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由于政府资金没有出路，我们将与 Tyler Kendall 讨论此事，此前我们听到了议长早些时候的发言。Mike Johnson 仍在华盛顿。事实上，许多议员也在这里，正如我们稍后将听到的 Boston 主席。他现在在国会山现场直播，但当然，参议院必须投票，我们预计接下来会发生更多类似情况。
With no path to freedom here, at
least in terms of government funding,
we're going to talk about this with
Tyler Kendall in a moment, having heard
from the speaker earlier today. Mike
Johnson is still in town. In fact, a lot
of lawmakers are, as we'll hear from
Chairman Boston just a moment. He's live
on Capitol Hill, but it's of course the
Senate that has to vote and we're
expecting more where this came from.
又一轮投票失败，未能获得足够民主党人的支持以通过法案。如我之前提到的，Mike Johnson 早些时候发表了讲话。这是议长的发言。
Another failed round without enough
Democrats to pass the bill. Mike Johnson
speaking earlier as I mentioned. Here's
the speaker.
是的，他他想解决问题。总统是一个交易撮合者。他喜欢解决这些问题并朝着解决方案努力。这就是为什么他是一位大胆、强大的领导者，是美国现在需要的。我很高兴能与他在这方面合作。我持有完全相同的意见和立场。但是，同样，这一切都无法实现，除非民主党人停止给美国人民制造痛苦，让国会重新开张，让每个人都回到工作岗位。
Yes, he he wants to solve problems. The
president is a dealmaker. He likes to
figure these things out and works
towards solutions. And that's why he's a
bold, strong leader that America needs
right now. I'm excited to work with him
on that. I have the exact same uh
opinion and and position. But again,
none of this can happen until the
Democrats stop inflicting pain on the
American people and turn the lights back
on in Congress and get everybody back to
work.
Tyler Kendall 在华盛顿与我们连线，带来更多关于政府关门和其他白宫新闻。
Tyler Kendall with us in Washington with
more on the shutdown and other news
coming out of the White House here.
Tyler，今天有一个问题，基于我们刚才听到的总统的讲话以及 OM（管理和预算办公室）稍早发布的一份备忘录，一些被停职的员工可能不会得到带薪休假，而这还是我们之前没听过的。总统说，这真的取决于你说的是谁。有些人真的不值得被照顾。我们不知道他指的是谁，是吗？
There's a question today, Tyler, about
based on what we just heard from the
president and a memo that went out from
OM earlier, the Office of Management and
Budget that some of these furlows may
not necessarily lead to layoffs, but
they also may not get back pay, which is
something we had not heard before.
At this point, we don't and we heard reporters trying to
follow up for exact clarity on what this
could mean, but it comes after we saw
this OM memo circulated written by the
OM director Russ Vote suggesting that
the White House is considering not
issuing back pay once the government
reopens. Now, it appears the OM is
taking aim at this law that was enacted,
as you well know, after the last
shutdown in 2019. And that was
considered to be this legal guarantee
that federal workers would get back pay
after a government shutdown. But it
appears that uh the the issue that that
they're taking with this, is that
Congress would have to appropriate those
funds specifically. This shouldn't be
considered to be an automatic guarantee.
And that's really what we're going to be
looking for here. It's definitely
raising the stakes. President Trump said
in this uh Oval Office meeting with the
Canadian Prime Minister, Mark Carney,
that in the next four to 5 days, we
should know where those potential
permanent layoffs shake out. But Joe,
we're up against a pretty firm uh
pressure point later this week, Friday,
October 10th. That's going to be the
first miss paycheck for many federal
workers.
Four or five days, he must be thinking,
I guess, about Monday, which sounds to
me like he wants to give leaders on
Capitol Hill room to make a deal or peel
off enough Democrats to pass the CR.
Well, it was interesting to hear
President Trump basically signal that he
could be open to negotiations that was
broadly taken as this positive step even
as Republicans have really been standing
firm here, that the government needs to
reopen before any of these talks can
take place. Now, what I'm really
watching for is where a potential
agreement shakes out on expanding those
Affordable Care Act premium subsidies,
whether or not a commitment to an up and
down vote would potentially be enough
for Democrats. Because the thing with
these subsidies is sub subsidies is that
Republicans are divided on them. Many of
them go to people in these states that
President Trump won in 2024. These are
red states that didn't expand Medicaid
and ultimately have a lot of people on
Obamacare insurance exchanges.
That's right. This of course all as
Tyler references came uh in the middle
of an Oval Office meeting with another
world leader. Prime Minister Mark Carney
is in town. They're here to talk about
tariffs and trade. There were a couple
of questions about that. Most of this
was on domestic politics though and
that's what happens when you have a room
full of American reporters. But do we
expect an announcement from the White
House today on a deal with Canada?
