the border wall.  "If the president goes down that path and insists on the wall or shut down the government, which he said back in September, make no mistake about it, a government shutdown will fall entirely, entirely on his shoulders," he said from the Senate floor: http://bit.ly/2CMmRXY.   Background... How President Trump's core campaign promise to build a wall on the Mexican border became one of the biggest sticking points in the complicated negotiations to prevent a government shutdown. http://bit.ly/2CIIqZz.   Another short-term spending bill? House appropriators returning to Washington earlier this week predicted another short-term spending bill will be needed to avoid a government shutdown next week amid the contentious fight over immigration: http://bit.ly/2CL0TEW.   Happy Tuesday and welcome back to Overnight Finance. 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.   On tap tomorrow: House Foreign Affairs Committee: Hearing on "Sanctions and Financial Pressure: Major National Security Tools," 10 a.m. http://bit.ly/2CvcFTO. House Financial Services Committee: Hearing on "A Further Examination of Federal Reserve Reform Proposals," 2 p.m. http://bit.ly/2CwBjTM.   Trump tax law poised to create windfall for states: When President Trump signed a massive tax overhaul late last month, congressional Republicans celebrated a job accomplished. But the work is just starting for state legislators, who are likely to see hundreds of millions of dollars in new revenue.  Under the new law, budget analysts say taxpayers who receive a break on their federal forms are actually likely to spend more on their state taxes, unless state legislators act. And that's setting off contentious fights between those who want to use the money to boost state budgets and those who want to return money to the taxpayers. "Now we get to do tax reform in all 50 states," said Nicole Kaeding, an economist at the nonpartisan Tax Foundation. Most states conform parts of their tax codes -- like definitions set by the IRS or deductions and tax credits for mortgages and children -- to the federal code. But states set their own tax rates independently. The federal tax overhaul eliminates some deductions, broadening the tax base at both the state and federal levels. The Hill's Reid Wilson explains: http://bit.ly/2CMn5i5.   Trump calls on Congress to bring back earmarks: President Trump said Tuesday that Congress should consider bringing back earmarks to improve bipartisanship and pass more legislation.  "Maybe we should think about it," Trump told a group of roughly two-dozen lawmakers at the White House. "Maybe all of you should think about going back to a form of earmarks. You should do it." Former Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) banned earmarks, which have been derided as "pork-barrel spending," after Republicans retook the House in 2010. But House Republicans are debating whether to bring back earmarks, even as some members blast them as a symbol of the so-called swamp in Washington, D.C., that Trump campaigned against. Trump's remarks Tuesday appeared to give that push a boost.  "We have to put better controls because it got a little out of hand, but that brings people together," the president said. Trump said the "levels of hatred" among Republicans and Democrats are "out of control" and that earmarks could help solve it: http://bit.ly/2CM8iUl.   More on earmarks... Even some conservatives seem open to the idea: Momentum is building in Congress to revive the use of earmarks after President Trump endorsed the idea on Tuesday. But don't call them earmarks: lawmakers say they're in favor of "congressionally directed spending." In a sign of the changing attitudes on Capitol Hill, conservatives are divided on whether to reverse the earmark ban in place since Republicans took over the House majority after the 2010 midterm elections. Conservative leaders like House Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) reject the idea, warning that allowing lawmakers to carve out spending for projects specifically designed to benefit their districts would undercut Trump's "drain the swamp" message. "I think that when you're talking about draining the swamp, it's very difficult in the same mouthful to suggest that we're going to reinstitute earmarks," Meadows said. But even some Freedom Caucus members sound open to a return to earmarks ahead of House Rules Committee hearings next week on whether to revive the practice. "I don't know that I'm opposed to it," Rep. Scott DesJarlais (R-Tenn.), a Freedom Caucus member, told The