Overnight Energy: Poll finds majority oppose Trump offshore drilling plan | Senators say Trump endorsed ethanol deal | Automaker group wants to keep increasing efficiency standards

View in your browser     MAJORITY OF VOTERS OPPOSE TRUMP'S OFFSHORE DRILLING PLAN: More than half of voters oppose proposed plans by the Trump administration to expand oil and gas drilling off coastal states, according to a poll out Tuesday. The survey conducted by the Program for Public Consultation at the University of Maryland found that 60 percent of voters surveyed are against the Interior Department's plan to lift a ban on oil drilling along coastlines and expand drilling around Alaska. Additionally, 70 percent of respondents supported states' rights to request a drilling exemption through a waiver, the study found. Support for lifting the ban on drilling largely fell along party lines. Democrats and independents opposed lifting the ban by 86 and 60 percent, respectively, and similarly supported granting states waiver authority by 86 and 65 percent, respectively. On the other hand, two-thirds of Republicans surveyed supported lifting the offshore drilling ban, with 56 percent of Republicans supporting state waiver rights. When the study asked respondents who lived in one of the 15 coastal U.S. states currently requesting an exemption, 88 percent of Democrats approved of their state's request, as did 50 percent of Republicans. Why it matters: The poll comes at a time when states are mulling over the authority they have to deny the Trump administration its plan to expand offshore drilling on the coast to increase profits from oil and gas royalties. Currently, most coastal states that would be affected have requested a waiver. Interior Department Secretary Ryan Zinke admitted in a hearing last month that oil and gas company interest in offshore drilling is also significantly lower than their interest in land drilling. Read more here.     SENATORS SAY TRUMP AGREED TO ETHANOL DEAL: President Trump has agreed to make a handful of changes to the federal ethanol mandate sought by oil and ethanol interests, according to senators who met with the president Tuesday. The changes are meant to reduce the prices of credits that oil refiners buy if they can't blend ethanol into their fuels -- a win for refiners -- and to allow higher concentrations of ethanol to be sold year-round -- a win for the ethanol and corn industries. The changes to the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) program, all of which Trump will reportedly seek to make through regulatory or executive action, will be the most concrete result from months of efforts by oil- and corn-state Republican senators to push Trump to act. "The president's deal will save the jobs of thousands of blue-collar union workers working at refineries in Pennsylvania, in Texas and across the country," Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who met with Trump earlier Tuesday, told reporters. Allowing sales of higher ethanol concentrations "is a big, big win for corn farmers," Cruz said, estimating it would spur 700 million gallons of new ethanol sales a year. Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.), whose state hosts the East Coast's largest refinery, called the deal an "agreement in principal," and said some important details need to be worked out. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), whose state dominates the country in corn ethanol production, confirmed the deal via Twitter, but noted the "devil [is] in details." All three GOP senators were in the meeting, along with Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa). The details are due to be fleshed out by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of Agriculture. The White House did not respond to a request for comment. Under the deal, ethanol produced domestically and sold abroad would for the first time count toward minimum sales volumes that the EPA sets each year under the RFS. That is meant to make it easier for the industry to meet the annual volumes, and reduce pressure for domestic fuel refiners to buy ethanol or blending credits, pushing prices down. Read more.   AUTOMAKERS' GROUP DOESN'T WANT EFFICIENCY FREEZE: One of the nation's main automaker lobbying groups opposes the Trump administration's proposal to stop increasing federal fuel efficiency standards. Mitch Bainwol, head of the Auto Alliance, told lawmakers Tuesday that his group instead wants federal regulators in the EPA and the Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to implement standards that increase each year. "We're hopeful that the slope continues to rise," Bainwol told Rep. Jerry McNerney (D-Calif.), when the congressman asked about reports that the Trump administration wants to freeze standards in 2020 and stop increasing them after that. "We're in favor of year-over-year fuel efficiency [increases]," Bainwol continued at the hearing of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Environment. The administration is planning soon to propose that the standards on car efficiency and greenhouse gas emissions enforced by the two agencies stop increasing in 2020, people familiar with the matter said. Read more.   