Well, it was a relatively warm meeting
as as as you saw. Yeah. Mark Carney
calling President Trump a transformative
president, but we can't lose sight that
Mark Carney really did campaign on on
countering President Trump and his trade
agenda. And we really haven't seen a lot
of movement when it comes to the trade
negotiations. Canada still facing that
35% tariff for non USMCA compliant
goods. Though a lot of goods coming over
the border, about 55% or so are
compliant. But it's really those sector
specific tariffs that I'm watching for
to see if there's any sort of movement
when it comes to negotiations. They are
50% for steel, aluminum, and copper.
Those are really high rates and they're
impacting a range of sectors uh when it
comes to Canada. Uh it it was
interesting though because President
Trump uh seemed to demur multiple times
when asked what would it take, what can
Canada give in terms of concessions to
get this over the finish line. As you
all know, there is a range of things that
this White House is looking for, from
market access to curbing fentanyl, to
then digital services taxes, something
that has repeatedly come up in the
conversation.
A lot going on around here, Tyler, and it
certainly reminds us how much has yet to
be determined when it comes to Canada.
We spent so much time looking at Europe,
looking at India, looking at China, that
our nearest neighbor and biggest trading
partner has yet to be resolved. Tyler
Kendall, frequently on the north lawn of
the White House, lucky to have her in
studio today, our Washington
correspondent. Tyler, thank you so much.
I'm Joe Matthew in Washington, and it's
great to have you with us here as we
continue the conversation with someone
who's in the middle of it all with
regard to the government shutdown. As I
mentioned, not all lawmakers have gone
home. And that includes Congressman Mike
Boston,
Republican from Illinois, who is chair
of the House Veterans Affairs Committee.
And just to give you a sense of who
we're about to talk to here, as I like
to let you know exactly where a lot of
these members are coming from, because
yeah, they're real people, too, and
bring a lot of unique experience in many
cases today. Mike Bost, former
firefighter, US Marine, ran his family's
trucking business, member of the Main
Street Partnership. How did I do,
Congressman? Will it be the middle? Will
it be the the main street Republicans
who figure a way out of this?
You know, Joe, I think it's a case where
we need to make sure that the Senate
today makes the vote and comes back
today. Now, whether that happens or not,
I don't know, but I know that every day
of shutdown goes on, more pain is felt
by more people. And when I'm chairman of
the VA, I know about where we're going
to see those shortfalls. Uh, you know
right now, we have several, though we have
put a front load on the medical, most of
the medical uh providing and and and
most veterans won't leave out on their
main services, which is their healthcare,
but when you start talking about TAP
programs, people leaving the military,
when you start talking about the fox
grants, those fox grants are special uh
grants set up for uh, contractors to
provide mental health, when you start
talking about daycare workers for those
people that are homebound veterans, those
are all on contracts. We're trying to
work with the secretary at this time to
make sure those keep going, but each day
we go further. That is a more and more
danger. Remember, we in the House, we've
done our job. We send it to the Senate.
The Senate keeps bringing it back up.
There's those holdouts. They need to go
ahead and open government and then we
can look into all the other things
they're bringing up because it's those
are those things that we can negotiate
while we work on this budget, but not
while we're in a shutdown.
Understood your point. Uh, Mr. Chairman,
we spoke with the secretary, Doug
Collins, about what this means for the
agency and what it means for the
delivery of veterans services ahead of
our conversation with you today. Here's
what the secretary told us.
The positive news to our veterans,
especially for those who get the 9
million plus who get their healthcare
through us, um, that they're not going to
see any difference in what they have
seen. Our vet centers are still open,
the counseling is going on, our mental
health outreach and and placement are
still going on. So, this is a good time
for that. And I think really is to look
through this is we're going to do the
the what we have to do to take care of
veterans and we have the funding to do
that.
Did the secretary frame that
appropriately because his message that
evening was that benefits are not being
affected by this? You're looking down
the road though, Congressman. How long
before they are?
down? And let me let me tell you that
right now, we are already operating
without a continuing without the ability
of Congress to um, authorize those
particular side contracts. Everything
the secretary was talking about is the
actual function of the VA. That is the
VA contracting. As we're moving forward,
we're a little bit worried as those
contracts are starting to not have
authorization numbers. Are those those
things that can lose out? Your
healthcare is still going to be there.
Your appointments are still going to be
there. However, when we start talking
about the TAP program, that's that's
service members leaving. When you start
talking about home care, when you start
talking about the Fox Gr, which is
mental health, we have other mental
health uh, programs, but each one of
these is is important in itself for
certain individuals. We're okay now and
I'm glad we are, but we've got to pay
attention. This can't go well for a long
time.
