Overnight Finance: Trump trade agenda at crossroads | White House to request $11B in spending cuts | SEC subpoenas Jay-Z | Company drops legal challenge to consumer bureau

View in your browser     Happy Thursday and welcome back to Overnight Finance, with less controversy than the House chaplain.  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.   THE BIG DEAL: President Trump's trade agenda is at a crossroads, with the White House facing a series of key decisions this month that could determine whether he can successfully map out a new course on one of his signature issues. On at least three different fronts, Trump is likely to have big decisions to make in May. U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer is scheduled to meet his counterparts in the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) on Monday, with the administration hoping to complete talks on a revised NAFTA this month.  High-level talks will take place in China on Thursday and Friday between Washington and Beijing.  The talks, where the U.S. delegation includes Lighthizer, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow, are centered on the escalating fight over intellectual property disputes and tit-for-tat tariffs between the world's largest two economies. A fight also is brewing with Europe and other U.S. allies over Trump's proposed tariffs on steel and aluminum imports. The Hill's Vicki Needham and Niv Elis tell us what's at stake here. Reactions: "It's hard to know because Trump is so unpredictable, but I would expect that we would, at the end of the day, see big threats and very small results." -- Rob Scott, director of trade and manufacturing research at the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute. "What we haven't seen so far is real strategic thinking from this administration."--  Derek Scissors, a trade expert at the American Enterprise Institute. "The instability being injected into the U.S. economy is self-destructive." -- Bryan Riley, the free trade director at the National Taxpayers Union.   What comes next: It's possible that by the end of May, Trump will have imposed steep tariffs on longstanding allies, withdrawn from NAFTA and escalated a trade war with China.  Or, Trump's trade team may have a negotiated a new NAFTA, worked out deals on the steel and aluminum tariffs and launched a new era of U.S.-China trade. We won't know for a while.     LEADING THE DAY White House to request $11 billion in spending cuts:  The White House plans to ask Congress for $11 billion in discretionary spending cuts, a GOP aide told The Hill, a significant decrease from earlier ambitions to cut as much as $60 billion. The package of cuts, first reported by Politico, would come in the form of a rescissions request from the president as soon as Monday. Congress has 45 days to act on such requests. An administration official emphasized that the package has yet to be finalized. "While discussions are ongoing and the final number is still in flux, it's important to note that this package will be the first in a series," the official said. Many congressional Republicans are wary of cutting back spending in the aftermath of the bipartisan spending deal in March, in which Democrats agreed to higher defense spending in exchange for higher levels of nondefense funding.   Soy long? Farewell. The head of top U.S. food company Bunge Ltd. revealed that China has essentially stopped purchasing soybeans from the U.S. and has instead turned to countries such as Canada and Brazil amid trade tensions. "Whatever they're buying is non-U.S.," Bunge Ltd. CEO Soren Schroder told Bloomberg on Wednesday. "They're buying beans in Canada, in Brazil, mostly Brazil, but very deliberately not buying anything from the U.S." Schroder's comments come as trade tensions between the U.S. and China have ratcheted up over the past month.  China responded to tariffs levied by President Trump last month through slapping their own tariffs on U.S. goods, including targeting American soybeans.  Schroder told Bloomberg that it is "very clear" that the tensions between China and the U.S. have deterred the Chinese from buying U.S. goods. "How long that will last, who knows? But so long as there is this big cloud of uncertainty, that's likely to continue," he said.   Company drops case against consumer bureau: A New Jersey-based mortgage company declined this week to appeal a federal ruling in its watershed suit against the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). A spokesman for PHH Corp. on Thursday told The Hill that the mortgage firm did not appeal a January ruling in its suit against the CFPB to the Supreme Court by the May deadline to do so. PHH had sued the CFPB over a $103 million fine issued by the bureau in 2015 over alleged violations of lending laws. The company disputed the CFPB's defense for the fine and claimed the bureau had no authority to issue it because its structure was unconstitutional. The U.S Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled in January that the CFPB's structure was constitutional, but reimbursed PHH for what it considered an inappropriate fine. I've got more here. So what? PHH's decision not to appeal the January ruling resolves one of several legal threats to the CFPB's structure. The 5th District Court of Appeals will also hear a challenge to the CFPB's constitutionality, and a ruling against the bureau could prompt the Supreme Court to resolve the issue itself. MARKET CHECK: Stocks rallied late Thursday to erase most of the morning's massive losses. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed five points higher after losing as many as 400 points on the day. The Nasdaq and S&P 500 closed with losses around 0.20 percent after similar dives.   GOOD TO KNOW Goldman Sachs is moving ahead with plans to set up what appears to be the first Bitcoin trading operation at a Wall Street bank. The world economy showed signs of stabilizing as manufacturing activity strengthened for the first time this year. The difference between open and closed trade policies could cost the U.S. economy $2 trillion by 2022, according to a study by a consortium of analysts. Bank of America is being sued for allegedly refusing to hire a recipient of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is seeking an order forcing rapper and entrepreneur Jay-Z, whose real name is Shawn Carter, to comply with a subpoena for testimony, the agency announced Thursday.   ODDS AND ENDS Elon Musk's behavior on a Tesla conference call on Wednesday raised questions about his relationship with Wall Street and the company's fiscal viability.     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.

