On The Money: Turkey in crisis as lira hits new low | Watchdog calls for Wilbur Ross stock probe | CBO downgrades growth projection for 2018

View in your browser     Happy Monday and welcome back to On The Money, where we're returning after a brief break while both the House and Senate were out of town. 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. 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.   THE BIG DEAL--Turkey in crisis as lira hits new low: The financial crisis in Turkey deepened Monday as the country's currency fell to a new record low and western leaders pressed Ankara to make economic and governmental reforms. The Turkish lira sunk 7 percent Monday after dropping roughly 20 percent Friday amid growing concerns over the country's economy and souring ties with western allies. At one point the lira traded as low as $7.24 by Monday afternoon, half of its value from a year ago. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has refused to accept interest rate hikes and other measures that could stabilize Turkey's economy and has instead blamed the crisis on global "economic terrorists." German Chancellor Angela Merkel urged Turkey on Monday to ensure the independence of its central bank and allow it to make necessary changes to save its economy. "Nobody has an interest in an economic destabilization in Turkey. But everything must be done to ensure an independent central bank," Merkel said during a news conference in Berlin, according to Reuters. "Germany would like to see an economically prosperous Turkey. This is in our interest," Merkel said. I've got more on the latest news from Europe here.   What's going on? Investors have become increasingly worried about Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's stewardship of the country's economy. Erdoğan's reluctance to accept higher interest rates amid rampant inflation and mounting foreign debt has spurred fears among analysts that Turkey's once-vibrant economy could soon crash. Erdoğan also said that the U.S. stabbed Turkey in the back, three days after he sought to bolster ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Tensions between the U.S. and Turkey, both NATO allies, have reached new heights in the past week. The Trump administration doubled tariffs on Turkish steel and aluminum last week and targeted Erdoğan's interior and justice ministers with financial sanctions two weeks ago over Ankara's detainment of an American pastor. Stock prices for European banks with heavy investments in the country sunk on Monday. Emerging market currencies and equities have also fallen in value since Friday, while investments seen as safe havens, such as the U.S. dollar, Treasury bonds, gold and the Japanese yen have strengthened.   LEADING THE DAY Watchdog accuses Wilbur Ross of violating conflict of interest laws: A nonpartisan watchdog group has filed a complaint against Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, accusing him of violating conflict of interest laws and calling for an extensive inquiry into his personal financial holdings. The Campaign Legal Center filed a 115-page complaint against Ross on Monday. Besides the conflict of interest law violation, it also alleges that Ross made false statements. The group asked the Commerce Department's inspector general to open an investigation into its top official. "We conducted a detailed review of public records and found reason to suspect Ross violated the criminal conflict-of-interest law," Delaney Marsco, ethics counsel at the Campaign Legal Center, told the Center for Public Integrity. "It's imperative that the inspector general get to the bottom of this. There's a lot of smoke, and we need to know if there's fire." The Hill's Morgan Gstalter has more here.   Trump signs defense policy bill with ZTE restrictions: President Trump signed into law Monday a $717 billion annual defense policy bill with key measures affecting foreign investment. Trump signed the bill during a visit to Fort Drum, N.Y., where he was joined by Vice President Pence, Deputy Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan and the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The original Senate-passed version of the NDAA included a provision that would have blocked Trump's plan to save ZTE, which had been slapped with penalties that prevented it from buying U.S. technology after admitting to violating sanctions on Iran and North Korea. Instead, the final bill aligns with the initial House-passed version, banning the government from contracting with ZTE and Huawei, another Chinese telecommunications company, or companies that do business with them.  The tougher ZTE language was dropped in negotiations between the Senate and House a part of a deal to add a bipartisan, bicameral bill to bolster the power and scope of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S., which you can read more about here.   