Overnight Defense: Senate confirms Haspel as CIA chief | Trump offers Kim 'protections' if he gives up nukes | Dem amendments target Trump military parade

View in your browser     Happy Thursday and welcome to Overnight Defense. I'm Ellen Mitchell, and here's your nightly guide to the latest developments at the Pentagon, on Capitol Hill and beyond.   THE TOPLINE: The Senate on Thursday confirmed Gina Haspel to lead the CIA despite engrained opposition over her involvement in the George W. Bush-era enhanced interrogation program. Senators voted 54-45 to confirm Haspel, making her the first female director of the spy agency.   Who supported her: Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), the vice chairman of the Intelligence Committee, Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) and red- and purple-state Democratic Sens. Joe Donnelly (Ind.), Joe Manchin (W.Va.), Bill Nelson(Fla.) and Heidi Heitkamp (N.D.) supported the nominee.   And who didn't: GOP Sens. Rand Paul (Ky.) and Jeff Flake (Ariz.) sided with most Democrats in voting against Haspel. GOP Sen. John McCain (Ariz.), who was captured and tortured during the Vietnam War, also opposes her nomination but is in Arizona undergoing treatment for brain cancer.   The issue: Haspel is a veteran CIA official who has been with the agency for more than 30 years and by all accounts is well-liked by her colleagues. But her nomination received roughly half the support from Democrats that now-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, a former House member, received last year when he was confirmed as President Trump's first CIA chief. Her nomination was immersed almost immediately by controversy because of her involvement in the agency's post-Sept. 11 use of "enhanced interrogation techniques" -- now widely viewed as torture. In particular, senators homed in on her time spent running a CIA black site and role in the destruction of videotapes documenting the interrogation of an al Qaeda suspect.   What brought lawmakers around: The CIA and the White House launched an all-out charm offensive in order to build support for Haspel's nomination, playing up politically favorable aspects of her largely secret career, including her work on Russia. Haspel herself worked to distance herself from the CIA's former interrogation techniques. She said during her confirmation hearing before the Senate Intelligence Committee the program would not be restarted under her leadership, but dodged Democratic questions about the program's morality. She went a step further in a letter this week to Warner, saying the agency should not have used the so-called "enhanced interrogation" techniques.   TRUMP OFFERS NORTH KOREA 'PROTECTIONS' IF IT GIVES UP NUKES: Trump on Thursday sought to reassure North Korean leader Kim Jong Un after Kim's government threatened to pull out of the upcoming nuclear summit with the United States. Speaking to reporters at the White House, Trump said he is "willing to do a lot" to offer Kim "protections" if the North Korean leader agrees to surrender his nuclear weapons.  He will get protections that are very strong," Trump said during an Oval Office meeting with NATO's secretary-general. "The best thing he could do is make a deal."   Why this matters: Trump's comments show he is eager to address North Korea's concerns so the summit can take place.  Nuclear diplomacy with Pyongyang is the president's top foreign policy priority, so it would be major blow to Trump if the talks with Kim fell through.   The background: North Korea threw the June 12 summit into doubt on Wednesday when it said it may not show up if the U.S. continues to demand "unilateral" nuclear disarmament.  Kim has been reluctant to denuclearize because he believes his arsenal is critical to his ability to maintain power. North Korean officials blasted national security adviser John Bolton this week for saying the U.S. is seeking a "Libya model" with North Korea. Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi was forced from power in 2011 with the help of NATO forces just eight years after striking a deal with the U.S. to give up his nuclear weapons. He was captured and killed that same year.   But the White House is moving forward: The president said preparations for the meeting are moving ahead "as if nothing happened," adding the U.S. has not heard official word from the North Koreans about any intention to pull out.  "Our people are literally dealing with them right now in terms of making arrangements, so that's a lot different than what you read, but oftentimes what you read, if it's not fake news, is true," he said.   And the Pentagon says no changes made to drills with S. Korea: The Pentagon's top spokeswoman on Thursday said there was no discussion of scaling back planned military exercises between the United States and South Korea ahead of the June meeting between President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. "There has been no discussion of that," Dana White said when asked whether there was any talk of scaling back future drills to ensure the U.S.-North Korea summit goes forward.   LAST MINUTE DEFENSE BILL AMENDMENTS: Thursday was the deadline to add amendments to the House's fiscal 2019 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). As of Thursday evening, lawmakers had submitted more than 500. The House Rules Committee plans to vote on whether to allow floor consideration of the individual amendments next week.  