Some are suggesting we could have
another record here. I'm not sure
anybody has a clue at this point,
Congressman, as long as the leadership
uh, are not engaged cross here. And I
just wonder what you think. The
president mentioned last evening, uh, from
the Oval Office, that talks were underway
with Democrats on healthcare. Is that a
plan that could be done through back
channels, that could be done quietly to
bring Democrats to the table, or does
there need to be some sort of grand
bargain here that involves government
spending? I really believe that if we
come back and then we can work on that.
Remember that that problem doesn't
become to f- doesn't come to fruition
until the 31st of January. This this CR
only gives us to the 21st of November.
So, we come back, we start negotiating
these things. But the reason why this is
difficult to negotiate is it be just
that it's difficult to negotiate. Even
though we don't want to see anyone lose
their healthcare, if we're have to
subsidize the health care, there's
a problem with the health care system in
the first place. And we're not
subsidizing the individuals, we're
subsidizing the insurance companies. So
therefore, the minds need to come
together, but they don't need to come
together by scaring our general public
in a shutdown. We need to come back to
work. We need to go to work on these
problems. We're not saying they're not
there and we don't need to work on them,
but we can't be working on them while
we're playing these games and you're
holding things hostage. That if you look
at our Democrat colleagues, many of the
leaders on the other side, 13 times they
voted to keep the government open with
this same type of clear uh, clean CR when
Biden was in the in gave quotes like we
shouldn't hold the American people
hostage. We've got to make sure that we
don't use it as a negotiating tool.
Instead, we keep the government open so
that we can continue to negotiate.
That's exactly what they said. They were
right then. They're right now. That
would be right now. And that's what
we're saying.
Congressman, our listeners and viewers
should know that your 12th district in
Illinois is is not part of Chicago. It's
it's down the southern part of the
state. You're closer to St. Louis than
you are to Chicago. Actually, in the
western part of of your district.
Yeah, St. Louis is a northern part of my
district. St. Louis is in the northern
part of my district. And I have one
third of the state's land land mass. So
well, that's, you got a lot of farms there
too.
You've got a lot of farms, Congressman,
and I'm wondering
so what are you hearing from the White
House on this? Does there need to be a
bailout? Should it come from tariff
money? How do you handle this? If
they're not buying soybeans in China,
what do you do?
Yeah, we've been talking with the with
the administration on specifically that
the tariff money, some kind of situation
to help many of these farmers through
this time. Understand, these farmers,
many of them are four years into their
banks, four years into their banks where
they haven't turned a profit. You can
only do that so long. This would be the
time to give them that opportunity while
we're building those markets. I'm really
really glad that he's meeting with with
uh, Canada today. Now, let me explain
this that he was right, he needed to meet
meet with Canada because if you're a
grain farmer, it's one thing, and and the
USMCA was a was a good deal in itself.
However, remember this. When you start
talking certain key products, like dairy,
which we provide from the northern
Illinois and and Wisconsin into, or would
like to provide into Canada, Canada has
a 400% tariff. When we start talking
about 30%, that sounds amazing. That
sounds huge. But Canada has 400% tariff
on the United States. Hopefully, we can
work through to get fair trade like the
president has always talked about, and I
trust the president to do that.
What happens first? A farmer bailout, or
a deal with China that starts soaking up
some of these soybeans?
The, the so, the way it looks right now is
probably the, the, using the tariff money
to help those existing farmers because
we're so far into it, unless uh, these
negotiations go with China very, very
quickly. Now, remember, we have to
renegotiate with China because China
what they do is, when they allowed China
into the World Trade Organization, they
probably shouldn't have done that in the
first place, because you were supposed to
be a free government that would to be
part of the world trade. But that
happened. Ever since then, China will
come in, and they'll take the commodities
where soybeans or corn or whatever, and
they're going to say they're going to
purchase this large amount at the
beginning of the planting season.
Farmers will go out and plant all these
the, the commodities, where it's corn or
soybeans or or wheat. And all of a
sudden,
yeah,
then China says, "Oh, we don't need
that much." Which causes the market to fall.
The commodity now is a cheaper rate. And
now the farmers out there trying to
figure out how he's supposed to, he or
she is supposed to get the rate that
they need to even make a profit at all.
And so, that's the problem when we're
dealing with China, why we need to push
them back to the table because it's
either your farmers
Yeah, my farmers are hurt.
Your farmers feel like Lucy in the
football here. Is do they, do they make
off with the, the dollar figures that
we're hearing about? Is it $10 billion
the president puts in a fund? What do
you need? That, that dollar amount is
being negotiated with the chairman right
now, both in the House and the Senate. G.T.