Overnight Health Care — Sponsored by PCMA — Conservative groups working on new ObamaCare replacement plan | Trump pushes for fix to VA program | FDA chief hints at changes to drug rebates

Sponsored by Pharmaceutical Care Management Association | View in Browser     Welcome to Overnight Health Care, sponsored by the Pharmaceutical Care Management Association.    Happy recess Thursday. Conservative groups haven't given up on repealing ObamaCare, even if the chances for action are slim. Keeping reading for more on their new effort. Also today, health officials keep dropping hints about President Trump's big drug pricing rollout next week, and the House Veterans Affairs Committee introduced a bill to reauthorize a key veterans health care program.   But first... Conservative groups aim to unveil ObamaCare replacement plan this month. Conservative groups are working on a new ObamaCare replacement plan even though their effort has virtually no chance of moving in Congress this year. Why? It's part of a push to keep the repeal dream alive despite the obstacles, including from GOP leadership. "This is outside-in and bottom-up," said Marie Fishpaw of the Heritage Foundation. Who is on board? It's being led by the Heritage Foundation, the Galen Institute and former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.). The White House too. "The White House fully supports the efforts of a broad coalition working to address the Obamacare disaster and increase affordable healthcare options for middle-class Americans," deputy press secretary Hogan Gidley said in a statement. White House officials have been attending some of the meetings, Fishpaw confirmed. Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) has moved on. Cassidy helped draft the namesake Graham-Cassidy replacement bill that failed to advance. "Graham-Cassidy is dead, but skyrocketing health care costs still need to be addressed," a Cassidy spokesman said. "Our focus is on new solutions and new ideas that lower costs for families and reflect the latest developments in the health care marketplace." The details: Like Graham-Cassidy, there are block grants to states in the conservative proposal, but unlike Graham-Cassidy there is no cap on Medicaid payments. Pre-existing condition protections still up in the air. Read more here.       SPONSORED CONTENT   Pharmaceutical Care Management Association Pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) are hired by employers, unions, and government programs to negotiate aggressive discounts from drug companies and drugstores.  PBMs continue to keep overall spending and out-of-pocket costs down despite massive price hikes by drugmakers. Learn how PBMs are part of the solution to reducing Rx costs at DrugBenefitSolutions.com.       FDA chief hints at changes to drug rebates. Just days ahead of the rollout of President Trump's anticipated drug pricing initiative, the head of the FDA suggested officials might take another look at the legal status of rebates paid by drug companies to insurers and pharmacy benefit managers. In a speech on Thursday, FDA commissioner Scott Gottlieb said if the federal anti-kickback law that protects such rebates were changed, it could help increase competition and make drugs more affordable. "One of the dynamics I've talked about before that's driving higher and higher list prices is the system of rebates between payers and manufacturers," Gottlieb said. "And so what if we took on this system directly, by having the federal government reexamine the current safe harbor for drug rebates?" Policy hints: Gottlieb discussed some of what the new drug pricing initiative will look like, but didn't go into much detail. Some hints: One piece involves HHS Secretary Alex Azar making a series of changes to "the pricing mechanisms" of Medicare Part D. Stopping brand-name drug companies from gaming the system in order to keep generic competition off the market. A warning to drug companies: "I can tell you that the framework ... will dismantle many of the provisions that shield parts of the drug industry from more vigorous competition," Gottlieb said.     