Overnight Regulation: Florida decision puts Trump drilling plan on shaky ground | Trump floats staying in Paris climate deal | Dems rush into net neutrality fight

View in your browser     Welcome to Overnight Regulation, your daily rundown of news from the federal agencies, Capitol Hill, the courts and beyond. It's Wednesday night in Washington, and we're watching to see if the House and Senate can find some sort of agreement on immigration and border security and avoid a government shutdown.   THE BIG STORY Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke may have put the Trump administration on shaky legal ground by agreeing to remove Florida's waters from consideration for offshore drilling. Zinke announced his decision Tuesday, minutes after meeting with Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) at Tallahassee's airport. Florida would be removed from consideration for drilling, Zinke said, due to the importance of tourism to the state. "I support the governor's position that Florida is unique and its coasts are heavily reliant on tourism as an economic driver," Zinke said in a statement late Tuesday. But after Zinke's announcement, the leaders from numerous other coastal states quickly chimed in, saying they're entitled to the same treatment. The trouble for Zinke: Other states and legal experts say Zinke created a new standard that should apply to any state that wants it. Any other action could give opponents legal ammunition in suing the Trump administration over its drilling plan. Drilling plans, like other major policy decisions by agencies, can be challenged in court once they're made final. The department's moves would be judged by their adherence to the Administrative Procedure Act, including a standard that government actions cannot be "arbitrary and capricious." Who's angry? Both Democrats and the oil industry, but for different reasons. For industry, the eastern third of the Gulf of Mexico has long been off-limits for drilling, and they see it as the best expansion prospect offshore. If the oil industry or a company wants to sue Zinke for excluding a certain area, like the eastern Gulf, they might do that. Get the full picture from Timothy Cama here. And keep reading for more reaction to Zinke's decision...   REGULATORY ROUNDUP Environment: A South Carolina Republican on Wednesday slammed a decision by the Trump administration to exempt Florida from proposed offshore drilling as "self-serving" because President Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort is in the state. "I would also say this, it smacks of what we never want to see in politics, which is, is it only self-serving?" Rep. Mark Sanford (R-S.C.) told "CNN Newsroom with Brooke Baldwin." "I mean, you can't say 'I don't want to see an oil rig from Mar-a-Lago as I look out from the waters of Palm Beach, but it's okay to look at an oil rig out from Hilton Head of Charleston, S.C.'" Mallory Shelbourne has the rundown here.   Environment: President Trump said Wednesday that he might reverse his decision to pull the United States out of the Paris agreement on climate change. In a joint press conference with Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg, Trump reiterated his objections to the pact that former President Barack Obama helped negotiate but said there are circumstances in which he'd stop the exit process he announced last June. "I will say that the Paris agreement, as drawn and as we signed, was very unfair to the United States. It put great penalties on us. It made it very difficult for us to deal in terms of business. It took away a lot of our asset values," he said of the pact that includes every other member of the United Nations. Trump also said he has "no problem" with the agreement, "but I had a problem with the agreement that they signed, because as usual, they made a bad deal." "So we could conceivably go back in," Trump said, without expanding on what would have to happen or change. Timothy Cama has more here.   Tech: Democrats are promising a showdown on the Senate floor over net neutrality, betting that the issue will give Republicans headaches ahead of the midterm elections. Using an obscure procedural tactic, the Democrats are moving to force a floor vote on a resolution that would block the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) from repealing net neutrality rules. Those rules, passed under former President Obama, required internet service providers to treat all web traffic equally. The FCC's decision last month to roll back the rules sparked a massive uproar, creating an issue that Democrats believe could prove politically potent in November. By forcing a roll call vote on protecting the rules, Democrats are hoping to redirect public outrage -- especially among young voters -- toward congressional Republicans. Harper Neidig has more here.   