Thompson is working very hard with his
staff to make sure, and informing us as
we're moving right now, because you know
if, if a farmer is going to make it
through, then you want to provide them a
little bit of help. But if they, if
they're really the ones that are, that
our young farmers are, cuz because the
mega farms quite often, they hurt, but
they've got, they've got enough in
reserve. Is those that don't have in
reserves. And so, trying to get those
numbers squeezed through the USDA and
figuring that out is where we're at
right now.
Really, really interesting. You know, we
heard about back pay for federal workers
when the president was talking with
reporters in the Oval Office.
Uh, Mr. Chairman, I don't mean to sneak
up on you here, because you might not
have heard what he said, but there was a
question about some folks not getting
back pay, and he said, some people don't
really deserve to be taken care of. He
wouldn't tell us when we followed up who
he meant. Do you have a sense of, of who
he was talking about? I
do you support you?
I don't know who he was talking about,
and that, you know, the speaker also was
asked about this this morning. I'll say
what the speaker said. We've always made
sure that our, our employees are made
whole uh, on back pay. So, I would say if
we don't do that again, that'll be a
rarity. Um, but the thing is, if we get
this done, we don't have to worry about
back pay. And I'm going to tell you, I know
how that is. As a young Marine, remember
I was up in, in, during the Carter
administration and Reagan, but during
the Carter administration, Marines and
their families qualified for food stamp
and WIC, if, if they had it then, but
they didn't. And so, instead, what you do
is, you worry from payday to payday for
young Marines with with a spouse and
with children. And those are the ones
that we're seeing out there that are
going to need the help. And, and they're
going to just be dealing with when the
15th rolls, 15th rolls around. If they're
living payday to payday, how do you go
back to your creditors? Not everybody's
got a parent that they can go back and
reach to and say, "Hey, I'd really like
you to send me money until I get through
this." That, that's not how that works.
Unfortunately, no pay is a very, very
bad thing for those people who make sure
our freedoms are are taken care of.
If you're paycheck to paycheck, this is
the biggest deal there is. Congressman,
I'm really glad you could join us. Mike
Boston is chair of the House Veterans
Affairs Committee, Congressman,
Republican from Illinois's 12th
district. And great to have your
insights with us. We'll assemble our
panel next for their take on this.
Bloomberg Politics contributors Jeannie
Shanzeno and Rick Davis are with us here
on the fastest show in politics. I'm Joe
Matthew in Washington. Thanks for being
with us here on the Tuesday edition, as
we work our way toward the next round of
voting on a continuing resolution to
keep the government or reopen on
Bloomberg. Stay with us on Balance of
Power. We'll have much more coming up
after this.
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It is October 7th, two years to the day
since the attacks by Hamas against
Israel that killed nearly 1,200 people
and kicked off two years now of raging
conflict.
Negotiations are continuing today in
Cairo. They are meeting again, even on
this solemn occasion in Israel, October
7th. And at 3:00 p.m. today, it will
ricochet back to the White House as
President Trump meets in the Oval Office
with Eden Alexander. You may have heard
about this, the American-Israeli hostage
released by Hamas in May. He will be
with the president about an hour and a
half from now. We mention all of this,
of course, because the possibility of
peace following so much destruction and
death appears to be at hand with talks
underway here following the president's
20-point plan, hammered out with Benjamin
Netanyahu, or according to some
the arm-twisting that convinced
Netanyahu to accept this deal, and one
that we have, I guess, conditional
acceptance of, if we can call it that,
from Hamas. But they are obviously
continuing to talk about the release of
hostages and the withdrawal of Israeli
forces in Gaza. More than 60,000 people
have been reported to have been killed in
Gaza since October 7th, 2023.
And we start with our panel on this
today. Bloomberg politics contributors
Rick Davis and Jeannie Shanzeno are with
us. Jeannie is Democracy Visiting fellow
at Harvard Kennedy School's Ash Center,
our Democratic analyst, and Rick is
Republican strategist and partner at
Stone Court Capital. Jeanie, it's, it's
difficult to imagine what the
conversation is like today in Cairo
knowing that this is the 7th of October.
Does it heighten the urgency or or make
it more difficult to move closer to a
ceasefire?
Um, I think we all hope it heightens
the urgency. And you mentioned Eden
Alexander. He is, by some reports, the
last living US-Israeli hostage. And I
think that's going to be quite a moving
moment when Donald Trump meets with him
at the White House today. Another, as
you mentioned, in a long line of
reminders of what has happened since
that horrific assault two years ago. Uh,
you know, I hope that it does lead, lend
a sense of urgency. Um, the problem is we
have these two phases in this deal, and
by all accounts, these are still indirect
talks, which is problematic, but it's also
problematic that we haven't had yet out
of Hamas an acceptance of both of these
phases of the deal. If you just look at
phase one, for instance, the release of
the hostages and then a movement back of
Israel still within four miles in Gaza,
that yellow line at the Trump
administration's map. The problem is
Hamas has never wanted to agree to that.