Hill. "We're spending more money than ever and it's still going out, but it doesn't seem to come to my district." The Hill's Cristina Marcos and Scott Wong on the debate: http://bit.ly/2CMMPKW   Trump infrastructure plan may slip to next month: The release of President Trump's long-awaited infrastructure package may slip to next month, according to a Democratic aide. The White House had promised to unveil "detailed legislative principles" on Trump's rebuilding initiative in early January, after the issue took a back seat to other GOP priorities all last year. But White House officials told a bipartisan group of senators on Tuesday that the proposal could now be released after Trump's inaugural State of the Union address on Jan. 30, according to the aide, though they assured lawmakers that a plan was forthcoming. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairman John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) and Sen. Tom Carper (Del.), the panel's top Democrat, requested the meeting with Trump's infrastructure team to learn more about the administration's rebuilding proposal. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao and White House chief economic adviser Gary Cohn both attended Tuesday afternoon's confab on Capitol Hill. Melanie Zanona has more on where the plan stands: http://bit.ly/2AJmuff   Trump to attend Davos economic forum: President Trump plans to attend the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, later this month, the White House announced Tuesday. "The president welcomes opportunities to advance his America First agenda with world leaders," White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a statement. She added that Trump "looks forward to promoting his policies to strengthen American businesses, American industries, and American workers." The forum, which brings together powerful politicians and business leaders, is scheduled to run from Jan. 23 to 26. Trump, a billionaire businessman who won the presidency by running as an economic populist, would be one of only two U.S. presidents to ever attend the forum. U.S. presidents typically do not attend the gathering in the ritzy Swiss Alps resort town, an effort to avoid being seen as too cozy with some of the world's wealthiest individuals: http://bit.ly/2CMbG1p.   Manufacturers press Senate to approve Ex-Im board members: Manufacturers are keeping pressure on Senate Republican leaders to get the Export-Import Bank running at full speed. In a letter on Tuesday, the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) urged Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Majority Whip John Cornyn (R-Texas) to approve by the end of January four nominees to the Ex-Im board of directors. Confirming those nominees would enable the bank to make larger loans. "Doing so will be beneficial to manufacturers of all sizes and types that rely on the tools that the Ex-Im Bank provides and will advance U.S. competitiveness in the global economy at a critical moment when overseas opportunities are increasing at a renewed pace," wrote Jay Timmons, NAM's president and CEO, in the letter.  Last month, the Senate Banking Committee approved four nominees to the Ex-Im board: Kimberly Reed, Spencer Bachus, Judith Pryor and Claudia Slacik. All four nominations have been held over by the Senate and can be considered on the floor: http://bit.ly/2CJgOmZ.   NY lawmakers offer bill to restore state and local tax deduction: A bipartisan pair of House members from New York introduced legislation this week to restore the full state and local tax (SALT) deduction, which is limited by the new tax law that President Trump signed last month. Reps. Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.) and Pete King (R-N.Y.) said on a call with reporters Tuesday that they are offering their bill in order to prevent many of their constituents from seeing their taxes go up. The new tax law caps the deduction at $10,000, which Lowey and King said is insufficient for many residents of their districts. "This is so negative for our constituents," said Lowey, the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee. Opponents of the SALT deduction argue that the preference largely benefits wealthy taxpayers, but Lowey and King said that middle-class people in their districts, such as teachers and firefighters, will be hurt by the cap. "These are average, hard-working people," King said: http://bit.ly/2CMpn0F.   