L. Thomas Block is the Washington Policy Strategist at Fundstrat Direct, and also President of Tom Block Consults, a public policy consulting firm. Prior to starting his firm, Tom had a 21-year career at JP Morgan Chase, where he served as Global Head of Government Relations and created a Washington Research product for the firm. For 17 years he served as the senior lobbyist responsible for managing political relationships with the US government, state and local governments, and the EU and its member states. He created the bank’s EU Government Relations program. Prior to joining JP Morgan Chase in 1987, Tom was a vice president at Irving Trust Company.
View FINRA BrokerCheck profiles for our Registered Representatives.
The Federal Open Markets Committee (FOMC) meets next week on Sept. 15-16. While Chair Kevin Warsh has talked about less communications, at the last FOMC presser he announced that he would continue holding post-meeting pressers for at least the rest of the year. At the last FOMC presser and at…
Before the Senate went home for their summer break on a bipartisan vote of 90 to 6, they approved a Continuing Resolution (CR) that funded the government until Dec.11, avoiding the threat of a government shutdown on the funding deadline of Oct. 1 just weeks before the midterm election. The…
The House returns this week with their No. 1 agenda item to pass the Senate-approved Continuing Resolution (CR) to keep the government open past the funding deadline of Oct. 1. With the midterm elections fast approaching, neither party wants the election eve news to be about the lack of agreement…
This past week Democrats added South Carolina to the list of states that they believe could be in play. In a runoff election, South Carolina Republicans nominated the late Senator Lindsey Graham’s sister, Darline Graham, to fill the full term of her brother. She is currently serving as the appointed…
With the midterm elections fast approaching, the political world is looking at the key races that will determine which party controls the House and the Senate. Today, the Republicans have a 53 to 47 advantage in the Senate, and a 218 to 213 majority in the House with four seats…
With most of the primaries over, the playing field for the November midterm elections is becoming clear. The current Senate lineup is 53 Republicans to 47 Democrats. With a 50/50 tie being broken by the Vice President, Democrats need a net gain of four seats to flip the Senate and…
This Wednesday, President Trump is expected to attend a White House meeting on crypto regulation. There is a growing consensus that the U.S. must develop a regulatory process to ensure that the growing crypto industry doesn’t grow offshore and is regulated by U.S. government agencies. Both the SEC and CFTC…
Congress is out of session with both the House and Senate back home as campaigning heats up. Before the Senate adjourned the break, they passed a Continuing Resolution (CR) to fund the government until after the election. It basically funded the government at the current levels, leaving big decisions such…
The Clarity Act, which supporters had hoped to vote on before the Senate took its August break, was delayed until the Senate returns in the middle of September. The vote, which was announced by Senate Republican Leader John Thune (R, SD), will be on a procedural motion to invoke cloture…
The House has been out of session for two weeks, but the Senate, due to its tougher rules on debates and votes, has been delayed and is trying to leave town for the August break this weekend. As Hill staffers like to say, the smell of jet fumes is a…