Finance: Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Mark Warner (D-Va.) have introduced a bill aimed at penalizing credit reporting agencies for breaches in the wake of the Equifax data hack. The Data Breach Prevention and Compensation Act would provide the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) with more direct supervisory authority over data security at the agencies, as well as impose penalties on the agencies and provide consumers with compensation to prevent future breaches. "We are introducing a bill today to say that when a credit reporting agency lets your data be stolen, that there are substantial automatic penalties that go into place, and there's money that automatically goes back to the people whose data has been stolen," Warren told CNN's Alisyn Camerota on "New Day." Julia Manchester has more here.   Health care: South Dakota is set to join a growing list of states looking to impose work requirements on Medicaid recipients. The state's Republican Gov. Dennis Daugaard said Tuesday the state will ask the Trump administration for permission to require that work be a condition for eligibility. "Work is an important part of personal fulfillment," Daugaard said during his State of the State address. "By making this adjustment to our Medicaid program, we can continue to help those who need it the most and start to connect those who can work with jobs that give them that sense of self-worth and accomplishment." Jessie Hellmann has the rest of the story here.   Finance: The IRS needs more funding as it implements Republicans' new tax law, according to the agency's in-house watchdog. "The IRS will have a lot of issues to work through, and taxpayers will have a lot of questions," National Taxpayer Advocate Nina Olson said in a news release Wednesday. "But with more funding, strong leadership, and a closer working relationship with Congress, I am convinced the IRS can do the job well." Olson submitted her annual report to Congress on Wednesday, which highlights the most serious problems facing taxpayers. She also made legislative recommendations for how to strengthen taxpayer rights and improve tax administration, which come as key House Republicans say they want to tackle IRS reform this year. Naomi Jagoda has more here.   Finance: The Justice Department didn't coordinate with the government agency responsible for advising banks in states where marijuana is legal when Attorney General Jeff Sessions rescinded an Obama-era policy that paved the way for the legal marijuana industry, according to a new report. According to Reuters, congressional queries regarding the policy shift weren't answered by the Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, which was reportedly caught off guard by the decision. Sessions moved last week to rescind the 2013 Cole memo, which discouraged federal prosecutors from bringing marijuana-related charges in states where the substance had been legalized.  The Justice Department declined to comment to Reuters about whether it coordinated the policy shift with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. But Sessions's memo rescinding the Obama-era policy did not address how financial institutions who do business with marijuana growers, processors and distributors should handle the new policy. Max Greenwood has more here.   Elsewhere in the news: Trump gets a reality check on deregulation (The Wall Street Journal) Banks seek government help to track money laundering (The Wall Street Journal) Minneapolis Fed proposes massive regulation change for big banks (CNBC) Ford sued by truck owners, adding it to diesel defendants (Bloomberg) EU: Internet giants not doing enough to take down illegal content (Reuters)   Send tips, story ideas and pictures of puppies in the snow to nweixel@thehill.com and follow me on Twitter @NateWeixel         Did a friend forward you this email? Sign up for Regulation Newsletters     Forward Regulation 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 under fire for exempting Florida from drilling plan | Trump floats staying in Paris deal | NYC sues big oil over climate

View in your browser     ZINKE'S DRILLING MOVE HITS OPPOSITION: Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke is catching criticism from numerous corners over his decision late Tuesday to take Florida off the table for offshore drilling. While Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) welcomed the quick action to protect waters near his state from drilling, officials elsewhere accused Zinke of political favoritism, and wondered if opponents in other states would get the same courtesy. Scott is a close ally to the Trump administration, and is expected soon to announce his intent to run against Sen. Bill Nelson (D), a long-time drilling opponent. Florida's coasts also host Trump's "Winter White House," Mar-a-Lago. Zinke said last week he'd consider allowing drilling near all of the nation's coasts. California Attorney General Xavier Becerra (D) was one of the early opponents out of the gate Tuesday, saying that his state met the same standards Zinke used to exempt Florida. "California is also 'unique' & our 'coasts are heavily reliant on tourism as an economic driver.' Our 'local and state voice' is firmly opposed to any and all offshore drilling," he tweeted. "We'd like a word in Virginia," said Virginia Gov.