Trump Says Democrats ‘Getting Killed on the Shutdown’

Happy Tuesday! Here's your evening update.

Trump Says Democrats 'Getting Killed on the Shutdown'

The government shutdown is entering its third week with no sign that it will end anytime soon - and every indication that the Trump administration is preparing to fire more federal workers and target Democratic priorities. At the same time, the White House is taking some steps to mitigate some of the pain of a shutdown, which could make the shutdown drag on for longer by reducing the political pressure on members of Congress to reach a deal.

Some developments on Day 14:

'Batten down the hatches': The White House Office of Management and Budget led by Russell Vought laid out its basic plan in a social media post Tuesday morning that again blamed Democrats for the shutdown: "OMB is making every preparation to batten down the hatches and ride out the Democrats' intransigence," it said. "Pay the troops, pay law enforcement, continue the RIFs, and wait."

Vought announced those RIFs - reductions in force, for those fortunate enough to be unfamiliar with the term - on Friday, and the Trump administration fired about 4,000 federal workers across seven agencies. (See more below about cuts at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.) The layoffs have been challenged in court by unions representing government workers.

Trump says more cuts are coming: Trump has previously indicated that he sees the shutdown as an opportunity, and he reiterated the point on Tuesday.

"The Democrats are getting killed on the shutdown, because we're closing up programs that are Democrat programs that we were opposed to," he said, "and they're never going to come back in many cases. So we're being able to do things that we were unable to do before. So we're closing up programs that are Democrat programs that we wanted to close up or that we never wanted to happen, and now we're closing them up, and we're not going to let them come back. The Democrats are getting killed."

Trump added that a list of "the most egregious socialist, semi-communist" programs to be cut would be coming on Friday.

Taking care of the troops: With about 1.3 million active-duty members of the U.S. military at risk of missing a scheduled payday on October 15, Trump over the weekend announced that he directed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth "to use all available funds to get our Troops PAID," adding, "We have identified funds to do this, and Secretary Hegseth will use them to PAY OUR TROOPS."

The administration is reportedly also set to use tariff revenue to fund the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, more commonly known as WIC.

Senate fails to pass GOP plan an eighth time: The Senate this evening again failed to advance a Republican plan to fund the government through November 21 - the eighth time the GOP bill has been blocked. Unlike the previous seven votes, however, a competing Democratic bill wasn't allowed a vote this time as Republicans try to dial up the pressure on Democrats.

"I guess Democrats are not going to be satisfied until military families and government workers are lining up at food banks or visiting payday lenders or simply charging necessary items like milk and bread on their credit cards to be repaid late," Senate Majority Leader John Thune said before the vote.

The bottom line: Republicans insist they won't budge. Democrats continue to press their healthcare demands. The stalemate will go on.

White House Reinstates Hundreds of Employees Fired From CDC

The White House reportedly sent layoff notices to about 1,300 workers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention late Friday, but then partially reversed itself, reinstating roughly 700 employees over the weekend.

The White House, which has threatened to fire large numbers of federal employees during the government shutdown, with a focus on what President Trump called "Democratic programs," said some of the layoff notifications were the result of a procedural error.

"The employees who received incorrect notifications were never separated from the agency and have all been notified that they are not subject to the reduction in force," said Health and Human Services spokesperson Andrew Nixon, per CNN.

Employees who received improper layoff notices on Friday reportedly include leaders of the federal measles response team, a group focused on containing the Ebola virus in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and the staff of the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, a vital vehicle for sharing public health research.

Turmoil at the CDC: The layoff notices, both planned and unplanned, come at an especially difficult time for the nation's top public health agency, which has been targeted by Trump and HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for promoting supposedly "woke" policies and providing medical guidance that clashes with the beliefs of some libertarian health activists. Those activists include Kennedy, who has a long history of promoting what medical experts consider to be vaccine misinformation.

In August, the health agency was literally targeted by a gunman who fired more than 500 rounds at CDC headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia, killing a police officer. The gunman was reportedly angry about the Covid-19 vaccine.

With the loss of 600 employees on Friday, the CDC has lost about a quarter of its workforce since Trump took office, a federal employee union official said Tuesday.

"One thing is clear, this administration has more than delivered on its promise to traumatize federal employees," said Yolanda Jacobs, a CDC employee and union official, referring to Office of Management and Budget chief Russell Vought's vow to make government employees feel "trauma" at their workplaces. "These illegal firings of our union members during a federal government shutdown is a callous attack on hard working Americans and puts the livelihoods, health, and safety of our members and communities at great risk."

Democrats Blast Trump's $20 Billion Argentina Bailout

President Trump, back from the Middle East, met at the White House today with Argentine President Javier Milei. The meeting comes after the Trump administration agreed to provide Argentina with a $20 billion lifeline - a move that critics charge is just meant to prop up the embattled government led by Milei, a controversial Trump-aligned politician who has overseen painful economic reforms.

Trump today threatened to pull the financial support if Argentina shifts away from Milei in upcoming legislative midterm elections. "If he loses, we are not going to be generous with Argentina," Trump warned.

Democrats have blasted the bailout, using it to mock Trump's "America First" promises and attack the administration for the government shutdown. "I have just one question," Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said on the Senate floor. "If this administration has $20 billion to spare for a MAGA-friendly foreign government, how can they say we don't have the money to lower healthcare costs here at home?"

Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts on Tuesday sought unanimous consent to pass the "No Argentina Bailout Act." When her request was blocked by Republican Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, Warren unleashed a tirade against the administration.

"Even while the Trump administration is trying to fire more people and shut down more services, Trump is carefully keeping open the office at the Treasury Department responsible for executing his bailout of Argentina's financial markets," Warren said. "For Trump, the leader of Argentina is more important than American families struggling with rising costs for health care."

Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa has also criticized the bailout because China has been buying soybeans from Argentina. "Why would USA help bail out Argentina while they take American soybean producers' biggest market???" Grassley wrote on X last month. "We shld use leverage at every turn to help hurting farm economy Family farmers shld be top of mind in negotiations by representatives of USA."

US Consumers on Track to Pay Majority of Trump Tariffs: Analysis

U.S. businesses have absorbed most of the cost of the tariffs imposed by President Trump so far, but the burden of that cost will shift to consumers in the coming months as the full range of import taxes takes effect and businesses have time to adjust, according to a new analysis by economists at Goldman Sachs.

It takes time for firms to raise prices in the face of higher costs, Goldman's Elsie Peng and David Mericle said in a research note. For goods affected by tariffs that have been in place for at least six months - enough time for businesses to make their adjustments - the researchers found that U.S firms have passed 55% of the cost of tariffs onto consumers via higher prices. Assuming that pattern holds for the tariffs that took effect in recent weeks, U.S. consumers will be paying 55% of the cost of all of Trump's tariffs by early next year.

Based on the data, the researchers expect foreign exporters to absorb 18% of the cost of the tariffs through price reductions implemented to preserve market share - a dynamic likely at play with Japanese automakers, which cut prices earlier this year after getting hit with significant new tariffs. Another 5% of the tariff costs will be evaded through misreporting, as exporters provide inaccurately low values for their goods. The remaining 22% of the tariff costs will be absorbed by U.S. firms, the analysts said.

Over time, the Goldman analysts expect the share of the tariff cost paid by consumers to rise to 70%.

Pushing prices higher: Trump's tariffs are responsible for a 0.44% increase in the price of core goods (excluding food and fuel) so far this year, with another 0.6% increase coming in the months ahead, the analysts said. They also expect that the tariffs will help push the inflation rate up to 3.0% in 2025 and 2.4% in 2026, compared to a baseline of 2.2% and 2.0% respectively without tariffs.

Fiscal News Roundup

• White House Budget Office Says It Is Preparing to "Ride Out" Shutdown With More Layoffs – CNN
• Trump and Budget Chief Vought Are Making This a Government Shutdown Unlike Any Other – Associated Press
• White House to Ax More 'Egregious' Programs Friday – Politico
• 14 Days in, Jeffries Says Democrats Will Not Propose a New Counteroffer – CNN
• Fiscal Hawks Wince at Looming Obamacare Subsidies Price Tag – Washington Examiner
• Breaking Down the Impact of Trump's Shutdown Layoffs of Federal Workers – CNN
• Multiple Airports Refuse to Play Kristi Noem Video That Blames Democrats for Government Shutdown – CNN
• Can Trump Pay Troops Without Congress? Some Democrats Don't Think So – The Hill
• Trump Threatens China With Cooking Oil Embargo Over Soybean Snub – CNBC
• Powell Signals Fed Is on Track to Keep Cutting Rates – New York Times
• Most Americans Say Taxing the Rich Is Best Way to Reduce Federal Debt: Gallup – The Hill
• Shutdown Layoffs Target Services for Vulnerable Students, Homeless, Seniors – Washington Post
• Veterans Groups Rip Post for Investigation Into VA Disability Program – Washington Post
• Trump Admin Warns of Rising Food Prices – The Hill
• Global Economy Shrugs Off Trump's Tariffs, at Least for Now, IMF Says – Washington Post
• Global Growth Remains Sluggish as Tariff Threats Loom – New York Times

Views and Analysis

• Congress Is Losing Its Grip on the Power to Spend Americans' Money – Liz Goodwin, Marianna Sotomayor and Riley Beggin, Washington Post
• Who Will Lose Out When ACA Health Insurance Subsidies Expire? – Alyssa Fowers, Washington Post
• Most Americans Who Rely on Obamacare Live in Republican Areas – Elena Shao and Margot Sanger-Katz, New York Times
• On the Future of the Affordable Care Act, Republican Leaders Are Proving Democrats' Point – Steve Benen, MSNBC
• Four GOP Ideas for an Obamacare Subsidies Compromise – Benjamin Guggenheim, Politico
• Why Republicans' Attempts to Kill Obamacare Keep Backfiring – Yasmeen Abutaleb and David Ovalle, Washington Post
• An Inflation Pattern That Has Overtones of the Dreaded 1970s Is Forming – Sarah Min, CNBC
• Recession Warning Signs to Watch: Goodbye Lipstick, Hello Hamburger Helper – Rachel Lerman and Elena Lacey, Washington Post
• Why China Can Collapse the U.S. With One Decree – David Dayen, American Prospect
• A Tax-Reform Alternative to Trump's Tariffs – Paul Ryan and Kyle Pomerleau, Wall Street Journal
• The House Republicans Getting Rich Off Trump's Big Beautiful Bill – Timothy Noah, New Republic
• Not Even Congress Knows How Much Money DOGE Cut – Emily Badger and Alicia Parlapiano, New York Times
• The Shadow Looming Over Nevada's Solar Boom – Washington Post Editorial Board