They've wanted total withdrawal by
Israel. So, we have some ways to go, but
I think there is some reason to hope
because the entire world seems to be
pushing Hamas to accept this deal.
What is your thought today, Rick? It's a
reminder, of course, about how this
started. Uh, but also it tells us how
long this has been going on and how
important it is for us to find
resolution here. Will this group meeting
in Cairo
manage to get this done? Well, it's
certainly the closest step we've seen
since uh, the attacks of uh, October 7th,
two years ago, and, and it really has
ushered in a profound change in the
Middle East. You you look at this right
now in a, in a vacuum as a negotiation
between the uh, Israelis and Hamas. Uh,
but the reality is, is it incorporated a
region-wide war that has been perpetrated
with Israel taking out Hezbollah, uh,
fighting actively to uh, um, to weaken the
uh, the Yemeni um, u, uh, groups uh, that
have been supported of Iran, or Iran.
Uh, an attack actually on the
country of Iran. I mean, like when you
think about, you know, Syria changing
leadership, I mean, we're in a different
world than we were two years ago, uh,
when this attack took place. And I think
that's the reason that you might
actually see peace here because there's
no retreat. Uh, Iran's its weakest
point. There's not really active support
for Hamas. Hamas has taken on enormous
losses, and there's no future uh, for the
people of Palestine uh, without a
resolution of this conflict, and, and so
pressure is on. And I, I, I have to give
credit to Donald Trump for keeping
Netanyahu and in the game, right? To
forcing him to a negotiation
that, that otherwise he probably would
not be actively involved in. And, and the
US is Israel's last significant ally, and
without us, there would be no peace.
You wonder what's next here, Genie.
We're obviously marking October 7th
today, but I just saw Marco Rubio on the
couch in the Oval Office with the
president. We know that Steve Witoff
and indeed, Jared Kushner have both also been
instrumental in getting us to this
point. Who's leading the charge on this
White House diplomacy?
Yeah, I mean, I think Witoff and Kushner
have been paramount. Obviously, you
mentioned Marco Rubio, Secretary of
State. So, you know, I think Witoff, who
has had an awful lot on his plate, and
Kushner are really that been able to
deal to Rick's point with Netanyahu. Um,
you know, but let's remember what these
talks are being described as right now,
yesterday and today, as technocratic
talks. Really talks about this first
phase, like things as basic as the
sequencing. Does Hamas have access to
the hostages, both living and deceased, in
order to fulfill, if they decide to, their
end of this deal? And yet again, Hamas
has still not agreed to any of that. And
so, we do have a ways to go. And speaking
of Netanyahu, he is feeling pressure
both internally and externally. We have
these really striking polls from Israel
in the last day or so showing that about
two-thirds of Israelis are saying that
Netanyahu should take responsibility for
the attacks and resign. We're, we're
seeing that a good substantial portion
believe that Israel has committed
genocide. Those numbers are reflected by
Israelis or Jews who live in the United
States. And of course, the White House is
seeing those polls as well. So, there is
a lot of pressure on Netanyahu. But of
course, there's a lot of pressure on the
Hamas political wing as well, because
what are they going to have to do? They
are going to have to sign their death
warrant. And that is going to be very
hard for any individual or group to do.
But that's essentially what would have
to happen for this deal to go through.
Do you mean political death warrant, Genie?
Abs-. Yeah, ab-, sorry about that.
Absolutely. Political death warrant
because this says that they are
disarmed, that there may be amnesty for
fighters who denounce violence, but that
the group itself will be disbanded and
have no role in a potential future
Palestinian state. And that is, as you
can imagine, just like individuals,
states act the same way. Very, very hard
to imagine that the political and
military end come to an agreement on
that. They may, but they would be
signing their own political death
warrant there.
It does certainly sound like it, Rick.
I'm assuming you look at it this way as
well, as obviously Benjamin Netanyahu
does. He's calling for the elimination
of Hamas. To what extent does that lead
to a potential rebranding, however, with
political leaders in Gaza assuming the
role of leadership in some other group?
Yeah, look, I mean, I, I think it, it goes
without saying that um, Prime Minister
Netanyahu said at the time two years ago
that the operation that he will uh, o-,
overtake is the complete and total
destruction of Hamas, and, and that has
not happened to today. There are still
people who uh, would be considered
leaders there, and they are the ones
currently negotiating. Uh, Jeannie makes
a good point. I'm not sure it's a
political point. It actually is a death
warrant for these individuals because we
only have to remember the 1972 Munich
uh, Olympic massacre. And, and, and Israel at
that time said the same thing. We will
hunt down the people who did this, and
and we will destroy them. And, and
Operation Wrath of God did just that.