DOE WANTS TO BUILD SMALL COAL PLANTS 'OF THE FUTURE': The Department of Energy (DOE) is seeking comment on plans to invest in the development of small-scale, modular coal plants they are deeming the "power plants of the future." DOE submitted a request for information Tuesday to gather input from stakeholders on developing pilot versions of the plants, for construction by 2025. "The coal-based pilot plant will be used as the basis for scaling up to a commercial offering that is highly efficient (40 percent or greater higher heating value), modular (unit sizes of approximately 50 to 350 [megawatts]), and economical for both international and domestic power generation," according to the request. The request marks a shift for the government from investment in carbon capture technologies to reduce emissions from coal plants to the development of more efficient coal plants without the capture technologies. The guidance though does say the pilot plants must be "carbon capture ready." It's more common for the words "small" and "modular" to be applied to nuclear reactor technologies. The U.S. is largely known for behemoth coal plants that are hard to turn off. The DOE's push toward developing smaller scale plants indicates President Trump's desire to revive coal, despite the industry seeing revenue drop. Read more here.   TODAY'S SCOTT PRUITT NEWS: -White House aides telling Trump to fire Pruitt: report -Trump's support for embattled Pruitt could be wavering   ON TAP WEDNESDAY: Energy Secretary Rick Perry will head to the House Science Committee to testify on his department's budget request for fiscal 2019. The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee's subpanel on federal lands will hold a hearing on law enforcement programs at the Bureau of Land Management and the Forest Service. The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee will meet to vote on its water infrastructure legislation.   OUTSIDE THE BELTWAY: The San Jose water agency approved funding of up to $650 million to build Gov. Jerry Brown's Delta tunnels project, the Mercury News reports. A California judge affirmed an earlier ruling that coffee sold in the state must carry cancer warnings, the Associated Press reports. The international environmental impact of tourism is about three times bigger than previously estimated, BBC News reports.   IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Check out Tuesday's stories ... -Puerto Rico's electric grid under scrutiny as new hurricane season looms -Trump officials seek ideas on coal 'power plants of the future' -Trump agrees to ethanol mandate changes, senators say -Senators unveil bipartisan water infrastructure bill -Automaker lobby opposes Trump proposal to freeze fuel efficiency standards -Majority of voters oppose Trump offshore drilling plan: poll -White House aides telling Trump to fire Pruitt: report -EPA pesticide settlement comes under scrutiny     Please send tips and comments to Timothy Cama, tcama@thehill.com; and Miranda Green, mgreen@thehill.com. Follow us on Twitter: @Timothy_Cama, @mirandacgreen, @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: Deal on Dodd-Frank rollback | Trump pulls US out of Iran nuke deal | House votes to repeal auto-loan guidance, setting new precedent

View in your browser     Happy Tuesday and welcome back to Overnight Finance, where we stopped enriching uranium a long time ago. 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: Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) said Tuesday that the House and Senate have struck a deal to pass the upper chamber's bipartisan bill to roll back strict financial rules enacted by former President Obama. Ryan told reporters at the Capitol that the House will hold a vote on the Senate bill targeting the Dodd-Frank Act in exchange for the Senate taking up a package of bills from the House Financial Services Committee. "We've got an agreement on moving different pieces of legislation, so we will be moving the Dodd-Frank bill," Ryan said. Ryan didn't say when a vote would take place, if it would happen before Memorial Day or what House bills the Senate would take up. House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), who controls the House floor schedule, said he would announce when the lower chamber will vote on the Senate bill "soon." A deal between the House and Senate would clear the way for Congress to pass the biggest changes to the Dodd-Frank financial rules since the law was enacted in 2010. I've got more here on what a deal might look like and what's left for congressional leaders to do.   What we know: House GOP leaders have agreed to hold a vote on the Senate bill, while the Senate has agreed to vote on a package of House bills meant to help small businesses access investment. The House will likely vote first on the Senate bill, followed by a Senate vote on the House measures. House GOP leaders are pushing for the package to include bills from the Financial Services Committee that have received the support of at least two-thirds of the whole House. These votes are expected to happen within a month.   What we don't know: It's unclear which House bills will be in the Senate's package. We're not sure if these votes will happen before or after Congress breaks for a Memorial Day recess.   Reactions: "We have been working closely with the Speaker and Chairman Hensarling to get S.2155 to the President's desk and I'm glad this will be happening soon." -- Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). "We want to see those bills get done. It's time that they help us with some of our bills as well as we worked with them on theirs." -- Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-Mo.), a senior member of the House Financial Services Committee. "This is proof that we can accomplish great things when we work together and put politics aside." -- Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.). "My goal has always been to get as many of our pro-growth bipartisan House bills on President Trump's desk as possible." -- House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas). "We have to see the big picture, and Main Street and the community banks are just ready for this to happen." -- Rep. Roger Williams (R-Texas), member of the House Financial Services Committee.     