Here are the notable amendments so far:   Dems target Trump's military parade: As it stands now, the NDAA would authorize a parade that includes small arms and munitions "appropriate for customary ceremonial honors" and military units that "perform customary ceremonial duties." It would prohibit motorized vehicles, aviation platforms, munitions other than the ceremonial ones, operational military units or operational military platforms if Defense Secretary James Mattis determines that would hamper readiness, but it would not require Mattis to certify to Congress that readiness won't be affected. But one amendment, offered by Rep. Brad Schneider (D-Ill.), would add a certification requirement to the bill. Another, from Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) and Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.), would aim to block the parade altogether by prohibiting funding for "any exhibition or parade of military forces and hardware for review by the president in order to demonstrate military force outside of authorized military operations or activities.''   Amendment looks to block F-35s from Turkey: House Foreign Affairs Committee member David Cicilline (D-R.I.) is looking to block an F-35 sale to Ankara until Trump certifies that the nation is not "taking steps to degrade NATO interoperability, exposing NATO assets to hostile actors," or "degrading the general security of NATO member states." It also must not be "seeking to import or purchase defense articles from a foreign country with respect to which sanctions are imposed by the United States; wrongfully or unlawfully detaining one or more nationals of the United States ... or engaging in military action without taking proper steps to ensure that international legal norms are followed to prevent civilian deaths and suffering." Washington is poised to hand over the first of an eventual 116 F-35 Lightning II fighters to Turkey, which has committed to buy the F-35A variant under the U.S.-led, multinational Joint Strike Fighter program.   Dem wants to block using military bases to house children immigrants: Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) introduced an amendment to the NDAA that would block the Trump administration from using military bases to house children immigrating illegally who have been forcibly separated from their parents. "It's heartless and shameful that the Trump administration is ripping families apart and even considering keeping kids who are separated from their parents at the border on U.S. military bases," Connolly said in a statement. "My amendment to the [National Defense Authorization Act] would stop this cruel policy." The Hill reported Tuesday on an internal Pentagon email that said Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) officials are set to visit land parcels on four military installations to determine whether they are suitable to house unaccompanied minors or those separated from their families who have crossed the southwest border illegally.   Lawmakers take aim at Chinese tech giants: Several lawmakers attempted to insert amendments into the NDAA aimed at keeping products from Chinese tech giants like ZTE and Huawei out of the U.S. over national security concerns. The moves come after President Trump surprised observers earlier this week by tweeting he would work help get ZTE "back into business, fast" after the company shuttered its operations due to U.S. penalties for allegedly evading sanctions. One amendment drafted by Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) proposed that the heads of government agencies report to Congress "any quid pro quo offers between the United States Government and the Government of the People's Republic of China to ensure the United States will reduce penalties, sanctions, or any other punitive action" against ZTE. Another by Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) would compel the director of national intelligence to provide Congress with an assessment of the national security implications of Trump's proposal to reduce penalties on ZTE. Two more amendments from Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) and Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.) would mandate that President Trump bar ZTE and its larger Chinese mobile phone competitor, Huawei, from bringing their telecommunications equipment into the U.S. until the administration receives confirmation that such companies don't pose a threat to national security.   ON TAP FOR TOMORROW The Center for Strategic and international Studies will hold The Future of Force Forum starting at 8:30 a.m. in Washington, DC.  The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace will hold a discussion on brokering peace in nuclear environments. 10 a.m. in Washington, DC.  The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace will hold another discussion on what's next after the Iran deal at 11:30 a.m. in Washington, DC.    ICYMI -- The Hill: Air Force apologizes for tweet using 'Laurel vs. Yanny' meme to promote mission against Taliban -- The Hill: Air Force: Taliban would rather hear 'Yanny' or 'Laurel' than roar of A-10 -- The Hill: Dem lawmaker moves to block White House from eliminating cyber post -- The Hill: Assad meets with Putin in Russia -- The Hill: South Korea offers to play mediator between US, North Korea -- Defense News: Lawmakers seek registry for military water contamination cancers, illnesses -- Reuters: New U.S. sanctions hit at Hezbollah-linked financier, companies     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: EPA moves to roll back chemical plant safety rule | Trump NASA chief says humans contribute to climate change | Pruitt gets outside lawyer