It took decades, but at the end of the
day, the people who per-, perpetrate this
attack two years ago on Israel will feel
the wrath of Israel. And so, this is a
heavy negotiation. Uh, there'll be
efforts to try and get leadership
sanctuary in other cities, but they all
know what we know, which is that Israel
will always look for opportunities to
vanquish their enemies who perpetrated
these horrible crimes on their people.
And, and that over, that has got to be
part of the negotiation that's going on
today. And so, yes, there are a lot of
technical issues that have to be uh,
figured out. The 20-point plan is not
even close to being a comprehensive
plan. But at the end of the day, all
parties are now in one location, hashing
this out, which we have not seen happen
uh, here before. And I think the world is
keeping pressure on these groups to try
and come to a, to an end to this carnage
that's been been going on now for two
years.
It's an important moment. Uh, Genie,
in our final minute here in our
conversation, would the political
leadership of Hamas then following the
signing of any deal essentially just go
into hiding in Doha? They can never go
back to Gaza, right?
Yeah. I think that's an open question,
and it's a really important one, because
what history shows us is that any time
you destabilize a leadership, whether you
describe it as evil or tyrannical or
democratic or otherwise, another group is
going to come in and fill that power gap,
or power vacuum. And that group can be worse
than the group that preceded it. We've
seen that repeatedly. Um, and of course,
as the leading democracy in the world,
we must always remember we do owe to the
Palestinians a right of
self-determination as to how they live
peacefully.
Genie Shanzeno and Rick Davis tackling
some heady issues with us today on
Balance of Power. And I thank you both
for the insights, and we'll keep you
posted on talks in Cairo. Stay with us
on Balance of Power. We'll have much
more coming up after this.
You're listening to the Bloomberg
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The Tuesday edition might feel a little
bit like the Monday edition, in that the
government, yes, is still shut down, and
we have no idea when it's going to
reopen. You start talking to lawmakers
as we did earlier with Chairman Boston
about off-ramps, and everybody points to the other party
and that's where we are right now with
more voting in the mix in the Senate
today. Of course, there's the prospect
of either more Democrats falling off the
fence here and voting for the continuing
resolution,
much as there is some falling off. There
is reporting today that Angus King, the
independent who caucuses with the
Democrats, who voted for this, one of
three to cross over, might not be on
board today because of some of the
rhetoric that we're hearing. A lot of
this comes down to trust, which we're
going to discuss in a moment with Megan
Scully, who leads our capital influence
team. We did discuss it earlier today
with Republican Senator Bill Cassidy of
Louisiana, who is on Bloomberg
Surveillance. Let's watch and listen.
There's a complete breakdown of trust.
Um, Chuck Schumer, obviously, he could
end it tomorrow if he wants to end it,
but he doesn't trust the president. Uh,
that said, Chuck Schumer could end this
tomorrow. I'm hoping that he does, and
I'm hoping it doesn't take a lot of pain
from the American people in order to get
him to do so.
Is there a breakthrough of the fact
that, and good morning, Senator, that it
does seem like both sides, at least at
this point, want to talk about talking,
as political put it, that the president
is coming out and saying maybe there
could be a compromise when it comes to
healthcare.
Yeah. Uh, I'm, I'm absolutely. You know
it's better to jaw jaw than to war, as
Winston Churchill once said. So, let's go
ahead and start talking. That said,
Republicans have suggested a seven-week
extension of the current budget to allow
to allow dialogue to continue. And
that's commonly done, as Chuck Schumer
points out, happened 13 times under Joe
Biden. And so, that seven weeks kept
the government open, allowed us to continue
to negotiate. So, I think there's
something else that Schumer is thinking
about. Not quite sure what it is, but
I'd rather be talking than kind of
sitting in our own corners.
What is going to happen though, at the
end of the year, when we get this premium
hike?
Um, well, first, we don't know a premium
hike is going to occur. Let's just say
that. Uh, but secondly, uh, we've got to
address the fact that the Affordable
Care Act has become the unaffordable
care act, in which it takes huge
subsidies in order to continue to make
those policies affordable to Americans.
That's wrong. We got to roll that back
to a point where it's still affordable
to Americans, but it doesn't require
these huge subsidies. This is not
sustainable. But by the way, it's not
just me saying this. The Washington Post
had an editorial about how the
Affordable Care Act is no longer
affordable. So, I think now might be the
time. What can we do to help the
American American public lower health
care cost in a way which is not just for
the exchanges, but for those in the kind
of private markets as well? Could you
get a compromise like that before the
end of the year?
