US: Thune Rules Out Sidestepping Parliamentarian, Noncomittal About Friday Votes
Jun-26 15:19
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) has told reporters that he will not move to overrule the Senate Parliamentarian, after the nonpartisan referee determined that a raft of health provisions in the GOP's One Big Beautiful Bill were noncompliant with Budget Reconciliation.
- Thune said, when asked about disregarding the Parliamentarian's ruling (which would require an uncertain vote): “No. That would not be a good outcome for getting a bill done." Thune added: “We’re focused on the goal.”
- Thune was non-committal on his plan to hold the first procedural votes on the bill on Friday, a target which slipped from Wednesday: “These are speed bumps along the way, we anticipated those and so we have contingency plans. Obviously, you have to adjust the timing and schedule a little bit, but we're moving forward”
- The Parliamentarian's decision to strike the GOP's framework to lower the Medicaid provider tax could be beneficial to Thune, as it could remove one of the primary sticking points with moderates in his conference.
- Yesterday, Republican ‘Medicaid moderates’ rejected a Senate Finance proposal for a USD$15 billion ‘stabilization fund’ for rural hospitals to offset cuts to the Medicaid provider tax.
- President Trump, who will publicly whip Senate Republicans on the OBBB at the White House today, issued a statement on X this week urging Congress to stay in session until the package is done: "NO ONE GOES ON VACATION UNTIL IT’S DONE"
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US DATA: Texas Manufacturing Activity And Prices Steadier In May
May-27 15:15
May's Texas Manufacturing Outlook Survey showed an improvement from April and overall steady activity in the month, with the production index, "a key measure of state manufacturing conditions... indicating flat output this month after modest growth in March and April", per the Dallas Fed.
- Indeed, production fell 4.2 points to 0.9. But the general business activity index rose 20.5 points to -15.3, a three-month best, with 6-month ahead production up 16.3 points to 31.1, highest in 4 months. New orders picked up 11.3 points to -8.7, which apart from March's 29-month low would have still been the weakest since November 2024. Employment rose 7 points to 3.5.
- From an inflation perspective, prices paid pulled back 7.7 points to 40.7, with prices received up 0.2 to 15.1 - both still elevated. There was a bit more of a deceleration in 6-month ahead expectations, with prices paid down 7.8 points (39.8, 5-month low) and received ticking 1.4 points lower (28.2).
- The majority of anecdotal comments in the Dallas report mentioned "tariffs", mostly in a negative way though a couple respondents noted that confidence would improve if and when deals were struck. Indeed there was scarce mention of the May 12 US-China tariff climbdown (survey data were collected May 13–21) and even then the confidence seemed tentative (a firm in Computer and electronic product manufacturing: "I would say the uncertainty has decreased in the very short term (up to 90 days) based on the U.S.–China tariff rollback").
- The most tangible impact on the survey was in the 34.4 point drop in the Outlook Uncertainty index, to 12.7.
- We get the Richmond Fed's manufacturing survey Wednesday, which will help shore up the degree to which confidence improved after the May 12 tentative "deal". Improvements so far have been seen in Philadelphia, Dallas, and Kansas, with Chicago activity and NY Fed's Empire State current conditions indices lower vs April.
FED: US TSY 13W AUCTION: NON-COMP BIDS $2.347 BLN FROM $76.000 BLN TOTAL
May-27 15:15
- US TSY 13W AUCTION: NON-COMP BIDS $2.347 BLN FROM $76.000 BLN TOTAL
FED: US TSY 26W AUCTION: NON-COMP BIDS $1.621 BLN FROM $68.000 BLN TOTAL
May-27 15:15
- US TSY 26W AUCTION: NON-COMP BIDS $1.621 BLN FROM $68.000 BLN TOTAL