Dimon: I regret calling bitcoin a fraud: JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon has walked back his criticism of bitcoin, saying its underlying technology could be useful for financial markets. Dimon told Fox Business in an interview aired Tuesday that he regrets calling the cryptocurrency "a fraud," but that he's still "not interested that much in the subject at all." Dimon in September threatened to fire Chase employees that invested the bank's money in bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin prices were cruising upward at the time, months before cryptocurrency values skyrocketed. Dimon's bank has since explored bitcoin futures trading and a blockchain-based payments system. "The blockchain is real," Dimon said Tuesday, referring to the distributed ledger technology that underpins bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies: http://bit.ly/2CJP024   Budget watch: Head of nonprofit watchdog fights with both parties: Democrats and Republicans tend to agree that an exploding national debt is bad. But the debt bothers liberals more when the GOP pushes taxes cuts, and conservatives more when Democrats press for increased funding. That's where Maya MacGuineas intervenes. MacGuineas, 49, is president of the nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (CRFB), a fiscal watchdog that has become a go-to source of budgetary analysis in Washington. She says she has few qualms smacking down members of either political party when their budgetary claims enter the realm of fantasy. "I am definitely beyond left and right -- I am a huge political independent," MacGuineas told The Hill in a recent interview. She added: "We will always be criticized by both sides. This year, those on the right were probably very frustrated that we thought the tax bill was fiscally irresponsible. Next year, if we move into trying to fix the safety net programs or the big entitlement programs, the left will probably be very frustrated." http://bit.ly/2CLPzrU.   Optimism in job market up sharply: More than half of Americans are optimistic about the prospects of finding quality jobs, according to a new Gallup survey.  According to that survey, 56 percent of Americans viewed the job market positively in 2017 -- up sharply from 42 percent in 2016.  The 2017 number is the highest annual average since Gallup began tracking public perceptions of the job market in 2001. The number tracks closely with the unemployment rate, which fell in 2017 from an average of 4.9 percent to 4.4 percent. A positive job market outlook rose sharply among Republicans at the beginning of 2017, around the time President Trump took office. Conversely, the percentage of Democrats who voiced optimism in the job market fell 10 percent -- down to 45 percent -- shortly after Trump office, though that number currently sits at 50 percent. Still, certain groups -- namely those who were out of work and trying to find a job, African-Americans and those earning less than $30,000 a year -- were less likely than others to have a positive view of the job market, according to Gallup: http://bit.ly/2CMq35U.   Op-eds from The Hill's Contributors:  Manufacturing is back, but don't thank Trump Republicans in Congress shouldn't try to bring back earmarks     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.         Did a friend forward you this email? 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Overnight Defense: Trump officials reportedly debating targeted North Korea strike | US to sell Japan $133M in missiles | Trump order aims to reduce veteran suicides

View in your browser     THE TOPLINE: U.S. officials have reportedly talked about the potential to conduct a targeted strike against sites in North Korea in a "bloody nose" strategy. The Wall Street Journal reported that the strategy involves launching a targeted strike at a North Korean facility in response to a nuclear or missile test. The strike would be an effort to show North Korea the potential consequences of its actions without leading to an all-out war. Trump administration officials have discussed whether the idea would even be possible, according to the Journal. Read the rest here.   The report comes as North Korea said it will send a delegation to the Winter Olympics this year in Pyeongchang, South Korea. North Korea said during talks with the South it would send a group of athletes, high-ranking officials and a cheer squad to the Winter Games. Read about that here.   