I sure hope so, but first, you got to
reopen the government. Um, we're
actually asking for, you know, okay, how
can we do this? How can we do that? The
government's shut down, so we can't get
some of the information. The seven-week
extension of the current budget allows
that to happen. And so, I'd ask Schumer
to reopen the government. In the
meantime, I'm certainly committed to how
we can lower health care costs for all
Americans. It's what I've been doing my
whole life. And so, let's get on it.
Senator, when it comes to moderate
Democrats, do you see any willingness
of some of them to join the three that we
have seen sign up and vote for a clear
stop-gap funding measure?
I've not spoken to any of them
personally. You'd like to think so. One
more time, we've just asked for a seven-week
extension of the current budget, which
was done 13 times under Joe Biden. And
so, so, so, I would hope they would
because this is inflicting pain on the
American people, but we could be talking
with each other without a shutdown.
Republican from Louisiana, also a
physician, we should note. So, that
conversation about extending ACA
subsidies is important through the eyes
of Dr. Cassidy, as it is through the
eyes of Megan Scully, who we get to talk
with now, runs Bloomberg's Capital
Influence Team. This is the group of
people here in Washington tasked with
covering this shutdown 24 hours a day
until it ends. And Megan, it's great to
see you once again.
Thanks for having me.
In a shutdown here, um, really
interesting to hear the discipline among
Republicans when it comes to messaging
around this. I don't know how many times
we just heard the name Chuck Schumer. I
don't think Bill Cassidy called it the
Schumer shutdown, but we're getting that
as often as well. 13 times, right, under
Biden. We hear that in every answer from
each lawmaker.
Some of this was tipped over a little
bit by the president yesterday, when he
talked about these talks being underway
with Democrats. The White House has
walked that back a little bit. Yes, I
was talking with Tom Emmer last evening,
the majority whip. He didn't want any
part of that conversation. All I heard
about was the Schumer shutdown. Are
Republicans winning the messaging war?
You know, polling is indicating that
they're not. Um, of course, it's early
yet, right? And the full effects of the
shutdown haven't been felt by the
American people when we start to see
travel delays because TSA workers are
calling out. Um, you know, perhaps it
will be there will be a different, there
will be a shift. Um, but you know, the
the, the, the biggest those feeling it the
most are those who are going to be going
without a paycheck later this week or or
next week. Certainly, I will say it's
hard, it's easier for the, for the House
Republicans, particularly to stay on
message because they're not here in
Washington, right? So, they are, they may
be at home doing some um, doing
interviews, but they're not here voting.
They're not getting tracked down in the
halls by by our reporters, by other
reporters. So, it is easier to stay on
message then. But, we did see one very
um, important one who, someone who's
become a bit of a squeaky wheel in the
House Republican caucus, and that's
Marjorie Taylor Greene. I'm
glad you brought this up. What do you
think about this? I can't even read
the whole thing, or they'll bleep us on
the air. And it's also a long post.
It is very long. She says she's carving
her own lane, and she's pointing to her
own family
when it comes to rising subsidies. Is
she on her own here, or does she open
the door for other Republicans to do the
same?
So, it's hard to say at this moment.
Marjorie Taylor Greene doesn't really
represent anyone. Um, you know, she was
in the, the ultra-conservative House
Freedom Caucus and got kicked out. So
her, she's sort of a caucus of one. Um,
and her, her allies may not necessarily
fall in line behind her. Um, but I think
it is an interesting jailbreak from, you
know, the Republican message and
particularly when she's talking about
her own adult children having double
premiums, um, and it being very much a
concern. She also is a small business
owner, and a lot of small business owners
rely on the Affordable Care Act to get
their insurance.
Sure. To your point, she's talking about
uh, her kids. I'm going to go against
everyone on this issue, she writes,
because when the tax credits expire this
year, my own adult children's insurance
premiums for 26 are going to double
along with all the wonderful families
and hardworking people in my district.
She may not be part of uh, a powerful
caucus, but she does have the
president's ear, right? Does this help
to maybe crack the door a little bit on
this issue with the White House?
So, we are trying to sort that out. Um,
her relationship with Trump has been a
bit fraught um, in recent weeks,
particularly over the Epstein files.
She's been one of the, the lawmakers to
sign on to what we call discharge
petitions there.
Yes, certainly. And she was supposed to
have a press conference at the capital
tomorrow um, on particularly sort of a, a
revised or an updated
that seems to be cancelled for right
now, but she's still beating the drum on
the release of the Epstein file. So, it
is very interesting to see her break
with the president yet again on this.
I'm not sure if he's answering her calls
right now. We're definitely endeavoring
to find out.
Boy, I bet that's true. You know, with
regard to the discharge petition, just
to veer off course for one minute,
there's a new member of Congress.
Congresswoman Grahalva, or Congresswoman
Elect Grahalva has not been sworn in
Yes.
to office yet. There's a whole
conspiracy online that this shutdown is
only to keep the Epstein files from
being released. But why can, can you not
swear in a new member when the
government's closed?
