On Monday, October 20, according to The Epoch Times’ report, White House Chief Economic Advisor Kevin Hassett predicted that the government shutdown is likely to end this week as moderate Democrats are believed to cooperate and push for an agreement between the two parties. Following the news, the U.S. stock market opened with gains and saw a strong rebound.
Hassett, in an interview with CNBC’s program “Squawk Box,” mentioned that if the shutdown cannot be resolved, the Trump administration may take “more aggressive measures” to compel Democrats to cooperate. The U.S. government shutdown has entered its third week with no clear signs of resolution due to disagreements in the short-term funding bill in the Senate.
Republicans are aiming to pass a short-term resolution to maintain current government spending levels for seven weeks, while Democrats are pushing for any funding bill to include extensions of healthcare spending guarantees, including an extension of the expiring enhanced version of the Affordable Care Act tax credits.
Hassett indicated that he learned from the Senate that Democrats consider it untimely to vote to reopen the government before nationwide “anti-king” protests erupt over the weekend. These protests, targeted at President Trump, have faced criticism from Republicans and Trump supporters.
Hassett expressed optimism that things are expected to improve rapidly this week. He stated, “Moderate Democrats will push for progress to prepare for reopening the government, so we can negotiate the policies they want to discuss normally.”
He believed that “SchumerShutdown may end at some point this week,” referring to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, with Republicans attributing the government shutdown to the Democrats.
Additionally, Hassett cautioned that if the situation does not improve, the White House may have to work closely with White House Budget Chief Russell Vought to explore more aggressive measures to push for an agreement.
Hassett’s remarks indicate that Democrats may be seeking a politically opportune moment to give up the fight over the government shutdown.
Earlier this month, Schumer told Punchbowl News, “The situation is getting better for us every day because we’ve anticipated this and we knew that healthcare would be the focus of September 30 (government shutdown) and we were ready for it.”
Senate Majority Leader John Thune of South Dakota Republicans stated last week that he had proposed to Democratic leaders to vote to reopen the government in exchange for extending the Obamacare tax credits.
However, Democratic leadership seemed to reject Thune’s proposal, with some Democrats instead urging President Trump to personally engage in negotiations.
Hassett stated on Monday that the President has been “very engaged” throughout the process and Trump believes it is an issue that the Senate needs to resolve itself.
The economic advisor’s statements led to an upward trend in the U.S. stock market after opening. The stock market just concluded a tumultuous week, with tensions escalating between the U.S. and China, regional bank losses leading to sell-offs, and some high-priced artificial intelligence companies’ stock prices falling before ultimately closing higher on Friday.
It is the third-quarter earnings season this week, which appears to have boosted market sentiment starting from Monday. Investors also anticipate the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates by another 25 basis points at the end of October’s meeting.