US TO SELL JAPAN $133M IN MISSILES TO COUNTER NORTH KOREAN THREAT: The State Department plans to sell Japan more than $133 million worth of missiles and equipment to push back against North Korea's "provocative behavior," the department told Congress on Tuesday. The new proposed foreign military sale includes four Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) Block IIA missiles, missile canisters and "other technical, engineering and logistics support services," estimated to be worth $133.3 million. The sale comes after a year of heightened concern over Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions, including several missile launches that landed in the Sea of Japan. If approved, the missile deal would "follow through on President Trump's commitment to provide additional defensive capabilities to treaty allies threatened by the [Democratic People's Republic of Korea's] provocative behavior," the State Department said in a statement, referring to North Korea's official name.  Read the rest here.   And the U.S. Army will reportedly train thousands of additional troops in tunnel warfare this year on the chance President Trump wants such a military option for North Korea. Read about that here.   CORKER: SCRAPPING IRAN DEAL COULD MAKE N. KOREA 'MORE DIFFICULT': Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) warned Tuesday that withdrawing from the Iran nuclear deal could have consequences for the ongoing crisis with North Korea as President Trump faces critical deadlines on the accord. "I hope at some point we're going to enter into a very binding agreement with North Korea, and if it's believed that we withdrew from a military agreement when there aren't material violations -- there's some technical violations, but not material violations -- then it makes it more difficult for people to believe we're going to abide by another agreement," Corker told reporters Tuesday. Democratic lawmakers and other supporters of the Iran deal have argued for months that Trump scrapping the nuclear accord could imperil any diplomatic effort with North Korea by showing the United States cannot be trusted to keep its deals. Most Republicans, though, have argued the two issues are unrelated or that Iran is watching North Korea's belligerence to see what it might be able to get away with. More on that here via The Hill's Rebecca Kheel.   TRUMP SIGNS EXECUTIVE ORDER AIMED AT REDUCING VETERAN SUICIDES: President Trump signed an executive order Tuesday aimed at helping veterans get access to mental health care. The order instructs the departments of Defense, Homeland Security and Veterans Affairs to develop a plan within 60 days to provide "seamless access to mental health treatment and suicide prevention resources" for uniformed service members in the year following military service. "We want them to get the highest care and the care they so richly deserve," Trump said at the signing ceremony Tuesday afternoon.  Within 180 days, the departments must update Trump on the implementation of the plan and outline further reforms to increase access to mental health services.  Administration officials said the suicide rate among veterans in the first year following service is twice the average among veterans overall. About 20 veterans die by suicide per day in the U.S., the government estimates.  The Hill's Jessie Hellman has the rest here.   ON TAP FOR TOMORROW: Pentagon Comptroller David Norquist will testify before the full House Armed Services Committee on the Defense Department's efforts with the Financial Improvement and Audit Remediation Plan at 10 a.m. Wednesday in Rayburn 2118. http://bit.ly/2CXcPUX The House Veterans Affairs Committee will hold a hearing on home loan churning practices and how veterans are being affected at 10 a.m. Wednesday in Cannon House Office Building, room 334. http://bit.ly/2Ec8SLA The House Foreign Affairs Committee will hear from an outside expert on sanctions and financial pressure as national security tools at 10 a.m. Wednesday in Rayburn 2172. http://bit.ly/2CBbVQh   ICYMI: -- The Hill: US spy satellite believed to be lost: report -- The Hill: Scott joins Armed Services Committee -- The Hill: Defense contractor L3 hires longtime Navy acquisition head -- The Hill: House passes Homeland Security cybersecurity oversight bill -- The Hill: Investigators probing possibility 'viral' or 'ultrasound' attacks injured diplomats in Havana -- Defense News: Mattis asks senators to end budget chaos     Please send tips and comments to Rebecca Kheel, rkheel@thehill.com, and Ellen Mitchell, emitchell@thehill.com. Follow us on Twitter: @thehill, @Rebecca_H_K, @EllenMitchell23         Did a friend forward you this email? Sign up for Defense Newsletters     Forward Defense 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.

