BIDEN'S LATEST BANK COP CANDIDATE IS FINANCE INDUSTRY CRITIC — Our Victoria Guida: “Cornell Law School professor Saule Omarova, who has called for a more extensive government role in providing financial services, is a contender for a top bank regulatory job in the Biden administration, according to a person familiar with the discussions. “Omarova, who declined to comment, is the first name to publicly emerge in months as a potential nominee to lead the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency … Biden’s initial leading candidate — former Treasury official Michael Barr — was not nominated after his consideration triggered a backlash from progressive Democrats” PORTMAN OPEN TO CRYPTO TAX CHANGES — Our Kellie Mejdrich: “Sen. Rob Portman … said he agreed with lawmakers pushing to clarify cryptocurrency tax provisions in the Senate's bipartisan infrastructure bill and called for their amendment to get a vote. “The Ohio Republican — who had earlier defended crypto tax reporting proposals in the bill — cited concerns raised by Senate Finance Chair Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) with Sens. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) and Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), who offered an amendment Wednesday to scale back the requirements.” GOP LOOKS TO ADD DEFENSE MONEY — Our Connor O’Brien: “Top Senate Republicans are looking to add more than $50 billion in defense funding to bipartisan infrastructure legislation to tackle overdue repairs and upgrade efforts at shipyards, depots, test ranges and defense laboratories. “Senate Appropriations ranking member Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) has filed an amendment to the infrastructure package to boost defense funding, which was obtained by POLITICO. He's joined by Senate Armed Services ranking member Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) and Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.). The Republican defense hawks' effort is the largest, and most detailed, proposal for defense money in an infrastructure bill so far.” CBO SAYS BILL WOULD ADD $256B TO DEFICIT — Via Reuters: “The bipartisan Senate infrastructure bill would add $256 billion to budget deficits over a decade, the Congressional Budget Office estimated Thursday. “The report from the nonpartisan agency did not take into account potential revenue increases created by economic growth. As it stands, the CBO said the bill, which does not include tax increases, would generate about $50 billion in revenue. Senators who crafted the plan had said it would be fully paid for through a range of sources including repurposed coronavirus relief funds, unused unemployment insurance aid and economic activity generated by the investments.” Want to know more about what’s in the infrastructure agreement? Pro Premium s can read our Pro Bill Analysis of the measure. CHINESE CORPORATE CRACKDOWN JUST GETTING STARTED — WSJ’s Jing Yang, Keith Zhai and Quentin Webb: “In recent months, China has blown up what would have been the world’s largest initial public offering, launched probes into some of its biggest technology companies, and wiped out more than $1 trillion in market value while investors scramble for cover. “There are many signs it isn’t over yet. Investors, analysts and company executives believe the government is just getting started in its push to realign the relationship between private business and the state, with a goal of ensuring companies do more to serve the Communist Party’s economic, social and national-security concerns.” | 