Changes for VA health program? President Trump urged Congress to "fix" a veterans' health-care program hours after the chairman of the House Veterans' Affairs Committee reintroduced a plan to do so. "This spring marks [four years] since the Phoenix VA crisis. We won't forget what happened to our GREAT VETS," Trump tweeted. What's at issue: Trump is referring to the Veterans Choice Program, which was created in the wake of the 2014 wait-time scandal that started with the Phoenix Veterans Affairs health-care system. It allows some veterans to see private doctors, but only in cases where they have to wait more than 30 days for an appointment or drive more than 40 miles to a facility. New bill: House Veterans' Affairs Committee Chairman Phil Roe (R-Tenn.) reintroduced legislation that would overhaul private-care options for veterans enrolled in the VA health system. The bill would: Expand caregiver benefits for older veterans and create a process for closing excess facilities. Expand the ranks of veterans eligible to see private-sector health specialists, as well as entitle veterans enrolled in the system to see a private doctor without a co-pay twice a year. Allocate $5.2 billion to keep the Choice program funded until the new program is implemented. The controversy: Privatization. The bill was originally negotiated as part of the massive government spending bill Congress passed in March, but was stripped out after last-minute objections by House Democrats, who feel it moves too far toward privatizing the VA. Read more here.   We get it... you vape. The FDA is giving wide leeway to electronic cigarettes as it attempts to push people away from traditional tobacco products. In the last year, the agency has taken initial steps to place further curbs on traditional cigarettes even as it has eased new rules on the vaping industry that were issued by the Obama administration. FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb is walking a fine line as he attempts to balance the regulation of two types of tobacco products. FDA officials say the goal is to spur innovation of products that may be less harmful for adults, but health advocates are skeptical. They think the agency is pushing smokers away from one harmful product right into another one, and argue the research on the health effects of e-cigarettes is still too new for products to remain on the market unregulated. Read more here.         SPONSORED CONTENT   Pharmaceutical Care Management Association Pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) have outlined several policy solutions to ensure patients receive opioid prescriptions when safe and medically appropriate. One important solution would be requiring e-prescribing of controlled substances in Medicare (S. 2460 / H.R. 3528, the Every Prescription Conveyed Securely Act). A new study by the Opioid Safety Alliance finds this could save taxpayers $13 billion over 10 years.       What we're reading 'A Persistent Puzzle': Californians Embrace Medicaid -- But Food Stamps? Not So Much. (Kaiser Health News) New Front on Opioid Litigation: Suits Over Rising Premiums​ (The Wall Street Journal) Here's why it's a nightmare to lower U.S. drug prices  (The Washington Post's Health 202 newsletter)   State by state    Alcohol abuse, drug overdoses and suicides. "Deaths of despair" drag down Kentucky's health rank (Lexington Herald Leader) Inadequate oversight allows poor care at California nursing homes to go unchecked, state audit finds (Kaiser Health News) Ban on abortion after 15 weeks nearing passage in Louisiana (The Associated Press)   From The Hill's opinion pages Tom Price: My remarks on individual mandate repeal were taken completely out of context   Say it with me: Democrats are the party of health care Stroke Awareness Month -- enacting better protocols can save lives     Send tips and comments to Jessie Hellmann, jhellmann@thehill.com; Peter Sullivan, psullivan@thehill.com; Rachel Roubein, rroubein@thehill.com; and Nathaniel Weixel, nweixel@thehill.com. Follow us on Twitter: @thehill, @jessiehellmann, @PeterSullivan4, @rachel_roubein, and @NateWeixel.         Did a friend forward you this email? 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Breaking News: Ryan backs down on House chaplain resignation

View in your browser     Ryan backs down on House chaplain resignation Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) has backed down on his controversial decision to dismiss the House chaplain, saying he will let Father Patrick Conroy stay on through the rest of his term. Ryan said in a statement Thursday that he has accepted a request from Conroy to rescind his resignation letter, which Ryan had asked the chaplain to submit. Read the full story here         Did a friend forward you this email? Sign up for Breaking News     Forward Breaking News     You Might Like       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.