Overnight Energy: Zinke removes Florida from offshore drilling plan | Dem AGs want Pruitt recused from climate rule repeal | Coal exec wants regulators fired for rejecting Perry plan | EPA staffing falls to Reagan levels

View in your browser     ZINKE REMOVES FLORIDA FROM DRILLING PLAN: Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke said Tuesday that he won't allow offshore drilling in waters near Florida through 2024. The decision came after Zinke met with Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) in Tallahassee earlier in the day to discuss the governor's objections. "President Trump has directed me to rebuild our offshore oil and gas program in a manner that supports our national energy policy and also takes into consideration the local and state voice," Zinke said in a statement. "I support the governor's position that Florida is unique and it's coasts are heavily reliant on tourism as an economic driver," he continued. "As a result of discussion with Gov. Scott's and his leadership, I am removing Florida from consideration for any new oil and gas platforms." Interior Department Spokeswoman Heather Swift said that both the eastern third of the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean adjacent to Florida would be taken out of consideration for the plan that covers drilling rights sales from 2019 to 2024. Scott had quickly come out in opposition to drilling off Florida's coasts last week when Zinke announced the Trump administration's proposal to consider oil and gas drilling in nearly every area off the nation's coasts, including the Atlantic, Pacific and Gulf coasts and around Alaska. Drilling has long been banned around Florida, with strong bipartisan support from the state's politicians. Read more here.   DEMS: PRUITT'S BIAS SHOWING: A coalition of Democratic attorneys general want Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) head Scott Pruitt to recuse himself from all matters related to the repeal of the Obama administration's climate change rule for power plants. The 12 attorneys general, led by California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, say Pruitt's criticisms of the Clean Power Plan and his attempt in his previous job as Oklahoma's attorney general to fight it make him irreparably biased against it. Becerra led his colleagues and the top law enforcement officials of six cities and one county in submitting a formal request to the EPA outlining their objections. "He has made a name for himself as someone who will do everything in his power to axe this important environmental policy, and he cannot credibly claim to have an open mind about it. His words speak for themselves," Becerra said in a statement Tuesday. "The Clean Power Plan would reduce coal and gas-fired power plant emissions by 16 percent by 2030, while avoiding 3,500 premature deaths per year. This is what Administrator Pruitt is against," Becerra said. "He ought to do his job and protect our environment instead of catering to the fossil fuel industry." The 30-page comment argues that the public's "constitutional and statutory rights to due process and fairness in an administrative rulemaking proceeding are violated" when a decision-maker like Pruitt acts in such a closed-minded and prejudicial way. The Tuesday filing may be a preview of a legal argument the attorneys general plan to use when they inevitably sue the EPA for repealing the rule. Read more here.   BOB MURRAY: FIRE FERC COMMISSIONERS: The CEO of the nation's largest privately held coal mining company says President Trump should fire four of the five commissioners who rejected Energy Secretary Rick Perry's plan to help coal and nuclear power plants. Bob Murray, head of Murray Energy Corp, said the members of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), an independent agency, "defaulted" on their duties by rebuffing the plan to stop coal and nuclear plants from closing. Supporters said the reliability of the electric grid was at stake. "I believe that the Trump administration, with the exception of Neil Chatterjee, picked three bad appointees for FERC. And they should all be fired," Murray told The Hill Tuesday. Murray is an outspoken advocate for coal. He accused former President Barack Obama of being the "nation's greatest destroyer" and said last year that Obama should be charged criminally for actions toward the coal industry. He's also a close ally of Trump, having met with him on multiple occasions to push for pro-coal policies. Trump nominated all of the FERC commissioners, except Democrat Cheryl LaFleur, last year, and the Senate confirmed them. Murray said LaFleur and fellow Democrat Richard Glick opposed Perry's proposal because they oppose coal, but Republicans Kevin McIntyre and Rob Powelson "did not follow what should have been done in this case." FERC on Monday declared that Perry's proposal could not be legally implemented because it didn't identify problems with current electricity policies that warrant action under the Federal Power Act. Perry wanted electric grid operators to pay coal and nuclear plants more for their power than other sources, likely increasing electricity costs, on the grounds that the power they provide is less likely to be interrupted than other sources. Chatterjee, a Kentucky native who used to work for Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), has been outspoken as an advocate of taking some kind of action to save coal and nuclear plants from closing. Murray said Chatterjee "apparently was overwhelmed by the other four." Read more here.   