-elect Ralph Northam (D). The opposition was bipartisan. Rep. Mark Sanford (R-S.C.) questioned whether the move was "self-serving" due to Mar-a-Lago. "I mean, you can't say 'I don't want to see an oil rig from Mar-a-Lago as I look out from the waters of Palm Beach, but it's okay to look at an oil rig out from Hilton Head of Charleston, S.C.,' " he said on CNN.   Will it backfire?: Zinke's move may have backfired and put the administration on shaky legal ground in its question for "American Energy Dominance." Opponents and legal experts said his announcement showed that he is not following the processes laid out in the law for offshore drilling planning, and that if the process appears "arbitrary," federal courts are likely to strike it down when it is made final. "That's exactly the kind of thing that can get a program struck down, is a bunch of arbitrary decisions like this," Livermore said. Drilling plans, like other major policy decisions by agencies, can be challenged in court once they're made final. The department's moves would be judged by their adherence to the Administrative Procedure Act, including a standard that government actions cannot be "arbitrary and capricious." "There's a whole statute that explains how you're supposed to make these decisions, and because you feel like it, or you like the governor, is not one of the reasons," Livermore said. Interior Spokeswoman Heather Swift said Zinke would meet with any coastal governor who asks. "The secretary has said since day one that he is interested in​ hearing​ the local voice," she said. "​Gov. Scott requested a meeting the day the plan was released. ​If ​other governors would like to request meetings with the secretary, they are absolutely welcome to do so." Read more here.   Oil industry also peeved: The oil industry is also criticizing Zinke, saying that his decision to remove Florida is premature. Drillers are specifically concerned about the eastern Gulf of Mexico, which has been off-limits, but has long been a top target for companies that are already producing oil and natural gas elsewhere in the Gulf. "This announcement is premature," API President Jack Gerard said in a statement. "The Gulf of Mexico is the backbone of our nation's offshore energy production and restricting access to the Eastern Gulf puts hundreds of thousands of jobs at risk across the country and along the Gulf Coast, particularly in Florida, Alabama, Louisiana, Texas, and Mississippi," he said. "Not only that, but securing reliable sources of energy helps fuel other industries like tourism, especially in states like Florida that relies on more than 200 million barrels of gasoline and diesel each year to fuel its economy." The National Offshore Industries Association, which represents companies in numerous areas related to offshore drilling, also criticized Zinke's move, calling it "disappointing and premature." "Removing areas offshore Florida this early in the planning process prematurely curtails dialogue and thorough study of the possibilities for future development of offshore resources that could provide additional energy and jobs for working Floridians," Randall Luthi, the group's president, said in a statement. Read more here.   TRUMP: US COULD 'CONCEIVABLY' STAY IN PARIS: President Trump said Wednesday that he might reverse his decision to pull the United States out of the Paris agreement on climate change. "I will say that the Paris agreement, as drawn and as we signed, was very unfair to the United States. It put great penalties on us. It made it very difficult for us to deal in terms of business. It took away a lot of our asset values," he said of the pact that includes every other member of the United Nations. Trump also said he has "no problem" with the agreement, "but I had a problem with the agreement that they signed, because as usual, they made a bad deal." "So we could conceivably go back in," Trump said, without expanding on what would have to happen or change. While Trump announced the exit in June, the accord does not allow nations to submit exit paperwork until November 2019, to be effective in November 2020. When announcing the exit, Trump kept the door open to rejoining the pact "on terms that are fair to the United States, its businesses, its workers, its people, its taxpayers." Read more here.   NYC SUES OIL COMPANIES OVER CLIMATE CHANGE: New York City is suing five oil companies over climate change. The city alleges the five major oil companies have played a role in global warming, and is seeking to recoup billions of dollars spent preparing for climate change. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced the action along with a plan to divest the city's pension funds from fossil fuel companies. "New York City is standing up for future generations by becoming the first major US city to divest our pension funds from fossil fuels," de Blasio said in a statement. "At the same time, we're bringing the fight against climate change straight to the fossil fuel companies that knew about its effects and intentionally misled the public to protect their profits." Exxon Mobil Corp. said in a statement that it welcomes actions that further debates about how to confront climate change and move the conversation forward. "Lawsuits of this kind -- filed by trial attorneys against an industry that provides products we all rely upon to power the economy and enable our domestic life -- simply do not do that," it said. A spokesman for Shell said the issue of global warming is not one that should be handled in the courts. The National Association of Manufacturers, which recently launched a project to fight back against what it sees as frivolous climate lawsuits, also slammed the action. "This is part of a deep-rooted, politically-motivated campaign to undermine manufacturing in America, and we will continue our work to expose this coordinated effort," Linda Kelley, the group's general counsel, said in a statement. Read more here.   