Congress kills rule that forces companies to disclose payments to foreign governments

This is our look at President Trump’s administration and the rest of Washington:

Congress has passed legislation ending an Obama-era regulation that has required oil and gas companies to disclose payments to the U.S. or foreign governments for commercial development.

The Senate gave final congressional approval to the measure Friday, 52-47, in an unusual vote that began before dawn.

President Trump is expected to sign the bill. It represents an initial Republican swipe at the 2010 Dodd-Frank law curbing Wall Street that President Obama and Democrats enacted after the 2008 financial crisis.

Republicans say the regulation gives foreign competitors valuable information about U.S. firms and would hurt the economy.

Democrats tied the move to Exxon Mobil, headed until recently by Rex Tillerson, Trump’s secretary of State. They said killing the regulation would let big firms hide questionable dealings with foreign governments such as Russia.

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