EXXON FIRES BACK AGAINST CALIFORNIA LAWSUITS: Exxon Mobil Corp. is firing back against lawsuits that seven cities and counties in California have filed against major oil companies over climate change. Exxon made a filing in a Texas court late Monday against the municipalities, threatening a lawsuit of its own. It's also saying that the information they released for bond investors contradicts the claims they made about the impacts of climate change on their jurisdictions. "Through abusive law enforcement tactics and litigation in California, respondents and others are attempting to stifle ExxonMobil's exercise, in Texas, of its First Amendment right to participate in the national dialogue about climate change and climate policy," the company said in the court filing. The filing highlights investor disclosures from the municipalities that show uncertainty about the impacts of climate change like sea level rise, arguing that they are being disingenuous in their lawsuits about such impacts. "In those lawsuits, each of the municipalities warned that imminent sea level rise presented a substantial threat to its jurisdiction and laid blame for this purported injury at the feet of energy companies," Exxon wrote. "Notwithstanding their claims of imminent, allegedly near-certain harm, none of the municipalities disclosed to investors such risks in their respective bond offerings, which collectively netted over $8 billion for these local governments over the last 27 years." The Union of Concerned Scientists accused Exxon of intimidation. "ExxonMobil's strategy to intimidate these communities by threatening lawsuits is just another effort to evade accountability for its decades-long campaign to deceive the public about climate science and block policies that could have limited the climate impacts that California residents are now facing," Peter Frumhoff, director of science and policy for the group, said in a statement.   EPA STAFF DOWN TO REAGAN LEVELS: The Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) staffing is now lower than it was in former President Reagan's final year in office. An EPA spokeswoman said Tuesday that, as of Jan. 3, the agency had 14,162 employees, down from about 15,000 at the beginning of last year. That's even lower than the 14,400 employees the agency had in fiscal year 1988, Reagan's final year. The figures come after President Trump and EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt pledged to shrink the size of the federal government to save money and reduce regulatory burdens. "We're proud to report that we're reducing the size of government, protecting taxpayer dollars and staying true to our core mission of protecting the environment," Pruitt said in a statement. If every EPA employee eligible to retire by 2021 does so, the EPA would have less than 8,000 employees by the end of Trump's term, a cut of nearly half. The reductions have come from employees voluntarily leaving without being replaced, including through early retirements and buyouts. Read more here.   ON TAP WEDNESDAY: The House Natural Resources Committee will debate and vote on six bills in its jurisdiction, on federal land and marine mammal protections.   AROUND THE WEB: Tesla Inc. said Tuesday it's started producing its solar roof tiles in its Buffalo, N.Y, plant, Reuters reports. Washington Gov. Jay Inslee (D) laid out details Tuesday of his proposal for a state tax on carbon dioxide emissions, the Seattle Times reports. Authorities in South Africa are now using rhinoceros DNA to track poachers, The New York Times reports.   FROM THE HILL'S OPINION SECTION: Tom Sanzillo of the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis argues that this year will demonstrate more than ever how affordable clean energy is. Isabel Munilla of the Transparency in Extractive Industries at Oxfam America says congressional efforts to repeal international energy payment transparency would fuel corruption. Daniel Cohan of Rice University says Trump is falsely arguing that the environment and the economy are in competition.   IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Check Tuesday's stories ... - Zinke to take Florida out of offshore drilling plan - Coal mogul: Trump should fire energy officials for rejecting Perry plan - Dem AGs ask Pruitt to recuse himself from climate rule repeal process - Four lawmakers join House Climate Solutions Caucus - Oil lobby wants pipelines in Trump's infrastructure push - EPA staffing falls to Reagan-era levels - Interior memo says grants should promote Trump priorities: WaPost - Lewandowski slams 'deep state' regulators for rejecting Perry coal plan - Trump drilling boost could boost Nelson's chances in Fla.     Please send tips and comments to Timothy Cama, tcama@thehill.com. Follow us on Twitter: @Timothy_Cama, @thehill         Did a friend forward you this email? Sign up for Energy Newsletters     Forward Energy 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.