CBO downgrades economic growth projection for 2018: The U.S. economy will grow at 3.1 percent in 2018, according to updated projections by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), down from its April estimate of 3.3 percent. The updated estimate projects that the 4.1 percent second quarter spike in real GDP will come back down in the third and fourth quarters. "Such moderation occurs because several factors that boosted second-quarter growth -- including a rebound in the growth of consumer spending from a weak first quarter and a surge in agricultural exports -- are expected to either fade or reverse," the CBO report said. As in April, the updated estimate sees the economy growing at 2.4 percent in 2019, below its 2017 levels of 2.6 percent. "In 2019, the pace of GDP growth slows to 2.4 percent in the agency's forecast as growth in business investment and government purchases slows," the report said. The Hill's Niv Elis tells us why here.   GOOD TO KNOW Embattled Rep. Chris Collins (R-N.Y.) said Saturday he is suspending his reelection campaign as he fights charges related to insider trading -- a dramatic reversal from a few days ago when he insisted he would be on the November ballot and seek reelection.  The Trump administration is considering rolling back financial protections designed to protect military members from being targeted by predatory lending practices, according to an NPR report published on Monday. Alaska fishermen are worried President Trump's tariffs will be "devastating" to the seafood industry, according to a new Reuters report. Russia's finance minister said Sunday that the country would lower its investment in U.S. securities, calling new sanctions from the Trump administration "unpleasant but not fatal." Sinclair Broadcast Group's failed efforts to merge with Tribune Media and build a conservative media powerhouse may be just the start of the broadcasting giant's problems. A growing number of banks and merchants are tracking visitors' physical movements as they use websites and apps, ostensibly to fight fraud, according to The New York Times.  Private-equity firms are taking on a bigger role in the corporate lending market, according to The Wall Street Journal. Tariffs imposed by Trump are adding thousands of dollars to the cost of building homes, hitting the recent victims of California's wildfires with even more financial hardship.   ODDS AND ENDS Rapper Azealia Banks claims she was at Elon Musk's house over the weekend as he was 'scrounging for investors' A ship carrying 70,000 tons of U.S. soybeans docked in a northern Chinese port after circling off the coast for over a month, according to Reuters.           Did a friend forward you this email? 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News Alert: Omarosa fury shows no signs of cooling

View in your browser     Omarosa fury shows no signs of cooling The furor around Omarosa Manigault-Newman is rumbling on — and that is bad news for the White House, even as the administration disparages the former reality show star as lacking in credibility. Manigault-Newman, who served in Trump’s White House for almost a year, made her share of enemies during her tenure. But she is adept at the publicity game — a skill she is parlaying into extensive coverage for her book, Unhinged. The book is deeply critical of Trump, suggesting, among other charges, that he is racist and not mentally fit to be president. 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.

Overnight Energy: Trump Cabinet officials head west | Zinke says California fires are not 'a debate about climate change' | Perry tours North Dakota coal mine | EPA chief meets industry leaders in Iowa to discuss ethanol mandate

View in your browser     GO WEST, YOUNG CABINET SECRETARIES: Four of President Trump's Cabinet secretaries are escaping the Washington, D.C., August summer heat and heading west for some energy and environment related events.   Zinke, Perdue plug 'active' forest management while touring California wildfires: Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke and Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue were in California on Monday to promote more aggressive forest management as a solution for the fierce, deadly wildfires in the Golden State. The secretaries, who together oversee the federal government's main land management agencies, want policies to make it easier to clear brush, log for timber and conduct prescribed burns, without the threat of litigation that they say has slowed such management. "I've heard the climate change argument back and forth. This has nothing to do with climate change. This has to do with active forest management," Zinke told Sacramento station KCRA in an interview, pushing back against scientists and California leaders who say climate change impacts like drought are exacerbating fires. "It doesn't matter whether you believe or don't believe in climate change. What is important is we manage our forests," he told reporters while visiting the Whiskeytown National Recreation Area on Sunday. "This is not a debate about climate change. There's no doubt the [fire] season is getting longer, the temperatures are getting hotter."   