Trump administration

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said the president is likely to defer his 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico for all goods and services covered by the North American trade agreement.

Ahead of a court hearing, the top lawyer at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau says he ordered supervisory staff to get back to work. But examiners and supervisors are disputing that work is being done, noting that travel credit cards have been cut off.

As steep tariffs on Canadian goods took effect this week, banks on both sides of the border expressed concern about the economic fallout and the uncertainty their customers face.

Many layoffs so far have been in the Small Business/Self-Employed Division, but the Large Business & International Division has also been affected.

Senate GOP leaders also aim to make the TCJA tax cuts permanent, which would raise the costs of tax reform unless a new scoring method is adopted.

President Donald Trump said he inherited an "economic catastrophe" from his predecessor in a joint address to Congress, though markets fell Tuesday on fears of a budding trade war with Canada and Mexico.

At a court hearing on Monday, lawyers for the Trump administration said statutorily required work is being done by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, while the union claimed the government is trying to shut the agency down.

Unclear and inconsistent signals from Washington about tariffs, tax policy and the capacity of federal agencies are already spurring more conservative consumer-spending habits and could drag down economic growth, economists say.

Thirty members of the Senate Banking and House Financial Services committees signed a letter petitioning the administration to name a new vice chair for supervision — and quickly.

The union representing Consumer Financial Protection Bureau employees said in a court filing that the Trump administration's actions to reduce the agency's workforce and cut spending violate the law.