View in your browser     EPA WANTS TO ROLL BACK CHEMICAL PLANT SAFETY RULE: The Trump administration wants to roll back some key parts of a major Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rule meant to reduce the risks of chemical plant disasters. The proposal to tweak the Risk Management Program rule aligns with the wishes of the chemical industry, which argued that the original January 2017 regulation from the Obama administration was too expensive and unnecessarily burdensome. From the top: "Accident prevention is a top priority at EPA, and this proposed rule will ensure proper emergency planning and continue the trend of fewer significant accidents involving chemicals," EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt said in a Thursday statement announcing the proposal. "The rule proposes to reduce unnecessary regulatory burdens, address the concerns of stakeholders and emergency responders on the ground, and save Americans roughly $88 million a year." What the roll back would entail: Thursday's proposal would eliminate or ease some major pieces of the rule, including requirements that plant owners consider safer alternatives to various technologies, get third-party audits to check for compliance with accident prevention rules, conduct "root cause" analyses after incidents and disclose certain information to the community about operations. Other big parts of the rule now have delayed implementation dates, like provisions on coordination with local emergency services and exercises for emergency situations. The EPA argued that those changes, sought by industry groups and companies, would answer security concerns, reduce unnecessary regulatory costs and better align the standards with worker safety rules. The $88 million estimated savings would come mostly from removing the requirement to consider safer alternatives, with other savings coming from eliminating audits and root-cause investigations. Why it matters: The Risk Management Plan rule is a prime example of the Trump administration's environmental agenda: implementing regulatory rollbacks long sought by industry and the GOP in an attempt to reduce costs. But the chemical rule has also been one of the most vocally contested Trump administration rollbacks. The EPA delayed its implementation multiple times -- and went to court to defend the delays -- while it figured out what revisions to make. The rule has also provided key arguments for greens and Democrats against the Trump agenda. They see the Obama rule as a strong attempt to stop chemical plant disasters, and the Trump actions as increasing those risks. What's next: In the coming days, the proposal will be published in the Federal Register, opening a 60-day public comment period. The EPA would then have to analyze those comments before it can make the changes final. That action would open the rule to lawsuits, which are nearly guaranteed, from environmentalists and Democratic states. We break it all down here.   TRUMP'S NASA CHIEF SAYS HUMANS CONTRIBUTING TO CLIMATE CHANGE: A former Republican lawmaker and newly confirmed head of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) says that climate change is happening and humans are contributing to climate change in a "major way." Speaking to employees at his first town hall Thursday, Jim Bridenstine said, "I don't deny the consensus that the climate is changing in fact I fully believe and know that the climate is changing. I also know that we human beings are contributing to it in a major way." He added: "Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas. We are putting it to the atmosphere in volumes that we haven't seen and that greenhouse gas is warming the planet. That is absolutely happening and we are responsible for it. Bridenstine, a former Oklahoma Congressman, was narrowly confirmed to lead NASA in April after facing a months-long confirmation process due to Democratic and some Republican opposition to his nomination. Democrats argued that he was unqualified for the high-profile scientific spot and too divisive of a politician. As a Republican, Bridenstine had a clear record of denying humans are adding to climate change. Why the change is notable: During his Senate confirmation last November, Bridenstine wouldn't say how much humans were contributing to climate change. "I believe carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas. I believe that humans are contributing to carbon dioxide in the atmosphere," he said. Asked if they were the primary cause of global warming Bridenstine responded, "It's going to depend on a whole lot of factors, and we're still learning more about that every day. In some years, you could say absolutely. In other years, during sun cycles and other things, there are other contributing factors that would have more of an impact." Read more about his comments here.   PRUITT LAWYERS UP: Scott Pruitt has reportedly hired an outside defense attorney after a string of federal investigations into controversies related to his ethics and spending as head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Pruitt recently hired white-collar defense lawyer Paul Rauser to advise him as he and the agency deal with 12 separate investigations from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and the EPA inspector general's office, according to Politico. Rauser, co-founder of the firm Aegis Law Group, has reportedly been advising Pruitt for weeks now as the EPA chief faces scrutiny over his rental of a $50-a-night condo from the wife of an energy lobbyist, the construction of a $43,000 soundproof booth found to be in violation of congressional laws and major raises given to close aides. According to a description on his website, Rauser's practice focuses on high-stakes commercial litigation, internal investigations and white-collar criminal defense. The website lists his clientele as those operating in "heightened-risk environments" including those facing charges of securities fraud, financial crimes and foreign corrupt practices. We have more here.   WATER INFRASTRUCTURE BILL COMING FRIDAY: The House's bipartisan water infrastructure bill will be introduced formally Friday. It's lead sponsor, House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Bill Shuster (R-Pa.), told The Hill a panel will mark up the bill to reauthorize the Water Resources Development Act May 23. A senior House GOP aide said the legislation will be bipartisan and will include two Republican and two Democratic co-sponsors. The biennial water infrastructure bill is one of several pieces of legislation House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) has referenced as part of President Trump's push for an infrastructure overhaul. Congress regularly takes up the water resources bill every two years. The Senate last week unveiled its own bipartisan version of the legislation, which was introduced by Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairman John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) and ranking member Tom Carper (D-Del.). Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.), who chairs the panel's Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee, and subcommittee ranking member Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) joined Barrasso and Carper in released the bill. Read more.   OUTSIDE THE BELTWAY: Canadian pipeline company Enbridge Inc. is plotting a $11.4 billion restructuring after the U.S. tax bill killed off a key loophole, the Canadian Press reports. The European Commission is taking six European nations to court, saying they haven't done enough to reduce air pollution levels, the Guardian reports. The energy use from Bitcoin could reach the level of the entirety of Austria's consumption, Mashable reports.   IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Check out Thursday's stories... -Trump's new NASA head: Humans contributing in 'major way' to climate change -Trump officials propose easing EPA chemical plant safety rule -Interior official expected 'no new information' from national monument public comments -Nonprofit sues Forest Service for denying medical aid to pipeline protestor -GOP lawmaker says rocks falling into ocean to blame for rising sea levels -Pruitt hires outside attorney as investigations mount: report     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: Watchdog weighs probe into handling of Cohen bank records | Immigration fight threatens farm bill | House panel rebukes Trump on ZTE | Trump raises doubts about trade deal with China

View in your browser     Happy Thursday and welcome back to Overnight Finance, where we're celebrating the return of untainted romaine lettuce. 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: The Treasury Department's internal watchdog is considering a request to probe the alleged disappearance of records from bank accounts held by President Trump's personal attorney, Michael Cohen. Sen. Ron Wyden (Ore.), the ranking Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, asked the Treasury inspector general to investigate whether suspicious activity reports on Cohen's bank accounts were removed from a closely guarded Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) database, citing a New Yorker story this week alleging as much. "We have received Senator Wyden's request that we look into how FinCEN manages the SAR database, and are developing our plan to carry out the request," Rich Delmar, counsel to the Treasury inspector general, told The Hill. FinCEN, an agency housed under the Treasury Department, investigates money laundering, illicit finance and other financial crimes. The agency also reviews suspicious activity reports from banks on questionable transactions of more than $10,000. A federal law enforcement official told The New Yorker that he leaked suspicious activity reports from accounts held by Cohen after noticing two other similar records were missing from a FinCEN database. I explain it here.   FinCEN: Access to records such as Cohen's is sometimes restricted: The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) said in a Thursday statement that "under longstanding procedures," the agency "will limit access to certain [Suspicious Activity Reports] SARs when requested by law enforcement authorities in connection with an ongoing investigation." FinCEN investigates money laundering and other financial crimes. Its work includes reviewing federally mandated SARs from banks on unusual transactions of more than $10,000. Those reports are fiercely protected, so the leak is seen as stunning breach of FinCEN's secrecy. "In any event, government employees and law enforcement personnel with access to the system are not authorized to publicly disclose SARs, and, as previously reported, Treasury's inspector general is looking into whether any SARs were improperly disclosed," the FinCEN spokesperson said.   LEADING THE DAY Immigration fight threatens farm bill: A fierce immigration fight among Republicans is threatening to derail the GOP farm bill, just hours before the legislation is scheduled to reach the House floor. The Freedom Caucus, a band of roughly 30 conservative hard-liners, claims to have enough votes to block the farm bill unless Republican leaders agree to schedule a vote on a separate immigration measure from Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.). The "vast majority" of the caucus wants to vote on the Goodlatte bill before they agree to back the farm legislation, according to Freedom Caucus chairman Mark Meadows (R-N.C.). Complicating the fight: The push comes at a time when a group of moderate Republicans are moving ahead with a discharge petition aimed at forcing a series of immigration votes on the House floor. The latest: As of Thursday evening, GOP leaders were still pushing ahead with a planned Friday vote on the farm bill, even though the whip count remains in question. Stay tuned...   Trump raises doubts about possible trade deal with China: President Trump on Thursday cast doubt on the prospect of a trade deal between the U.S. and China, saying that Beijing has "become very spoiled" and is used to getting what it wants from Washington. "You've never seen people come over from China to work on a trade deal. Now will that be successful? I tend to doubt it," Trump told reporters during a meeting with the NATO secretary-general. "The reason I doubt it is because China has become very spoiled. The European Union has become very spoiled." "Other countries have become very spoiled because they always got 100 percent of whatever they wanted from the United States. But we can't allow that to happen anymore," he added. The Hill's Niv Elis has more here.   