The big picture: Environmentalists have been pushing back on that argument and accuse the Trump administration of trying to push a massive increase in logging. Republicans have been pushing "active" forest management for years and accusing greens of risking lives and property. But now is a particularly important time for the debate, with Congress working on a new farm bill. The House version, as Miranda reported this weekend, includes numerous provisions to ease brush clearing and logging.   Sanders hits back at Zinke: Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) criticized Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke Monday for saying that the debate over California's wildfires has "nothing to do with climate change." "No, Secretary Zinke. The record-breaking wildfires in California have everything to do with climate change," Sanders tweeted. "We must confront the reality that climate change is already destroying tens of thousands of lives, and take concrete steps to avoid its worst consequences." More on Sanders here.   Zinke hits back at protesters: Tweets from Zinke and Perdue show the two meeting with federal, state and local officials, firefighters, fire survivors and others. Earlier in Zinke's visit, he criticized a protester at a Friday event where he was speaking. "You know what? You haven't served and you don't understand what energy is. I'd like to see your child have to fight for energy," he said when the protester challenged him on the link between climate change and fires, according to the Huffington Post. Read more.   Happy Monday! Welcome to Overnight Energy, The Hill's roundup of the latest energy and environment news. We're glad to be back after the newsletter took a week off. 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.   Wheeler in Iowa to talk biofuels: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) acting chief Andrew Wheeler is in Iowa Monday to talk with agriculture and ethanol industry leaders about the Trump administration's plans for the renewable fuel standard (RFS). Wheeler tweeted a photo of himself Monday at the Iowa State Fair, flipping pork burgers with Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds (R), who clashes often with the administration over ethanol. Cooking pork at the Iowa State Fair is a longstanding tradition for presidential hopefuls trying to cozy up to the Hawkeye State before its first-in-the-nation presidential caucuses. Wheeler's appearance prompted numerous "he's running" jokes from the interwebs. But EPA spokesman James Hewitt, accompanying Wheeler on the trip, assures us in no uncertain terms that Wheeler is "NOT" running for president. Hewitt tweeted photos of Wheeler eating the pork with Reynolds and Rep. David Young (R-Iowa), and later, a cleaned-up Wheeler speaking at an agriculture roundtable. Ethanol industry leaders are angry over what they see as attacks on the RFS by the Trump administration, including granting waivers to numerous small refineries so they wouldn't have to comply. EPA lost a court case recently over its previous rejections of waiver requests. The industry also wants the EPA to allow for year-round sales of gasoline with 15 percent ethanol, or E15, something Trump has promised.   Perry joins North Dakota leaders to tour mine: Energy Secretary Rick Perry, meanwhile, is in North Dakota Monday. His agenda there includes touring North American Coal's Falkirk Mine and Great River Energy's Coal Creek Station, as well as taking part in a roundtable discussion. He'll join Gov. Doug Burgum (R), Sen. John Hoeven (R) and Rep. Kevin Cramer (R) -- a candidate this year for the Senate seat currently held by Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D). Perry's also been active on Twitter Monday, tweeting out photos of his travels.   OUTSIDE THE BELTWAY: The National Park Service dropped plans to increase fees for guided rafting trips in the Grand Canyon, the Associated Press reports. Saudi Arabia cut its oil production in July despite OPEC's deal to boost output, CNBC reports. A new study says companies that use tax havens are disproportionately responsible for deforestation in the Amazon, BBC News reports.   FROM THE HILL'S OPINION SECTION: Bessma Momani, a professor at the University of Waterloo, says Saudi Arabia is trying to assure international oil markets that it will take a rational approach to its oil policies.   IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Check out stories from Monday and the weekend ... -Sanders blasts Zinke: Wildfires 'have everything to do with climate change' -Zinke on California fires: 'This is not a debate about climate change' -Zinke takes forestry fight to fire-ravaged California -Terminally ill man awarded $289 million in lawsuit against Monsanto         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 ©2018 Capitol Hill Publishing Corp., a subsidiary of News Communications, Inc.