Washington DC

"Bond by bond, project by project the muni market has helped to build the spaces and places where American life unfolds," SEC Chairman Paul Atkins said in a speech delivered at the MSRB's 50th Anniversary Celebration Tuesday evening.

"I've never seen this level of hand wringing at the issuer level," said Matt Boles, managing director at RBC Capital Markets.

Yakym praised the successful effort to preserve the tax exemption throughout One Big Beautiful Bill negotiations and encouraged market advocates to keep lobbying lawmakers.

"It shows the chairman's understanding of the practical realities of firms...," Peter Chan, a partner at Baker McKenzie said.

Its triple-A bonds have recovered after cheapening earlier this year under a pressure campaign from the Trump administration.

"Going forward, the staff will provide the other side with at least four weeks to make Wells submissions," SEC Chairman Paul Atkins said in a recent speech.

"The project is not dead," said the transportation planning board chair.

The Trump administration's tariff policy is affecting vulnerable pockets of the economy including the construction industry, port operations and states with a reliance on international trade.

The Senate passed the ROAD to Housing Act, which should boost the use of mortgage revenue bonds, as a rider on the Defense Reauthorization Act.

"It is a big problem across the board with all types of deal participants perhaps venturing into unregistered MA activity," said Susan Gaffney.

The longer the shutdown of many federal government operations lasts, the worse it becomes for cities, states and other bond-issuing entities.

Bond attorneys are skeptical that new hires at the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service will help the municipal bond community as two men now occupy four key positions.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy also defended the administration's funding freeze on major New York transit projects.

The City Council is exploring possible bond sales to expand Metro service for the NFL stadium slated to replace RFK Stadium, which is being demolished.

Political dysfunction is far and away the leading economic and policy concern for muni market participants, according to a new Bond Buyer infrastructure survey.

The Congressional Budget Office said Tuesday that federal agencies would lose $400 million each day during a shutdown.

Four hired as counsel and seven other staff members are bulking up the team's D.C. and New York offices. 

Nearly $29 billion of the $30 billion cap has been allocated, said Morteza Farajian, director of the Department of Transportation's Build America Bureau.

Pausing federal funding creates another hardship for municipalities who are also reeling from infrastructure grants being clawed back by the U.S. Department of Transportation.

At The Bond Buyer's infrastructure conference, panelists speculate about the reliability of federal funds under the current administration.