House committee rebukes Trump on ZTE: The House Appropriations Committee unanimously accepted an amendment to an appropriations bill on Thursday that reinforces sanctions against Chinese telecommunications company ZTE, a rebuke to President Trump, who earlier this week tweeted support for the company. "This amendment would prevent the Commerce Department from renegotiation of the sanctions it just enacted last month on ZTE," said Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger (D-Md.), who authored the amendment to the 2019 Commerce, Justice, and Science Appropriations bill.  The Commerce Department slapped heavy sanctions on the Chinese company last month, banning it from using American components in its parts and effectively causing the company to shut down its U.S. operations. The company had broken U.S. trade control laws by selling components to Iran and North Korea. Niv breaks it down here.   Trump says ZTE support followed request from Chinese president: Trump on Thursday said that his surprise support for Chinese telecoms firm ZTE followed a request from Chinese President Xi Jinping to look into the matter. "They did very bad things to our country. They did a lot of bad things to our economy," Trump said Thursday, but added that the company also bought a large number of components from American suppliers. The move caused ZTE to shutter its U.S. operations, and could be a death knell for the Chinese company.   MARKET CHECK: From CNBC: "Stocks fell on Thursday after President Donald Trump indicated trade talks between the U.S. and China may not be fruitful. "The Dow Jones industrial average closed 54.95 points lower at 24,713.98, with Cisco Systems and Walmart dropping 3.8 percent and 1.9 percent, respectively. The S&P 500 declined 0.1 percent to 2,720.13 as tech declined 0.5 percent. The Nasdaq composite slipped 0.2 percent to 7,382.47 with Amazon, Netflix, Apple and Alphabet all falling."   FINANCE IN FOCUS: The controversial consumer bureau rule on short-term, high-interest loans appears to be safe from congressional repeal efforts, elating liberal groups who sought to protect the measure. Lawyers and financial sector watchdogs tracking attempts to repeal the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's rule on payday loans say Congress has run out of time to act under a regulatory review law. Lawmakers had sought to repeal the CFPB rule under the Congressional Review Act. The law empowers Congress to kill a federal rule and prevents the agency that issued it from issuing another similar regulation. The catch? Congress has to act within 60 legislative days on the repeal resolution before it is no longer allowed to pass it with simple majority in both chambers. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) introduced a measure to repeal the payday rule in March, and the deadline to act on that resolution was yesterday, according to lawyers at Ballard Spahr, which closely tracks the bureau. "Although the Senate's failure to pass a CRA resolution is disappointing because the CRA would have provided the 'cleanest' vehicle for overturning the Payday Rule, we were always doubtful that there would be 51 votes in the Senate to pass a CRA resolution," wrote Ballard Spahr partner Alan Kaplinsky. Progressive groups cheered the lack of congressional action, which seemed unlikely given the rough political optics of aiding payday lenders. "Members of Congress were wise not to side with the predatory lenders charging 300% interest who were trying to overturn a common sense rule against deliberately unaffordable loans," said Lauren Saunders, associate director of the National Consumer Law Center. "This is welcome news for people across the country and for constituents who reached out to their members of Congress urging them to support this important consumer protection," added Yana Miles, senior legislative counsel at the Center for Responsible Lending.   What comes next:  There are still several ways the CFPB payday lending rule could die. The Community Financial Services Association of America, a payday lending industry group, is suing the CFPB over the rule, and the bureau could choose not to defend itself in the case. Acting CFPB Director Mick Mulvaney has also frozen a deadline for compliance with the rule as the bureau considers ways to amend or weaken the measure. That process would take months and would not likely yield action until 2019.   Further reading: Consumer bureau releases short-term lending rule meant to curb debt traps, 10/5/17 Consumer bureau takes first step to revise payday lending rule, 1/16/18 New CFPB director puts target on payday loan rules, 1/17/18 GOOD TO KNOW Retiring House Financial Services Committee Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) said in a public interview Thursday that he's not interested in taking the helm of the Federal Housing Finance Agency after he leaves Congress, though he didn't rule out returning to D.C. someday. "It would be tempting, but my future has me going back home to Dallas, Texas," Hensarling said. Some employees in a Wells Fargo unit that handles business banking improperly altered information on documents related to corporate customers, according to the Wall Street Journal. The Senate on Thursday overwhelmingly rejected Sen. Rand Paul's (R-Ky.) plan to balance the budget by making steep cuts in spending. Divisions among NAFTA negotiators on complex and controversial issues are driving a stake through the heart of President Donald Trump's goal of signing a new agreement into law this year, according to Politico.   ODDS AND ENDS The Vatican called for more regulation of markets and financial systems on Thursday, saying economic crises showed they were not able to govern themselves and needed a strong injection of morality and ethics.     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.