ON TAP THURSDAY: Former Energy Secretary and former CEO of the Nuclear Threat Initiative Ernest Moniz will speak at a Center for Strategic and International Studies event on global security tensions.   AROUND THE WEB: A Pennsylvania woman was sentenced to more than four years for setting fires in Bridger-Teton National Forest and Grand Teton National Park, the Jackson Hole News & Guide reports. Michigan regulators set new limits on per- and polyfluoroalkyl concentrations in drinking water, the Detroit News reports. California utility regulators are due to decide this week on the plan to close the state's last nuclear plant, SFGate reports.   FROM THE HILL'S OPINION SECTION: The Competitive Enterprise Institute's Myron Ebell celebrates the Trump administration's embrace of "Drill, Baby, Drill."   IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Check Wednesday's stories ... - Oil industry slams Zinke for closing Florida waters to offshore drilling - Trump: US could 'conceivably' stay in Paris climate pact - GOP lawmaker rips Trump, Zinke: 'Self-serving' to exempt Florida from drilling - South Carolina governor calls on Trump admin to remove state from drilling plan - Florida decision puts Trump drilling plan on shaky ground - Christie wants Trump admin to exempt N.J. from offshore drilling - Washington governor proposes new carbon tax - New York City suing major oil companies over global warming - Group details 'systematic' removal of climate content from federal websites     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.

Overnight Finance: Congress barrels toward another shutdown crisis | Canada worries Trump will withdraw from NAFTA | Blue-state Republicans push tax law changes | Chamber CEO calls out Bannon, Warren

View in your browser     Congress barrels toward another shutdown crisis: Lawmakers are scrambling to avoid a government shutdown as they barrel toward another funding deadline without a clear path forward. GOP leadership is remaining tightlipped about their plan, with Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) declining to outline their next steps before a Jan. 19 deadline. They are expected to offer a short-term stopgap measure given the fast-approaching deadline and a failure to lock down a deal on raising spending ceilings for defense and non-defense. "I think if we are able to reach an agreement, it will still take a little bit of time to prepare the omnibus," McConnell told reporters this week during a leadership press conference, in a sign that a stopgap could be coming. "But I'm not ready to make an announcement yet about the way forward." If the GOP does move to a short-term measure, Democrats are tightlipped about whether they'll go along with the plan. Republicans are accusing Democrats of holding the government "hostage" over demands to protect immigrants known as "Dreamers" who fear the end of an Obama-era program could risk their deportation beginning in March. Jordain Carney has more on the state of play: http://bit.ly/2CYVQ7O   Blue-state Republicans push tax law changes: Some blue-state Republicans are pushing for tax changes to help their constituents as Democrats seek to target the suburbs in the midterm elections. Nearly all of the GOP lawmakers who voted against the sweeping tax-cut bill in December did so because of a cap on the state and local tax (SALT) deduction that would be particularly damaging in high-tax areas such as New York, New Jersey and California. Now that the bill is law, some of those lawmakers are offering legislation to prevent their constituents from seeing tax hikes. Rep. Leonard Lance (R-N.J.), a top target in November, is planning to offer legislation that would allow everyone who prepaid their 2018 property taxes to deduct them on their 2017 returns. Lance and others also say they still want to see the full SALT deduction restored. And a number of blue-state Republicans, including those who voted for the tax bill, are calling for Democratic state officials to lower taxes. The Hill's Naomi Jagoda reports: http://bit.ly/2FnCg2J.   Canada worried Trump will withdraw from NAFTA: Concern is growing among Canadian officials that President Trump will soon decide to withdraw from the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Canadian government officials are worried that Trump is planning to finally follow through on his repeated threats to leave NAFTA and will make a move later this month ahead of the start of the sixth round of negotiations in Montreal, Reuters reported on Wednesday. But a Toronto Star report said that while Canada is "actively preparing" for a possible withdrawal, officials aren't "convinced" that Trump will abandon the agreement.  