Budget

The president wants major funding boosts for the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.  

Can fiscal issues also get bipartisan momentum?

Can Dave Camp get tax reform through the House?

Tech firms go all in on immigration.

JPMorgan: Record profits. 

The third-ranking Democrat in the House said he doesn't support President Obama's budget.

"I'm not for the Obama budget," Assistant Democratic Leader James Clyburn (D-S.C.) told The Hill.

Clyburn later clarified his position, saying that does not support Obama’s proposed switch to a chained consumer price index (CPI) that would result in cuts to entitlements, including Social Security, over time.

"I didn't say I oppose [Obama's budget] — I said I didn't support it," he said. "I don't think Social Security ought to be a part of the Obama budget. ... Social Security has nothing to do with the deficit. It doesn't contribute to the deficit, and it ought to be dealt with alone, as we have in the past."

The division among Senate Democrats over President Obama’s budget was on full display Thursday as White House Budget Director Jeff Zients faced a grilling on Obama’s 2014 fiscal plan.

Liberals Democrats on the Senate Budget Committee blasted Zients for including a cut to Social Security benefits in the budget, while centrists offered praise.

The budget changes the way inflation is calculated by adopting the so-called “chained consumer price index” — an effort to reduce entitlement benefits and increase tax obligations over time.

Zients told the Senate it was included as a compromise offer to Republicans at their request. 

“It’s just as wrong as can be to have made that choice,” said Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.). “I don’t care where it came from. ... Anything I can do to be a foe of that I intend to do.”

A key Senate Democrat said Thursday that he was “disappointed” that President Obama’s latest budget included entitlement cuts.

Finance Chairman Max Baucus said the White House was wrong to call for changes to how inflation is calculated for payments to Social Security and military retirees — known as chained consumer price index (CPI) — without asking the highest earners to contribute more to the Social Security trust fund.

“Any reform of Social Security should be for the solvency of the program, not deficit reduction,” Baucus said at a hearing to discuss the fiscal 2014 budget with Treasury Secretary Jack Lew.

Acting budget Director Jeff Zients said President Obama will not engage in back-door negotiations over the debt ceiling.

House Ways and Means Chairman Dave Camp (R-Mich.) praised President Obama’s latest budget for including entitlement cuts – brushing aside comments from a fellow senior Republican who called the framework a “shocking attack” on seniors.

Camp, asked directly about Rep. Greg Walden (R-Ore.)’s comments, called the president’s proposal to slow the rate inflation is calculated for Social Security benefits a positive step.

“I think that the president made a step forward on entitlement reform in his budget,” Camp, whose panel oversees Social Security and Medicare, said at a breakfast sponsored by the Christian Science Monitor.

“I think that is a beginning of a potential discussion on how we make programs like Social Security and Medicare sustainable for future generations.”

The top Democrat on a House panel that oversees foreign aid is backing President Obama's call for an overhaul of the nation's $1.5 billion food aid program.

“I am pleased the Administration is working to make food aid more efficient and effective,” Rep. Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.), the ranking member on the House Appropriations panel on State and Foreign Operations, said in an email. Secretary of State John Kerry is scheduled to testify before the subcommittee about the president's budget on April 17, The Hill has learned.

“In a time of tight budgets, it is critical to get the best value possible for services and investments, including relieving hunger," she wrote. "This is an important proposal, and I look forward to working with the Administration and my colleagues to move toward more efficiency in food aid."

An accidental early release of Fed minutes sparks concern.

Major Wall Street banks, government agencies and industry groups got the sneak peek.

Gold's reputation as the safest of investments is getting tarnished.

President Obama asks Congress to dig deeper for IMF funding in budget.

The president will huddle with the heads of major Wall Street banks today.

Big banks dive into the prepaid card market.

Rep. Greg Walden blasted Obama's proposed entitlement cuts the same day that GOP leaders called for more.