On tap tomorrow American Enterprise Institute hosts an event on threats to U.S. community banks featuring Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-Mo.), 8:30 a.m. House Education and the Workforce Committee: Hearing entitled "Closing the Skills Gap: Private sector solutions for America's workforce," 10 a.m. House Oversight and Government Reform Committee: Hearing entitled "Program Integrity for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program," 10 a.m. House Ways and Means Committee: Hearing entitled "Jobs and Opportunity: Legislative Options to Address the Jobs Gap," 10 a.m.   LEADING THE DAY Trump pulls US out of Iran nuclear deal: President Trump announced Tuesday that he will withdraw the United States from the Iran nuclear deal, breaking with European allies, fulfilling a major campaign promise and dealing a significant blow to the international agreement negotiated by his predecessor. "Today's action sends a critical message: the United States no longer makes empty threats," a triumphant Trump said during a televised address from the Diplomatic Room of the White House as Vice President Pence, national security adviser John Bolton and others looked on. The president called the accord put in place under former President Barack Obama in 2015 "a horrible, one-sided deal that should have never, ever been made."   "It didn't bring calm, it didn't bring peace, and it never will," he added. Trump said old sanctions will be reimposed and that the U.S. "will be instituting the highest level of economic sanction." The Hill's Rebecca Kheel and Jordan Fabian have more on today's announcement.   About those sanctions: Bloomberg News: "President Donald Trump's decision to reimpose sanctions on Iran threatens to tighten global oil markets and could derail tens of billions of dollars in business deals. "But the 'snap-back' of penalties on Iran isn't immediate, instead kicking in over six months. That could allow time to negotiate a new accord to replace or supplement the deal agreed to during Barack Obama's presidency." CNBC: Here are the sanctions that will snap back into place now that Trump has pulled the U.S. out of the Iran nuclear deal   House votes to repeal auto-loan guidance, setting new precedent: The House voted Tuesday to repeal a controversial edict on auto lending from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), capping off an unprecedented use of congressional powers that could give Republicans a new way to reverse regulations. Republicans and a group of Democrats passed a resolution to repeal the CFPB's 2013 guidance on "dealer markups," which is the additional interest an auto dealer adds to a third-party loan as extra compensation. The measure to repeal the 2013 policy, which is not a formal federal rule, passed the Senate last month. President Trump is expected to sign the resolution. If he does, it would be the first time Congress used its powers under the Congressional Review Act (CRA) to repeal an informal federal policy. Lawmakers voted along party lines to repeal the CFPB guidance, with 223 Republicans and 11 Democrats supporting the resolution. The measure, if signed by Trump, would strike the CFPB auto-lending policy from the books and ban the bureau from issuing a similar rule in the future. I've got more here on today's historic vote. What comes next: President Trump is likely to sign the repeal resolution within days.   MARKET CHECK: Stocks closed little-changed on Tuesday, with all three major indexes posting almost identical totals to Monday's close. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose by 0.01 percent Tuesday, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq lost 0.03 percent and gained 0.02 percent respectively.   GOOD TO KNOW  President Trump on Tuesday officially asked Congress to rescind $15.4 billion in spending from previously approved funds, the largest single such request from a White House and the first in nearly two decades. Job openings in the U.S. hit a record high in March with 6.6 million jobs advertised, according to a report released by the Labor Department on Tuesday. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) is asking big banks to detail how they plan to help American workers following the enactment of the GOP tax-cut law. Credit reporting agency Equifax recently sent more details to Congress about its massive data breach last year, which impacted over 145 million Americans.  The White House is dragging out the nomination of a permanent director for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to ensure that acting CFPB Director Mick Mulvaney calls the shots at the agency until the end of the year or longer, according to American Banker.   ODDS AND ENDS A judge is ordering Jay-Z to testify in an SEC probe. The tradition of giving former Speakers of the House an office and staff is coming to an end following a quiet bout of one-upmanship between Paul Ryan and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), a former Speaker herself. Gary Cohn, the former top economic adviser to President Trump, said Tuesday he feels "happier" since leaving his White House job and doubled down on his anti-tariff views that led to his departure.     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.

News Alert: Five takeaways from Trump’s Iran announcement

View in your browser     Five takeaways from Trump’s Iran announcement President Trump announced on Tuesday that the United States would pull out of the Iran nuclear deal. Trump had long expressed dismay at the terms of the agreement, negotiated during President Obama’s second term in office and signed in 2015. Beyond the decision to abandon what he called a “horrible, one-sided deal,” what were the main takeaways from his announcement? Read the full story here           Did a friend forward you this email? Sign up for News Alerts     Forward News Alerts     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.