We, because the House is not in session.
It's as simple as that.
So they can't swear.
So, next week, it could be a different
story
if Mike Johnson were to call the House
back in. Although he says they're going
to stay out for the duration of the
shutdown.
Yeah. I'm going to take the opportunity
to mention, by the way, that we're going
to be speaking with uh, Speaker Mike
Johnson tomorrow here on Balance of
Power on the Late Edition, which is a
conversation that we're obviously uh
very much looking forward to, to learn
exactly where his head is right now.
Now, the speaker of the House will join
us in the 5:00 p.m. Eastern hour
tomorrow here on Bloomberg TV and radio.
Do we know what the plan is today, or are
we just ad-living? There was supposed to
be votes every day, right? But we
haven't heard about a time.
We have not heard about a time in the
Senate for a vote. They've already voted
on the, the seven-week stop-gap, which
Senator Cassidy mentioned, five times,
and it's failed all five times. So, um
six might not make a difference.
Yes. Um, so, we're waiting to see if they
if they do call a vote. I think some of
the president's actions in the past day
um, have kind of thrown a wrench into
things, particularly his announcement
this morning, or the OM memo, the budget
office memo that's been circulating on
not giving pay to furloughed, back pay to
furloughed employees. So, um, that has sort
of sucked all the oxygen out of the room
today on Capitol Hill as, as members of
both parties seize on those comments.
Well, it's interesting that you know
Angus King aforementioned has been
listening to this, doesn't like the
rhetoric, and he's suggesting that he may
become a no vote once again uh, on all
of this. We've got uh, not just Angus King,
but John Fetterman, I'm assuming that
he's in place for now. Senator Cortez
Masto also a question. Could we be in a
world where the next round of voting, and
maybe that's why we don't have one today,
looks worse?
We certainly seem to be going the wrong
way. Um, at least if you're, if you are a
member of Republican leadership. Um, all
senators are also not in town. There
were quite a few who were, who were
absent last night for for the vote. Um
must love that
it's a 60 vote threshold. Um, so it is
um, it will be very interesting to see in
the next round of votes. You know
Republicans had hoped to be picking
Democrats off one by one. You know, there
are, there are several moderates who
would like to see the government reopen,
particularly those in this area, people
like Senator Tim Kaine from Virginia.
But um, but the president's threats to
to fire um, federal workers and to not
give back pay to furloughed employees seem
to be having opposite of the intended
effect. Instead of scaring Democrats,
it's making them more resolute.
Wow. Amazing. The president says four or
five days, uh, we'll have a decision of
some sort on furloughs becoming layoffs, on
the mass layoffs that that have been
threatened. That sounds to me, four or
five days. Everyone's going to kind of
wait for the 10th and the 15th, the next
stops in the pay cycle for feds and for
military. Is that kind of the next stop
in the road?
So, we've been hearing him say, you
know, we've gotten different timelines
for this. You know, last week it was
within a few days, within a day or two.
Now, it's four or five days. It's
starting to feel like when I'm driving
with my kids in the back seat, they're
acting up and I'm like, I'm going to
turn this car around.
Don't make me.
Um, so, it, it remains to be seen.
Certainly, the threat is still hanging
out there. Um, federal workers are
supposed to be paid this Friday. So, that
would then set them up for, you know, for
layoffs at some point after. He did say
it would be substantial today. Um, in
the past, they've said thousands. So, um
will remain to be seen. I can't
underscore enough, though, how different
this is from previous shutdowns where
you know, previous administrations have
not, you, Trump himself did not use
correct
the 35-day shutdown, the last one we had
in 2018 to 2019 to do mass firings.
your gut check though, is check back when
there's news, right? I mean, we, we could
set a new record in this shutdown.
granted, we could reopen in a couple of
days, but the prospect for a protracted
shutdown is there.
absolutely. Talks are not
happening, and neither side seems like
they are willing to give at this point.
So, I think that it will be interesting
to watch. Um, last time in, in 2019,
January 2019, what ultimately convinced
Trump to reopen the government after he
didn't get his border wall funding was
the, the air traffic controllers not
showing up for work and hobbling air
traffic in this country.
And we've got thousands of flight delays
already with some thin staffing. This
could really be the next leg in the
story. Uh, Megan Scully, great to have
you with us. Our Capital Influence team
is busy living on caffeine and nothing
like seeing Steven Dennis and the rest
of the crew up there on Capitol Hill do
their thing. Eric Watson as well. This
is Bloomberg. Thanks for listening to
the Balance of Power podcast. Make sure
to subscribe if you haven't already at
Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your
podcasts. And you can find us live every
weekday from Washington, D.C. at noon time
Eastern at bloomberg.com.
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