Withdrawal from the three-nation deal would take six months.  Trump has said many times he would pull the nation out of the 24-year-old deal if he couldn't see a way to get more benefits for the United States. Last fall, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer tried to calm concerns about a withdrawal, saying the Trump administration had every intention of completing the negotiation of an updated NAFTA with Mexico and Canada. After Wednesday's report, the Canadian dollar and stocks fell. The Mexican peso also dropped in value. Here's more from The Hill's Vicki Needham: http://bit.ly/2FpiAeI.   Canadian officials later tried to tamp down those concerns. A Canadian government official pushed back against the Reuters report, calling it "inaccurate" that the Government of Canada is "convinced" the U.S will soon pull out of NAFTA. "Progress on NAFTA was made during previous rounds and the December intersessional and we expect more progress to be made in January," the official said. Vicki has more here on the push back: http://bit.ly/2CZoMwt   Chamber's Donohue says withdrawal from NAFTA would be 'grave mistake' U.S. Chamber of Commerce President Tom Donohue on Wednesday touted the importance of global trade for the nation's growing economy, arguing that abandoning trade deals would ultimately undermine the expansion. A withdrawal from the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) by the Trump administration would be a "grave mistake," Donohue said during his annual State of American Business speech in Washington. "The American economy has taken several big steps forward with regulatory relief and tax reform, and the administration deserves lots of credit," Donohue said. "But a wrong move on NAFTA would send us five steps back. "The bottom line is growth will be weakened, not strengthened or sustained, if we pull back from trade," he added. http://bit.ly/2Flqk1n.   Watchdog calls for more IRS funding as agency implements tax law: The IRS needs more funding as it implements the Republicans' new tax law, according to the agency's in-house watchdog. "The IRS will have a lot of issues to work through, and taxpayers will have a lot of questions," National Taxpayer Advocate Nina Olson said in a news release Wednesday. "But with more funding, strong leadership, and a closer working relationship with Congress, I am convinced the IRS can do the job well." Olson submitted her annual report to Congress on Wednesday, which highlights the most serious problems facing taxpayers. She also made legislative recommendations for how to strengthen taxpayer rights and improve tax administration, which come as key House Republicans say they want to tackle IRS reform this year. The IRS saw its budget cut in the early part of the decade, and Republicans have criticized the agency in the wake of 2013 revelations that it subjected conservative groups' applications for tax-exempt status to extra scrutiny. In a preliminary estimate, the IRS predicted that it would need an additional $495 million in fiscal 2018 and 2019 to implement the tax law. The agency found 131 filing-season systems that will be affected by the new law. Olson also said the agency can also make some changes to help taxpayers within its current budget. http://bit.ly/2Fny82G.   Happy Wednesday 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.   Senate Dem bill would punish credit reporting agencies for breaches: Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Mark Warner (D-Va.) have introduced legislation that would allow regulators to punish credit reporting agencies in the wake of the massive Equifax data hack. The Data Breach Prevention and Compensation Act would provide the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) with more direct supervisory authority over data security at the agencies, as well as impose penalties on credit reporters and provide for consumers to be compensated. "We are introducing a bill today to say that when a credit reporting agency lets your data be stolen, that there are substantial automatic penalties that go into place, and there's money that automatically goes back to the people whose data has been stolen," Warren told CNN's Alisyn Camerota on "New Day."  Equifax announced in September hackers had taken advantage of a software flaw and were able to access the personal data of over 144 million customers. The personal data included Social Security numbers, phone numbers and addresses. http://bit.ly/2FnpjGb.   Chamber CEO calls out Bannon, Warren in pledge to rebuild the center in Congress: U.S. Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Tom Donohue on Wednesday called out both former White House chief strategist Stephen Bannon and liberal Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), saying Congress needs lawmakers who are interested in governing. "If we're only sending ideological purists and strict partisans to Washington, we're stopping progress before it can even start," Donohue said in his annual "State of American Business" speech. "So we're going to fight back against the extremes in both parties -- the Steve Bannons and the Elizabeth Warrens of the world, who do not represent the best interests of this country." Bannon, who has fallen out of favor with President Trump following comments he made in a new book, has endorsed primary candidates who are challenging more mainstream Republicans. Warren, meanwhile, is known as one of the most liberal members of the Senate and has taken a tough stance on the financial sector. Later on Wednesday, Warren took to Twitter to respond to Donohue, saying that she knows she's doing her job when she's criticized by the Chamber. http://bit.ly/2FnDjzH.   New chairmen named for health, tax subcommittees: Three of the House Ways and Means Committee's six subcommittees will have new chairmen for 2018, Committee Chairman Kevin Brady (R-Texas) announced Wednesday. The health, tax and oversight subcommittees will all have new leadership this year, in light of Rep. Pat Tiberi's (R-Ohio) departure from Congress to lead the Ohio Business Roundtable. Tiberi had been chairman of the health panel. Rep. Peter Roskam (R-Ill.), will be the new health subcommittee chairman. He had previously led the tax-policy subcommittee as Republicans worked last year to pass their tax-cut bill. Roskam is also being targeted by Democrats in the midterm elections, with the nonpartisan Cook Political Report calling his seat a toss-up. "I'm honored to be named Chairman of the Subcommittee on Health at this critical time for thoughtful health policy," Roskam said. "Our healthcare system has been broken for many years, and it's important that we get this right." http://bit.ly/2FlrCJL.   Poll: Voters still say Obama more responsible for economy than Trump: A new poll finds more U.S. voters still say former President Barack Obama is responsible for the current state of the U.S. economy than President Trump. The Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday finds that 49 percent of Americans say Obama is more responsible for the current U.S. economy compared to 40 percent who say Trump is responsible. The number of voters crediting Obama for the state of the economy has grown in the past two months. In Quinnipiac's Nov. 22 poll, 43 percent of Americans credited Obama, and in a December poll 45 percent of voters credited the former president. The percentage of those crediting Trump over Obama rose steadily through most of the year, topping 43 percent in December before ticking back down to 40 percent this month. The January poll also finds that 66 percent of U.S. voters say the economy is "excellent" or "good," the most positive rating for the economy in the poll since 2001. http://bit.ly/2Fs5Y6U.   Trump companies sold $35 million in real estate in 2017: President Trump's companies sold more than $35 million in real estate last year to a variety of secretive buyers, USA Today reported Wednesday. The Trump Organization sold 41 luxury condo units in Las Vegas last year, including one for $1.6 million, as well as properties in other parts of the country, the news outlet reported A neurosurgeon, real estate investors and an attorney were among those who purchased properties using their limited liability companies, which allowed them to obscure their identities during the transaction, USA Today found. The use of shell companies to purchase Trump properties has dramatically increased since Trump entered the political realm. USA Today found in the two years prior to Trump receiving the GOP presidential nomination, only 4 percent of buyers used the tactic when purchasing Trump properties. In the year following his nomination, 70 percent of buyers used the tactic, according to the newspaper. http://bit.ly/2Fooi0r.   More than 100 CEOs urge Congress to protect Dreamers: More than a hundred prominent chief executives are urging Congress to pass legislation to protect young undocumented immigrants, calling the looming expiration of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program a "crisis." In a letter to House and Senate leaders sent on Wednesday, the group called on lawmakers to pass a bill supporting the so-called "Dreamers." "We write to urge Congress to act immediately and pass a permanent bipartisan legislative solution to enable Dreamers who are currently living, working, and contributing to our communities to continue doing so," the letter reads. "The imminent termination of the DACA program is creating an impending crisis for workforces across the country." The letter was signed by more than a hundred major executives, including Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg, Tim Cook of Apple, Microsoft president Brad Smith, Amazon's Brad Smith and Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam. The group urged lawmakers to pass legislation by a week from Friday, the deadline for Congress to agree to new government funding to avert a shutdown. DACA is set to expire on March 5, but the business leaders insisted that the government needs time to implement a new program before that deadline. http://bit.ly/2FnsP3l.     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? 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.